Blinking question mark/lost operating system

My imac G3 333MHz was running on OS9.2 which was installed by an Apple store, I do not have a disk for it since it was installed in the store after I was told that I was sold the wrong memory and that OSX really shouldn't run on the machine. So to make up for the mistake they took out OSX and did a clean install of 9.2. Now (months later) the flashing question mark appeared when I started up the computer. The only way I could get the computer to work at all was to start it up from the original OS 8.6 disk that came with it. Is there any way that I can get back to 9.2 or do I have to try to purchase the disk for the old operating system? It seems like most of the folders for it are still on the Hard Drive, but no matter what I tried I can't get it to start up from them.
imac G3 333MHz Mac OS 8.6 or Earlier

I'd be a bit annoyed at the apple store who did this for you. OS X works fine on that model iMac, up through 10.3. So if you ahd that installed, it was fine. i don't know what the memory issue was they were reffering to. I don't know how you can be sold the wrong memory if it fit and worked, and what bearing that had on OS X.
To reinstall 9.2, you would have to buy it. No way around it.
But there's a deeper problem potentially. Often times when the OS just goes MIA like this, the problem is directory damage. Run disk first aid fromt he 8.6 disk. Does it return any errors that it can't fix. If so, more often than not, this is a corrupt directory. This could be solved by reformatting (erasing everything), or using third party utilities like diskwarrior. if you use a third party utility, it can often bring the whole thing back to life with no further problems.
Note that if you do have directory problems, reinstalling the OS without fixing those problems will only make it worse.

Similar Messages

Flashing Question Mark - Lion Operating System

I removed my hard drive and then put it back. When I boot the computer I get a gray screen with a flashing question mark. Info I found requires an op disk, but I have lion and it is downloaded, what do I do to get my computer to boot?

Try this:
Reinstalling Lion Without the Installer
Boot to the Recovery HD: Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alterhatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the main menu. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions as follows.
When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall Lion: Select Reinstall Lion and click on the Continue button.
Note: You can also re-download the Lion installer by opening the App Store application. Hold down the OPTION key and click on the Purchases icon in the toolbar. You should now see an active Install button to the right of your Lion purchase entry. There are situations in which this will not work. For example, if you are already booted into the Lion you originally purchased with your Apple ID or if an instance of the Lion installer is located anywhere on your computer.

Blinking question mark folder with only OS X base system left

Yesterday I turned my laptop on to see a blinking question mark folder. I searched through a lot of people questions with the same problem however mine is not the same because I only have the OS X base system left. I can't redownload the OS X lion because there is nothing to download it after I chose the option to redownload it. I see that most people have the Macintosh HD but I don't have anything like that.
disk1
Mac OS X Base System
that's all I see when I try the repair option?

Have you tried booting to your Recovery HD (if you are running Lion or Mountain Lion?) If not and if you were running Lion or Mountain Lion, then:
Question (?) Mark, Blinking Folder, or Gray Screen at Startup
These are related but not identical issues. Their causes are outlined in Intel-based Mac- Startup sequence and error codes, symbols. Solutions may be found in:
A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac
Mac OS X- Gray screen appears during startup
In most cases the problems may be caused by:
Problem with the computer's PRAM - See Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM.
Boot drive's directory has been corrupted - Repair with Disk Utility.
Critical system files are damaged or deleted - Reinstall OS X.
The disk drive is physically non-functional - Replace the hard drive.
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
The main difference if you are using Lion or Mountain Lion is that you must first boot from the Recovery HD:
Boot From The Recovery HD:
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Reinstall Snow Leopard Without Erasing The drive
1. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your Snow Leopard Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
2. Reinstall Snow Leopard
If the drive is OK then quit DU and return to the installer. Proceed with reinstalling OS X. Note that the Snow Leopard installer will not erase your drive or disturb your files. After installing a fresh copy of OS X the installer will move your Home folder, third-party applications, support items, and network preferences into the newly installed system.
Download and install Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1.
Reinstalling Lion/Mountain Lion Without Erasing The Drive
Boot to the Recovery HD: Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the main menu. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions as follows.
When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion and click on the Continue button.
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.

PowerMac G5: Blinking question mark at startup

I have a 3 1/2 year old G5. When I boot it up, it goes straight to the blinking question mark. I've reset the PRAM, no change. I've tried booting off an installation disk. That gets me to the Apple logo, then the logo pixels go kinda funky and it freezes. I don't hear the hard drive at all during this process; it does not spin up. The CD/DVD drive is obviously spinning, but as I said, it won't boot off an installation disk (I tried three different disks).
I'm assuming the hard drive is bad, but I don't know. I've never had a problem with a Mac before! Does anyone have any suggestions? I don't think of a 3.5 year old Mac as being that old, but I'm a bit nervous about dropping a new hard drive in and wondering if I should just get a new system.
ETA: I have disconnected all peripherals and restarted, and that made no difference.
Message was edited by: Stacia Seaman

I'm having this same problem with a system I just replaced a logic board in. Won't boot off of HD or CD. The HD that is in it is a brand new drive from a different power-mac (the HD from the dead box was moved to the new powermac to get that user back online) so it should be ok, but regardless of that, it won't boot of CD/DVD either.
I guess I don't have anything useful to add. Just a "you're not alone with this problem". If I come across anything that helps, I'll let you know.

I see that i have a problem after installing my new hard drive on my macbook pro mid 2009 version. I put a new hard drive, with all of my information from my old drive installed on it, into the computer. but now have the blinking question mark folder

i see that i have a problem after installing my new hard drive on my macbook pro mid 2009 version. I put a new hard drive, with all of my information from my old drive installed on it, into the computer. but now have the blinking question mark folder. I see that it means that it isn't reading the new hard drive.
did i miss a step between transferring all of my information from my old hard drive to the new hard drive and installing the new hard drive into the computer. I believe that i installed properly. it was quite easy.
thanks for your help

It means there is no bootable system on the drive. If you still have access to the old drive, then I suggest you boot from it then clone it to the new internal drive. Use OPTION boot to boot from the Recovery HD on the old drive:
Boot to the Recovery HD:
Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
     1. Select Disk Utility from the main menu then press the Continue
         button.
     2. Select the destination volume from the left side list.
     3. Click on the Restore tab in the DU main window.
     4. Select the destination volume from the left side list and drag it
         to the Destination entry field.
     5. Select the source volume from the left side list and drag it to
         the Source entry field.
     6. Double-check you got it right, then click on the Restore button.
Source means the external old drive. Destination means the new internal drive.

Mac Pro not detecting internal HD. Blinking Question Mark!!

Hi there,
Ive been looking for an answer about my problem but it seems most of the people has got the problem; the hard drive might be damaged. Thats not my case.
Ive got two Mac Pros. One is working flawlessly. So I swaped HDs to see what happened and when I turned on the computer, the good MAC detected the hard drive of the failing computer and I logged in normally. When I turned on the failing computer with the good HD, it didnt read it. In conclusion I realized that there was not a HD problem, something else is going on.
After that, using the good Mac PRo, I installed both HDs and both were detected. This confirmed that definitely, the HDs are Ok. Whats wrong?? I dont know, hope you people can help me.
Thanks a lot.

The blinking question mark says you could not find:
The preferred System
of the preferred version
on the preferred drive.
All these parameters are stored in Parameter RAM, and sometimes they get damaged "just because".
If you use
System Preferences > Startup Disk ...
... to set the correct startup disk again. your problems may be over.
If not, you may need to reset the PRAM.
If that does not solve the problem in the long run, you may need to replace the PRAM backup battery.

Can not get past blinking question mark after restarting in os 9

I have a ibook g3 clamshell 576mb ram 366mhz 30gb hd. I added the hard drive and upgraded the memory and then forgot to update the firmware before I installed os x tiger. So I keep getting kernal panics because the firmware is not upgraded. Like a fool when I upgraded to tiger I erased os 9 to free up more space thinking I would never use os 9 ever again anyway. Well the only way you can upgrade the firmware is to have os 9 installed so I copied os 9 system folder and applications from another ibook and transformed them to my ibook hd. I then clicked on the os 9 on the start up disk and tried to boot into os 9 so I could do the firmware update. Well now it will not boot past the blinking question mark. I guess there must of been some missing files? How do i get past the blinking question mark? Do I have to go and buy a copy of os 9 to reinstall it back on the ibook? Please help I am stuck here.

Don't think anyone will like the answer but this is how I did it. You have to put a os x cd in restart holding c and then follow through with the install. I used os x 10.0.3 then you have to do the same with a os 9 install disc and initialize disk image and then do the os 9 install download your firmware update and then reinstall the mac os x you are going to use. And for anybody out there a ibook g3 with an old airport card can connect to wep all you have to do is add a $ before your password works everytime. Hope this helps somebody. My only problem is after a downloaded the firmware update thats a .smi file evrytime I try to open it it says no application could open it. I thought .smi were self mounting image files. I never have used os 9 much and have no idea how to open this file. Can anybody give me a walk through on how to select a application to open this file so I can mount and install this firmware update.

Intermittent Blinking Question Mark at Start-Up

I've read a number of postings about the blinking question mark problem during start-up, but this one is different -- its intermittent. By that I mean that sometimes it happens and sometimes it doesn't. Here is the chronology:
- Student comes home for Spring Break and requests me to connect her to our wireless network.
- I enter network name and PW. It gets connected, but the spinning rainbow wheel won't stop spinning. So eventually I re-start --> first time I've ever seen the blinking question mark. System won't start on multiple tries. Student says 'yeah, that's been happening for a while. Just wait a while and it will be OK.' I've never seen an intermittent problem like this.
- Took iBook to the Genius Bar at local Apple Store
- Genius gets it to start up on first try, amazing me. He didn't do any trick, just pushed the power button. But he did plug the AC adapter in as he was trying to boot it. (more on this later) How can this be??
- Genius does some kind of test on the Hard Drive and pronounces it OK. Says problem must be software-related.
- I mention that Student didn't bring home her 10.3.X Disk Utilities/Restore disk.
- I mention I've got 10.4 Family Pack, but haven't had time to load it on any of our Macs. Genius recommends doing Archive Install, then use 10.4 disk to run Disk Utilities to check Permissions etc.
- I load 10.4 and then run Disk Utilities. The start-up disk is already properly identified, no need to re-select the internal HD Sys X. But sure enough, some of the Permissions needed repair and were fixed. Problem seems solved, system runs fine for 3 days.
- Student goes back to college. Today she reports that the blinking question mark is back, but now she can't run Disk Utilities because I still have the 10.4 disk at home, and her 10.3 disk won't work anymore.
I should also mention: Student has been having short battery re-charge life. Checked the Apple Website and realized that her battery S/N is covered under the free replacement program. Today she received the new battery and installed it, and then when she re-started, that's when the blinking question mark showed up again. Could there be a connection between the power supply and the blinking question mark?
What to do? Any ideas welcomed. Student wants new computer, I say not so fast.....
iBook G4 Mac OS X (10.4.5)

Assuming that you get the flashing question mark for extended periods of time (i.e. not just one or two flashes and then it boots), and repeatedly (i.e. it takes several power cycles to boot the system), I'd recommend a couple of steps:
1) Run the Disk Utility -> Repair Disk option while booted off CD. This will check and repair common disk problems that can cause this kind of issue
2) Reset the parameter RAM (PRAM) to reset the system settings (Command-Option-P-R as you power on)
3) When this happens, hold down the option key as you power up the system. this will offer a list of available boot drives. Check that your boot drive is available.
4) If all else fails, backup - soon, and be prepared to replace the hard drive. This might sound drastic but I'd had a number of laptops die through failed drives. This option is especially true if you're experiencing other unexplained problems such as hangs and crashes while running the machine.

Gray screen (sometimes blinking question mark) at start up

My husband was using my beloved Macbook last night & said that while surfing Facebook, all of Firefox locked up & the spinning wheel thing (like it was thinking) made it imposbbile for him to do anything. Rather than doing ctrl + option + esc (or w/e it is....I can do it with my hands quickly but can't think right now) to quit Firefox, he just held down the power button to shut the whole thing down. He said that when he turned it back on, it was doing the blinking question mark thing.
This morning (not having known what happened last night), I started it up & was confused by the blinking question mark. I asked him about it & then got the whole story. I turned it off & let it chill all day while I was at work. And now every time I start it up it's alternating between just being a gray screen or sometimes if I leave it long enough, it turns to the flashing question mark again.
I have done the restart & press option thing & nothing happened. Did a restart & pressed shift & nothing happened.
The only thing I've done & seen anything from resetting my PRAM & NVRAM (http://http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379) & even then, after the 2nd restart when it says to let go, nothing different happened. Still the gray screen!!!
Help!! I am a computer junkie & have loved my MacBook for 4 years. I put in a new harddrive (I wanted a bigger, better one) a couple years ago, but could that be it? I need to know more tests I can do.
PS - I don't have the right startup disc because I upgraded using my brother-in-law's & he lives 7 hours away. So I can't just pop in my start up disc. Any other suggestions???

In addition to above advice, here is an Apple article with some troubleshooting suggestions:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570
Note that you will need your install disk. If you do not have it, you can call Apple; if you give them your serial number, they should be able to send you copies for a nominal charge.
PS - I don't have the right startup disc because I upgraded using my brother-in-law's & he lives 7 hours away. So I can't just pop in my start up disc. Any other suggestions???
If your Macbook meets the system requirements for Snow Leopard, you might want to consider buying that (available for $29 or less) rather than using someone else's disks which violates Apple's SLA.

Blinking Question Mark on Blue Screen

I came home from a 5 day weekend away from home and lifted the lid of my macbook. Attempted to choose a user to login as and the spinning wheel wouldn't stop, so I decided to shut down manually. When I turned it back on I got this blue screen with the blinking Question Mark on an image of a file folder accompanied by a clicking sound. Restarting repeatedly gave the same results. So, I got online and looked at the Apple website, followed the instructions to restart holding down various keys. After one restart it gave me a blue screen with only the mouse, however, now I am back to the blinking "?" after another restart.
I do not have my OSX Leopard cd's that came with the computer, so I can't do a restart with them in the computer.... please tell me that this is something simple and that I can get back to all of my files....?
Thank you.
Melissa

Hi Melissa;
No Time Machine backups hourly to an external disk.
I don't know for absolutely sure that it is your hard drive. What they symptoms you gave me are suggesting is that it is the most likely cause for the problem. Your MacBook is not able to find a place from which to boot. That indicate a high likelihood of a failed disk.
If the disk is only corrupt so that your MacBook is no longer able to find the system then a tool like FileSalvage might be able to recover some of your data. If it is truly dead there are recovery services that can recovery the data for big bucks.
Did you purchase AppleCare? That would extend the warranty to three years.
Allan

Blinking question mark....need advice

Today I got the dreaded blinking question mark. I called Apple and we got it fixed by resetting the P-Ram. How serious is this; is it likely to happen again? I have also had the logic board problem and that has been replaced twice.
My question is is the blinking question mark a bad omen...is this likely to happen again? Is it connected to the logic board problem? My question is should I be thinking about replacing this computer? Is it defective? Do all these problems mean there is a short future for this emac.
If all of these things are indicators of a major future breakdown, I'm wondering if it is wise to replace the computer before I lose everything once and for all.

The blinking question mark could have been a corrupted file containing the System Preference for the Startup Disk (see What's stored in PRAM?). Dale's and Allan's advice cover the main things you'd want to check after a preference turns up corrupted. It could have been something as minor as a momentary power glitch while writing to the hard drive that corrupted the preference file' since preferences as a group can be written to fairly frequently, a corrupted pref or two over several years of use isn't uncommon. You can check your preferences in general:
To check your user preferences (.plist) files in Applications > Utilities > Terminal, copy and paste the following into Terminal and press return:
find ~/Library -name '*.plist' -exec /usr/bin/plutil -lint {} \;
You can also download Preferential Treatment, which provides a GUI front end to the plutil command (and which doesn't require you to copy and paste or type in exactly the correct characters for the desired Unix command).

Blinking Globe & Blinking Question Mark! What do I do??

So I have owned a G5 for a while now...and ever since i got it, the damm thing blinks a globe icon at me for 10 mins, then, i get a blinking question mark for another 10 mins...dont know very much about mac so if someone could help me ou that'd be great...thanks...Josh
Dual 1.8 Ghz PowerPC G5 Mac OS X (10.3.9)

Hi Josh, and Welcome to Discussions!
Assuming that your system eventually loads, open System Preferences > Startup Disk:
Click on Mac OS X, 10.3.9 on Macintosh HD.
Quit System Preferences.
The next restart should be normal.
Good Luck!
ali b

Blinking question mark

how do i remove the blinking question mark icon when starting up the mac

There are four general causes of this issue:
1. The computer's PRAM no longer contains a valid startup disk setting when there aren't any problems with the disk itself. This can be checked for by pressing the Option key and seeing if the drive appears.
2. The internal drive's directory structure has become damaged. This requires usage of an alternate bootable system to perform the repair.
3. Critical system files have been deleted. This requires usage of an alternate bootable system to reinstall them.
4. The internal drive has died or become unplugged. This is the most likely case if the computer took a sharp impact or there are unusual sounds coming from the hard drive's location.
(89849)

Blue and white G3 blinking Question mark

System 9.2.2 6 Gb 350gzh It was acting up so I ran Norton system Works. It said it "fixed" it. But couldn't restart with anything but the Norton Disk. Kept running and never finished. Finally checked the start up disk and only things listed was Norton CD and a "Network Disk".( I do have it networked with my G5) Finally ejected the Norton Disk and when starting up the blinking question mark was there. I assume I need to reinstall the system folder. So far I am unable to find original disks. I assume I cannot just install 9.2.2 even if I could find or download one.
Since I only use this for the internet, could I install OSX. I did post a question about ugrading to OSX before all this happened. Replies were skeptical as to whether I had enough memory to do this. I have 3GB free space.
Is it time to get another computer? This is my husbands. I have the iMac G5. I would probably get me a new one and let him have mine. Any suggestions?

At the outset, I'll let you know that I never had Norton SystemWorks damage any of the hard drives in my pre-OS X Macs running OS 8.6 -> 9.2.2. It's very possible that the original 6 GB hard drive in that B&W G3 has a hardware and/or electronic problem that caused NDD to hang while checking it. I had a few failing hard drives do that, while NDD was doing the media check. It's also possible that the hard drive has a very corrupted directory, which is best corrected by Alsoft's "DiskWarrior." A less expensive alternative is to reinstall OS 9.2.2, by booting from the installer disk and using Drive Setup to initialize the hard drive and write zeros to it. Following completion of that, you can select the newly-formatted drive as the destination for the OS installation. Typically, OS 9.2.2 isn't installed directly from a disk. Usually, one has the disk to install OS 9, 9.0.4, or 9.1. OS 9 and 9.0.4 must be updated to 9.1 (using the downloadable "Mac OS 9.1 Update"), prior to running the downloadable OS 9.2.1 and 9.2.2 Updates. These downloads are just updates to OS 9.x and aren't standalone, full-OS installers. As for using an OS 9.2.2 Mac for the internet, there is a lack of modern browsers to download/use. You'd be much better off installing OS 10.3.x (Panther) or 10.4.x (Tiger), but as you're aware, optimal performance of OS X on your B&W G3-350 depends on adequate hard drive capacity, total installed memory, and the graphics card. Your B&W G3-350 MHz may have the first revision logic board, which has an IDE controller that can't handle moderate-sized drives (approx. 40 GBs->). Given the expense involved in purchasing the OS X installer disks (Tiger is typically on a DVD, requiring a DVD-ROM or DVD±RW drive), upgrading the hard drive, and adding memory, you're at the crossroads for deciding whether to part with the B&W and buy something newer. Investing the $$ to modernize a 9 year-old G3 may not be the best course of action, because its 350 MHz processor and 100 MHz system bus speed are bottlenecks. Spending more $$ on a faster G4 processor upgrade would make a difference, but all of the money spent on the software and hardware upgrades could be applied toward the cost of a Mac Mini with warranty. Unless a sentimental attachment is a motivating factor for keeping/upgrading the B&W, your best bet would be to replace it.

Use a G5 startup DVD on iBook G4? (Blinking question mark)

I recently tried installing Leopard on my iBook G4 (which currently runs Tiger 10.4.11); it was my brother's software disk and he already had it installed on his computer, so it wouldn't let me - I learned the hard way.
I attempted multiple times to boot and install from the install DVD, but it would usually freeze or crash, so I gave up the effort.
Now whenever I turn on my iBook, i briefly get the screen of a folder with a blinking question mark in it. Then after a few seconds, the Apple logo shows up and the computer boots normally. Everything seems fine, but that blinking question mark screen bothers me. I'd like to restore the system software, but I don't have the install discs.
I DO have the software restore discs for my iMac G5, which also runs Tiger (10.4.11). Can I use this to restore the software? Is it a "universal" version of OSX 10.4 suitable to run on a G4, or is specially tailored for the G5?
I bought the iBook used, so there were no install discs, which worries me. But if I can use the discs that came with my G5 to at least perform restore duties, that'd be good.

Check the setting in the Startup Disk pane of System Preferences.
(53439)

Blinking question mark/lost operating system

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