Bootcamp question mark

After partitioning disk, I restart with windows 7 dvd inserted into the external dvd drive I just used to burn it.
But it restarts with a question mark.
(I must use a external DVD drive becuase macbook pro optical drives don't last.)
(also my dvd drive is streched across my keyboard becuase it needs two USB inputs, and it's short little chord can barly reach across the 15 MBP i use without sitting atop the keyboard)
Cannot fathom what is going on...

Installing W7 from an external disk seems to be hit or miss even on a native Windows computer it seems. It depends on if your computer supports it or not or the moon is aligned with venus, etc.
Might try another USB input/output cable or make sure the drive is connected with an external power supply, maybe the USB port doesn't give enough juice. Some computers only have one port that puts out the full watts needed to power some external devices.
You don't give the year/model or MacOS your using so can't guess what you have or had before.
If you want to try again, if you have a USB thumb drive and have Lion (updated to 10.2 or higher) then Apple enables making a W7 USB installer drive via Boot Camp Assistant.
By the way, they do make longer USB cables.

Similar Messages

MacBook Pro won't boot (question mark folder) after blue screen on windows bootcamp

Hi,
So, I was on windows, using bootcamp, and I was creating partitions on a pen drive with it, and then it asks me that it needs to restart to apply changes.
But then, while restarting, a blue screen occurred (**** windows).... And I forced the shutdown pressing the power key.
Then, I simply turned the MacBook on, trying to boot on my snow leopard and I got a flashing folder with a question mark on it.
Now I can't access any partitions on it, if I press option key on startup I get a blank window!
I tried to reset PRAM, repair the MacOs partition using the snow leopard DVD (it shows up fine, along with windows partition and EFI partition), and I still don't get my startup disk showing up...
How can I fix this? I can't loose my files and I need to work with it :/

I just fixed it!
For future reference, what I did was:
- Booting from OSX DVD, go to disk utility
- Erase windows partition (yap, I lost it...)
- Do a "repair disk" on every partition of my hard drive
- Restart
And it just worked ;)
Thankfully I had no important files on my windows partition, now I will just reinstall it.

Bootcamp start flashing question mark

Hello!
When I want to start my MBP 15-inch, Mid 2010 with bootcamp partition /start machine ALT, chose bootcamp partition/ I see only a folder with flashing question mark. It happened after when I change system 10.9. It was a clean installation /with usb, erase the Mac OS X/
I make ALT + CMD +P + R when start the machine, but nothing change.
I check DU smatr the hdd is verified.
I try to reinstall the windows7, but after installation when restart the machine, same folder with flashing question mark.
My OS X is working fine, if I put DVD, or USB I can start. Only the bootcamp not working.
I go to bootcamp and it shows me: "The startup disk cannot be partitioned or restored to a single partition." I can chose only "OK" , and after "Go Back"
On my machine I have 3 partition: -1 OS X -2 data -3 Bootcamp
Before I install the new system it was ok!
My old system was 10.6.3, a month ago I upgrede at 10.6.8. On the bootcamp partition it was windows 8.0.
The partitions was same like now, I not changed.
How can I install again the windows?

Just replace the hard drive.
If he lost data, look at data recovery services*:
http://www.macmaps.com/backup.html
And in the future always recommend people backup important data frequently.
If he still gives you death threats, call the police.
- * Links to my pages may give me compensation.

My macbook is getting the question mark folder and also my start up disks are gone

A few weeks back I turned on my macbook and discovered that it cannot boot up anymore. There was absolutely no precedent to this. I didn't drop it (I've dropped it many times in the past if that matters, and may have placed it down on my desk a little to aggressively the night before), and I had no problem using my computer right before going to bed. I just closed it went to sleep and the next morning my computer was malfunctioning. Whenever I turn it on the computer is stuck at a grey screen with a blinking picture of a folder with a question mark on it. I thought my computer was a lost cause and I bought a new one, but now I am in desperate need of recovering my lost files on my old computer which I still have.
So I go to the internet for help, with my goal being to just fix my old macbook or at least salvage the data, and read that the thing to do is press command+R when the computer boots up and fire up internet recovery, then go to disk utility and fix the drive/disc/whatever from there. So I press command+R at start up, and I get past the loading screen with the globe and go to a menu giving me the options of disk utility, time machine, reinstallation, and looking on mac forums for help. I click on disk utility and my mac os x disc does not appear to be on the left hand side. There is one disk under a disk that says Disk1 that says MAC OS X BASE SYSTEM or something to that effect on it, but if you click on its info it says that that particular disc has a total capacity of only 1.39 GB, so that can't be it, right? Also when I click on it it doesn't give me the option to verify or repair it. There's another disk at the very top of the left hand side that says 4.14 GB ST_M13FQ8L M... but it also has a low total capacity.
After I find no help in disk utility I decide to take a different route and see if I have any time machine back ups and it asks me to select the disk that contains the backup I want to restore, but the list that is shown is empty. I don't remember ever setting up a time machine back up so this doesn't surprise me.
So I move on to another solution- to try and reinstall MAC OS X Lion and it takes me to a window where it asks me to select the disc where I want to install MAC OS X Lion, but the the little white box under the message that is supposed to show a list or something of the available selections/discs is completely empty. So I have no start up discs?
Then I click shut down on the upper left hand corner of the screen to turn of my computer and another window appears asking me to select the system i want to use to start up my computer but that box is also completely empty.
I don't know what to do this at this point, and I don't know how to interpret the situation either, even after researching the issue on the internet. Does this mean that my harddrive/disc or whatever is completely gone/broken? And more importantly does this mean that all of my data is gone forever? Or is the system or computer itself broken or something like that, but my hard drive is intact? Now that I have a new computer all I really need is to somehow transfer the data from my broken computer to my new one, and don't really need to "fix" my computer- but if fixing it is the only means to see my data again that's what I want to do. And also can I fix this manually by myself, or does this require professionals. And if i do need to hire someone, how much will this typically cost? Thanks!
Some other facts: The macbook in question (the broken one) is an aluminum 13 inch macbook pro from I think 2012, maybe 2011, and used to run on Mavericks. I also used to have windows bootcamp on it but i rarely used it. The macbook has been having some problems for a while and recently started to slowly break down. The USB ports stopped working completely, all of its apps were slow and glitched a lot, the battery in it was nearly dead (it said REPLACE SOON where the battery symbol used to be on the upper right hand corner of the screen), but it still worked at a base level and I used it for work and stuff, up until this point of course.

This document should give you some leads as to what to do.
A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac

A flashing folder with question mark

Dear all,
I have a rather strange problem with my MacBook Pro (13-inch, Late 2011). Whenever I start my computer I see a flashing folder with a question mark. I know this is supposed to be a common problem wich can be usually solved by the solution provided by Apple support (http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1440) However, my issue is different. Here is how it all started: I wanted to install Windows using bootcamp. The installer complained that my hard disk was corrupted and that I need to repair it using the recorvery HD. When I tried, I was asked to provide the firmware password. Since I did not have it ( I wrote it it on a piece of paper that I did not have access to at the moment), I went back and restarted my in target mode so I can back up my documents on another mac. Unfortunatelly, after restarting in target mode, I was asked to provide the firmare password again. When I finally got the password, my computer restarted with a flashing folder with a question mark. I have tried all troubleshooting available on the internet and nothing seems to work. Some people thing that I need to replace my internal HD cable. However, how can this be? I didn't mess up with my hard disk at all. During the troubleshooting, I used a bootable hard-drive, and notice that I could no longer see my HD in the list of available hard-driver. It is like it is completely gone. Can someone please suggest any solution? Please keep in mind that I live thousands of miles away from any Apple store. I can't get any official support. I have to fix this myself.
Thanks for your assistance.

You very well may be having a problem with a faulty SATA cable - go to www.ifixit.com and search for your model number and the part number of the cable. Then go to eBay and search for the part number. You'll find a cable much less expensive on eBay than from ifixit.
You won't know unless you try!
Clinton

What does a blinking file folder with a question mark indicate?

What does a blinking file folder with a question mark indicate? I cannot get past it or do anything with the unit.

glamiera wrote:
What does a blinking file folder with a question mark indicate?
That's the firmware telling you it can't find the operating system it's been assigned to boot from.
It could be because it forgot somehow, or the operating system is no longer there or readable or the hardware holding the operating system has failed.
Hold the power button to force a hardware shutdown, then reboot holding the option/alt key held down on the wired or built in keyboard, icons will hopefully load on the screen and if OS X appears, click the arrow to boot from it.
Once in OS X, head to System Preferences > Startup Disk and select your boot drive so it can remind the firmware.
If there is no OS X boot volume, just recovery or Bootcamp (if Windows installed) then you need to perform more work.
Create a data recovery/undelete external boot drive
To get a copy of your files off the drive.
Step by Step to fix your Mac
To fix your machine and find out (hardware test) if it's a hardware issue of some sort.

Question mark (?) where My Boot Camp Applications used to be

I have just upgraded to Mountain Lion and therefore needed to upgrade my Parallels to version 7. However on the upgrade to Mountain Lion, the My Boot Applications Folder became a question mark (?) and I was prompted to upgrade to Parallels 7 which I have done.
I have since read that boot Camp 4.0 (which I presume is included with Mountain Lion) does not support Windows XP which I run from both Boot Camp and Parallels. I can boot OK from both ways, but have the annoying question mark in the dock.
Does anybody have any idea's?
Many thanks
Andrew

This is a function of Parallels not Bootcamp.
Drag the broken alias out of the dock and release it in a puff of virtual smoke.
Next tme you start Parallels do not launch your VM but right click on it in the VM window panel and select configure from the pop out window panel.
Click on the options button and Applications
Make sure the share windows applications with Mac and show Windows folder in dock are ticked .
Parallels will then recreate folder alias.
As for Bootcamp 4 not supporting XP this is correct, however if you created your Bootcamp partition prior to Lion/Mountain Lion you may still have Bootcamp 3.6 drivers with an XP install i know i do.

Macbook pro folder with question mark

I am working on a neighbors macbook pro here.
When I startup the laptop, a folder with a question mark appears. It will not go away and nothing else happens.
This laptop was working fine until bootcamp was installed, then he erased all the contents of the hard drive in firewire mode using another computer, so I am pretty sure it is not any kind of hardware problem.
I CAN hold down the T key and boot into firewire mode. When I do this the hard drive and system appears ok in my powerbook that it is connected to.
I went to the apple store and bought the latest tiger 10.4.6, but I am hearing that this will not work with the intel based macbook pro's.
I tried booting holding the c key, the command key, option key etc, all with the same result, the flashing folder with a question mark.
Does anyone know for sure if the Install discs for the macbook pros are different than the one I just bought from the mac store?
We do not have the original discs that came with this computer, It is the 15 inch macbook pro.
Any help here is greatly appreciated!

The Tiger retail install package is not the same as the Tiger install package that ships with an Intel Mac.
Since Intel Macs are new and all ship with Tiger pre-installed, the Tiger retail install package is for PPC Macs only since there is no reason for Apple to supply a retail version that is compatible with Intel Macs. The next OS X version when released (retail install package) will be compatible with both PPC and Intel Macs or provided separately for each.
The install package that ships with a new Mac purchase is very important and should be kept in a safe place. For one and a very important reason, it includes all additional software provided with the new Mac purchase that is not included with a Tiger retail install package.
Your neighbor needs to contact AppleCare or visit the local Apple Store and request a replacement Tiger install package that shipped with this Mac. Although not provided for free, the cost will probably include covering shipping and handling only but I don't speak for Apple.

I installed the window 7 os in to my mac book pro. after that the partition is not supported and then the folder with question mark flashing on my screen. plaese helf me what to do next to resume the mac os x?

i installed the window 7 ultimate OS in to my mac book pro. after that the partition is not supported and then the folder with question mark flashing on my screen. plaese helf me what to do next to resume mac mac os x?

Assuming that you tried to install Win 7 in bootcamp.
Power on the machine and press and hold the "option" key when you hear the bong sound.
Select the Macintosh HD icon and press "return" or just click on the icon.
Once booted into OS X go to System Preferences and select the Startup Disk icon and configure startup to use the Macintosh HD.

Question mark when running Windows

When running Windows Vista on my iMac - Leopard OS and it is idle after "a while" I see a flashing disk object with a blinking question mark. Only way out is the off button. I have read about this problem during start ups but this after the machine is on and running and is idle. Any ideas?
iMac 3.06 Windows Vista

I am running from Bootcamp. It is very odd - this error occurs when Windows has booted succesfully and multipkle apps and games have been run over the course of the day then after being idle for a while in the evening - bingo the screen goes grey and the disk with the flashing question mark is there and as said the only next step is the off button. When I boot back up in Windows it runs fine until the same error ocurrs sometime after use and it is idle, that is no apps running. I have run Norton and Malwarbytes virus scans with nothing found. I run Registry clean up and after that fixes items same thing. Also I run TuneUp which has kept everything running smoothly - I do not engage TurboBoost.

HDD Failure? Flashing Folder Question Mark

Well I have had my Macbook (White) for over 3 years now and has not caused my one problem until today. I went to boot my mac and I just kept on getting to the apple screen and the spinning circle thing underneath, I left it for a bit and then force shut it down (hold power button) and tried again and again. Then I decided to go onto my Windows bootcamp side of my Mac; so I pressed the option (alt) key to view my partitions. I went on to the windows and it loaded up to a black screen and an error came up: 'NTDETECT FAILED'. So I had to force shut down again. and let it boot into Mac again. Then the flashing question mark folder came up; so I forced quit and tried to boot again and the same thing happened again so I left it on for a bit and then I heard a clicking noise and got worried and forced shut down. Then tried to boot again holding the option (alt) key to show my partitions and neither my Windows or Mac partition would show up! So I inserted my Linux live CD and that worked fine (booted etc). So I tried to boot once more into mac and fail. So I googled (thanks to my iMac) the symptoms and I found it could be a HDD failure, and tried many of the advised suggestion. I put the tiger install disk in and booted up from it (I was given tiger disk + leopard upgrade disk on purchase) and tried to use disk utility and repair permissions etc... everything failed.
1. So is it as I discovered?
2. Anything I can do to recover data/ get my HDD back?
3. Do I need a HDD replacement? If so how much will it cost? (Warranty ran out)
4. Any advice / comments?
Please feel free to share your experiences and advice. Any help is welcome!
Thanks in advance
DjHitzz

Welcome to the Apple discussions.
There are a couple of reasons you could get the question mark on the folder, however, when you add the clicking sound and that disk utility can't find anything to work with, that all points to a bad hard drive. This won't make you feel better, but between 3-5 years is when laptop drives often start to fail.
So, what are your options ..... you'll need a new hard drive. If you're handy inside a computer, you can do this yourself or you can pay for someone else to do that. If you take it to Apple, they will keep your existing, broken hard drive as a trade in, which bothers some people who might want to recover data off of it or are concerned because there may be personal information on the drive. And Apple may use a refurbished hard drive, and personally, a brand new hard drive isn't that expensive ($50-$75+ depending on size), and I'd rather have a new hard drive than a refurbished one that already has had a problem.
Getting data off a dead drive .... there are services that will extract your data off your dead drive, but be prepared to pay dearly for it. You can search these discussions for recommendations or google it.
After you replace your bad hard drive, figure out how to backup your data, either to an external hard drive or to an online service. Much cheaper than paying someone to recover data off a bad hard drive.

Screen is white with a flashing file an question mark

On start up screen is frozen now has file with a question mark in the middle

Hold the option key down and reboot the machine by pressing the power button down hard.
A list of icons appear, that's called Startup Manager, if you see your OS X boot volume click the arrow, now head to System Preferences > Startup items and remind it to boot again from the OS X boot volume.
If you don't see your OS X boot volume, then it's messed up or the drive or hardware is
If you have Bootcamp or OS X 10.7-10.8 installed you should see a Recovery or BootCamp as a selection. If you have a 10.6 install disk inserted, you will see that as a bootable option.
If you have 10.7-10.8 and not Recovery HD appears, the drive, cable or the Mac is likely in more serious trouble.
You can do data recovery first before erasing the Macintosh HD partiton if ti comes to doing that if you don't have a backup
Create a data recovery/undelete external boot drive
If the easy fix doesn't fix the issue, then you might want to consider getting some paid local Mac help to recover files and restore your machine again.

Question marks/drivers in Device Manager on Mac Pro Win Xp

I have attempted to slipstream and install the SATA drivers onto a separate drive in my Mac Pro. It is confusing though, some people say use he ACHI version of the drivers while others say use the RAID. I used the raid. Anyway I did not install the chipset drivers but used the drivers produced by Boot Camp 1.1. I installed them after the Win XP install. When I look at device manager I have question marks (?) by the following items;
Other devices- Base system device, under System devices-Intel 5000 Series chipset PCI Express x4 port3-25E3, port5, port 6, and port 7. I also have a driver with question mark called PCI device. Does anyone else have similar issues. What should I do if anything? Thanks.
Mac Pro Mac OS X (10.4.6) 100gb 7200rpm HD + 2gb Ram

I used the Raid drivers as well and have very good performance on any drive activity. As for the other drivers, most people have had luck with using the BootCamp 1.1 Mac driver CD that you can create from the BootCamp Assistant.
It covers the Intel chipset drivers, Ethernet drivers, and typically the Audio chipset. My system still have '!' on the Interl 5000 Series Chipset PCI E x4 port 3-7, but seems to have no effect on the system. The last PCI device would most likely be your Audio Chipset, again try the CD created by BootCamp.

Imac wont boot only shows flashing question mark folder (long)

Imac 21.5 late 2009 with no upgrades.
Had previously turned on bootcamp inadvertently without installing Windows OS. On shutdown accidently picked start Windown on next startup and since has only shown flashing question mark.
Tried to boot to single user mode, safe mode or verbose mode without success.
Could not find orginal OS disk that came with computer so used OS disk from a 13' Macbook pro (mid 2009). Would boot to OS installer but got error when it tried to install. Was able to get past this and use Disk Utility and did repair permisions and repair disk without change in result.
Tried rest PRAM and NVRAM without success.
Then found that the OS disk from the Macbook was a different build and finally found OSX installation disk that came with computer and will boot to MAC OSX installer. Did repair disk permision and repair disk without change.
Reloaded OSX without change.
With disk in will boot to single user or verbose mode but I dont know enough to know what to fix from there. I am assuming somehow boot files have become corrupt.
Any help? Thanks

I didn't read your complete post however by the subject line alone it appears your computer cannot locate it's startup volume per: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1440
The easiest way to remedy that is to restart while holding down the C key on your keyboard. After the computer has restarted then go to System Preferences - Startup Disk and choose the internal HD and then click restart to test.
Roger

Booting problem - first question mark folder and now grey screen

Hi all,
I'm having problems with my Macbook booting.
Yesterday it worked fine until I tried to open an old Excel file, then all became extremely slow, but anyway I was able to shut it down properly, or at least this was what I thought.
The next time I tried to turn it on, a flashing question mark forder appeared instead of the apple. Then I tried various solutions I've found in forums, like turning on while holding down shift button like in http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1455 (nothing happens), the option botton (the cursor appears, but bootcamp does not start), and command+V for verbose mode (nothing).
Anyway now if I turn it on nothing appears, neither the question mark folder, just the grey screen.
I know that everything suggests that my HD is dead, but I don't really see the reason why it should have done so...
Thank you for your help.
Giulia

Hello,
"*a flashing question mark forder appeared instead of the apple."*
A flashing question mark can mean several things. One, the hard disk disk is failing. Two, it means that when you boot your MacBook, it can't find a System Folder to boot from.
Try booting while holding down the Option key. That should prompt the Startup Manager window so you can select your startup disc.
If that doesn't work... grab your install disk and check the hard drive for errors.
Insert the installer disk and Restart, holding down the "C" key until grey Apple appears.
Go to Installer menu (Panther and earlier) or Utilities menu (Tiger and later) and launch Disk Utility.
Select your HDD (manufacturer ID) in the left panel.
Select First Aid in the Main panel.
(Check S.M.A.R.T Status of HDD at the bottom of right panel. It should say: Verified)
Click Repair Disk on the bottom right.
If DU reports disk does not need repairs quit DU and restart.
If DU reports errors Repair again and again until DU reports disk is repaired.
When you are finished with DU, from the Menu Bar, select Utilities/Startup Manager.
Select your start up disk and click Restart
The fact that you can't boot in Safe Mode (shift key) is not a good sign...
*"but I don't really see the reason why it should have done so..."*
How long have you had your MacBook? Do you have AppleCare?
Carolyn

Bootcamp question mark

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