Envelop with a question mark

My MacBook when I turn it on I get a white screen with a envelope With a question mark in the middle of the envelope.
Also the internals are making a scraping noise every now and again while the envelope is flashing
Thanks

That folder with the question mark icon means that the MacBook can't find the boot directory. That can either mean it can't find the hard drive or the Operating System data on the hard drive is somehow corrupted.
Put your install DVD into the optical drive and reboot. As soon as you hear the boot chime, hold down the "c" key on your keyboard (or the Option key until the Install Disk shows up). That will force your MacBook to boot from the install DVD in the optical drive.
When it does start up, you'll see a panel asking you to choose your language. Choose your language and press the Return key on your keyboard once. It will then present you with an Installation window. Completely ignore this window and click on Utilities in the top menu and scroll down to Disk Utility and click it. When it comes up is your Hard Drive in the list on the left?
If it is then click on the Mac OS partition of your hard drive in the left hand list. Then select the First Aid Tab and run Repair Disk. The Repair Disk button won't be available until you've clicked on the Mac OS partition on your hard drive. If that repairs any problems run it again until the green OK appears and then run Repair Permissions.
If your hard drive isn’t recognized in Disk Utility then your hard drive is probably dead.

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My computer does not start . It shows an envelope with a question mark. Can anyone tell me what to do?

My computer does not start I turn it on and it shows an envelope with a question mark.
Can anyone tell me how to fix it.

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I have some old pagemaker files that I need to open so I have bought a G3 on ebay. It turns on OK but all that comes uo on the screen is an envelope with alternating question mark and apple logo. Any ideas?

I have some old pagemaker files that I need to open so I have bought a G3 on ebay. It turns on OK but all that comes uo on the screen is an envelope with alternating question mark and apple logo. Any ideas?

I suggest you get 9.2. You need to install the same or later version of the OS. One some computer the shipped version has extra drivers. The drivers will not be in the official release in this case 9.1. They would be in 9.2.
Mac OS 9.1 (Mac OS ROM 7.5.1) and Mac OS X 10.0.4 (4P13)
*blinking question mark*
The blinking question mark means that your mac firmware could not find a valid operating system
on one of your disk volumes.
Somethings to do to resolve the blinking question mark.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58042
Try holding down the option key then power on. This brings up the startup manager. Click on your hd. Click on right arrow key.
You need to figure out the level of your firmware before installing 10.2 or greater. ( The PC name for firmware is BIOS. ) Installing 10.2 with a down level firmware will most likely make your iMac unusable and difficult to fix.
What is firmware?
The firmware software receives control when you poweron your machine. It does some hardware testing and some hardware configuration then passes control to your version of Mac OS. It reside on a PROM ( program read only memory ) chip on the logic board.
Figuring out what level of firmware you have?
Open Firmware, boot into Open Firmware.
Power on your iMac while holding down command+option+o+f
The first output line contains the firmware level. Mine reads:
Apple PowerMac4,1 4.1.9f1 BootRom built on 09/14/01 at 13.18.04
Copyright 1994-2001 Apple Computer Inc.
On my machine, I have 4.1.9f1.
What firmware do you need?
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=86117
For a slot loading iMac, this article indicates that you need to be running 9.1 or later version of Mac OS Classic.
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=75130
"The iMac Firmware Update 4.1.9 will only run on iMac computers with lot-loading CD or DVD drives running Mac OS 9.1 or later from a local drive. If you are using Mac OS X you must boot from a local Mac OS 9.1 or later writeable partition (not a CD, or network disk) prior to following the update instructions."
You can download the Mac OS 9 updates from the Apple site.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1387?viewlocale=en_US

What does it mean when starting up, all you get is an envelope with a question mark in it?

what does it mean when starting up, all you get is an envelope with a question mark in it?

You should reinstall OS X. See the following for reinstalling instructions for Lion/Mountain Lion or Snow Leopard:
Reinstall OS X without erasing the drive
Do the following:
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 the 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.

I got a flashing folder with a question mark. I got a new hard drive and upgraded to 4 gigs and can't open anything or reload the operating system? Help?

I got a flashing folder with a question mark. I got a new hard drive and upgraded to 4 gigs and can't open anything or reload the operating system? Help? FYI: I have been using boot camp with windows 7 and started getting a kernal_data_Page_error and it would reboot windows, i was trying to do a chkdsk on the next reboot, but thats when i started getting this issue. I have put in a new hard drive and went from 2 gigs to 4. I can not get the computer to do anything, even the monitor does not show anything now????

Prep your new drive:
Drive Preparation
1. Boot from your OS X 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.
2. After DU loads select your hard drive (this is the entry with the mfgr.'s ID and size) from the left side list. Note the SMART status of the drive in DU's status area. If it does not say "Verified" then the drive is failing or has failed and will need replacing. SMART info will not be reported on external drives. Otherwise, click on the Partition tab in the DU main window.
3. Under the Volume Scheme heading set the number of partitions from the drop down menu to one. Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID (for Intel Macs) or APM (for PPC Macs,) then click on the OK button. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Partition button and wait until the process has completed.
4. Select the volume you just created (this is the sub-entry under the drive entry) from the left side list. Click on the Erase tab in the DU main window.
5. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Security button, check the button for Zero Data and click on OK to return to the Erase window.
6. Click on the Erase button. The format process can take up to several hours depending upon the drive size.
After formatting has completed quit DU and return to the installer. Install OS X.

White Macbook has folder with a question mark inside when powered on.

My brother has a white macbook given to him from a friend and when it is powered on it shows a folder icon with a question mark in the inside flashing and it doesn't boot. He has sent me on a quest to get a power adapter and a new hard drive, He thinks the hard drive is fried. Does anyone know for sure if thats the case, I just don't want to buy all that stuff to figure out that the logic board is dead or something else irreplaceable. There is no backup disks, all I have is a replacement leopard disk from apple used for my mac mini.

If it is a retail Leopard disc--black with a giant purple X on it--then yes, you could use them, with a couple of caveats. One, it would technically be a violation of the license to use that install of Leopard on more than one computer, and terms of use on this forum forbid me from encouraging such an action. And two, depending on how old this used MacBook is, your install of Leopard may pre-date manufacture of the MacBook and, as a result, not be able to boot the MacBook anyway. However, judging by the info in your signature, that is probably not a problem.
If the disc for your Mini is gray and shipped with or was meant to ship with the Mini, then no, the disc will not work.
I still encourage you to get the system discs that came with the MacBook originally, as they have the Apple Hardware Test included, and, as I suggested above, running any OS (or other Apple software) on a Mac without the discs means technically it's an unlicensed copy.

When I boot up my I get a grey screen with a flashing folder with a question mark

I was trying to set up a bootable Linux flash drive for another computer using UNetbootin and I accidentally selected an empty partition on my hard drive instead of the USB I was trying to use. It went through the install process, and I didn't realize it was on my computer rather than the USB. The computer worked fine, so I thought nothing of it.
Today, I go to mess with my computer and it is frozen at the login screen. I restart it, and now I just get a blinking folder with a question mark. I try to go into recovery, but it isn't there. Internet Recovery works fine, but when I go to use Disk Utility or to reinstall the OS it cannot find the internal Hard Disk.
What am I supposed to do here? I don't want to lose all my data.

greenbil1
You can contact AppleCare to buy a replacement set of the oringinal Install discs for a nominal cost. You will need the serial number and a credit card to place the order.

So i have a 2011 MacBook Pro and when i turned it on this morning a flashing folder came on with a question mark in the middle of it and it keeps flashing. So i tried googling any solutions and up so far nothing has worked. Please Help ?

I tried googling several solutions, but so far nothing seems to work. Everytime i start up my laptop i press CMND+R to make it go to the repair disk utility but instead it takes me as if i have to install lion when i had Snow Leopard 10.6.8. When i do go to the repair disk utility, on the eft hand side shows two hardrives one is Untitled and another is Hitachi, i tried downloading snow leopard 10.6.8 onto a Re-writable disc using my windows computer. When i insterted it onto the disc drive it came out under SUPER DRIVE and everytime i double click on the CD it says something about attaching images/ I also forgot to mention that the MAC OSX 10.6.8 Update shows on the left hand side on the bottom in DMG format. I dont know what else to do, please help?

DestroyGalaxies wrote:
a flashing folder came on with a question mark in the middle of it
This is the firmware telling you it can't find a bootable OS X volume.
Usually to solve this all you do is hold the option key down on the built in keyboard while booting the computer, this enters Startup Manager and then you choose OS X to boot, then in System Preferences > Startup Disk you change it to the boot volume and it tells the firmware.
Everytime i start up my laptop i press CMND+R to make it go to the repair disk utility but instead it takes me as if i have to install lion when i had Snow Leopard 10.6.8.
What you have is a 10.7 or 10.8 Recovery HD from when 10.7 or 10. was on the machine previously.
The Macintosh HD partition only was erased and 10.6 installed on it, without erasing the entire drive like what should have occured to remove the Recovery HD partition.
So you have a mucked up machine.
i tried downloading snow leopard 10.6.8 onto a Re-writable disc using my windows computer.
Well there goes your problem there, your downloading illegal copies of Snow Leopard from a untrusted location.
10.6 is not available for download, except from pirate sites. You likely have malware or a compromised system.
I dont know what else to do, please help?
What you need to do is call Apple via phone, tell them the make of your machine and order the appropriate 10.6 disks, they are inexpensive now. Some machines that came with 10.6.3+ origianlly need machine specific disks, other wise pre-10.6.3 Intel Macs can use the 10.6.3 white retail disks.
Once you have the disks, you need to backup your personal information off the computer to a external storage drive using the emergency quick copy method, then disconnect it to prevent mistakes.
Most commonly used backup methods
Next follow this proceedure and make sure to select the ENTIRE drive on the far left with the drive makers name and size, this will erase the entire drive, then install 10.6 from the disk
How to erase and install Snow Leopard 10.6
When finished setup the machine and log onto the Internet and use Software Update to get current on 10.6.8
Don't use pirated software, it's likely been compromised in some fashion.

Since upgrading to Mavericks, 10.9.1, pictures that come attached to emails no longer display. There is only a blank space that after about 1 minute, has a small box with a question mark. How can I go back to attached images?

Since upgrading to Mavericks, 10.9.1, pictures that come attached to emails no longer display. There is only a blank space that after about 1 minute, has a small box with a question mark. Double clicking on the box will open the image in a separate window. It's very slow and tedious for multiple images. How can I go back to attached and displayed images? If I click on "Forward", the images appear instantly in the email to be forwarded.

Scott,
My problem seemed to fix itself. Or, by shutting down the computer one night, instead of putting it to sleep, may have reset something. Since updating to Mavericks, I always (or usually) let the computer sleep overnight or anytime I'm walking away from it. A few days ago, I was updating notes for my kids about how to find all my stuff and how to turn on my computer, so I wanted to rewrite the start-up procedures for the iMac, just in case they ever need to. Well, I shut it down one night so the following morning, I could write down each step. Lo and behold, the images, etc. are all there again! Solved, but I'm not sure why.
Tom

I keep getting the little blue box with the question mark

Hi
I have 10.6.7 system software and my safari is 5.0.4
I have called apple twice with this problem already but nothing has helped except for short times.
I have reset safari about one dozen times and when I do I reset the top 7 items and I've emptied the cache in addition just in case. I've also taken my safari preference plist out of my library and trashed it.
And I've run disk utilities many times and restarted my computer. Each thing I do will solve the problem for a short time, even up to a day or more (or less) but then it comes back. For instance on Facebook maybe 1/8th of the thumbnail images have the little blue boxes with the question marks but most don't. I can't figure it out. Sometimes even the iPAD safari gets them too but my firefox doesn't show them and neither does Safari on my eMac.
Yesterday the question marks even showed up in ONE mailing on all 3 computers with the question marks in the blue boxes (meaning my iMac, my eMac and my iPad) but then it just all resolved after a few hours. This does sound like possibly a server problem except today it's happening (in Safari again) only on this iMac in Safari (not firefox) and not on the other two devices.
One more thing, since they changed my radio on the roof for my wireless internet, the 5.8 phone cuts out the internet when I use it. The problem has gotten worse since they changed the radio to the same frequency as the phone, it's a much faster service than the 2.4 radio. I don't know if this is related or not.
Thank you,
Martha

<Contact your ISP.
Is it possible, Carolyn, that this would mainly and almost always be only affecting the iMac and Safari in the iMac if it were a server issue? Right now Safari has more blue boxes with question marks than ever and the eMac and iPad have none. Firefox on the iMac has none also.
I should try a direct connection and by pass the router and see if that makes a difference.
I will contact them tomorrow but I want to get clear in my head first all the facts and possibilities.
Thanks!
Martha

How to fix a problem with my book pro that has a gray screen with a folder with a question mark on it

does any one know how to fix a problem with my book pro that has a gray screen with a folder with a question mark on it?

Hello Mokhtary123 and welcome to Apple Support Communities,
It will help us diagnose your problem to know the exact model, size, year built, RAM installed and OS you're running.
But basically your system can't find the boot disk. Usually this is a symptom of a dead/dying/corrupted hard drive;
A flashing question mark or globe appears when you start your Mac - Apple Support
OS X Recovery
http://support.apple.com/en-us/HT4718

How do I get rid of the flashing file with a question mark in it?

I wanted to start clean on my MacBook Pro osx 10.9.4. So I did the command r and erased what I thought was the right one. I restarted my computer and did the command r again and what came up was internet recovery. It can't find my internet because it's WEP and I don't know to change it to wpa. So I restarted my computer again and I didn't do the command r but just let it load itself to see what would happen and all I get is a flashing file with a question mark. I don't know what to do. Someone please help me.

Do you get this display?
If so, you have to select an Internet connection. Do not expect quick response time in this mode. All activities in this mode will be lengthy.
Ciao.

Why do some of my emails have blue squares with a question mark instead of a picture or bar code?

Why do some of my emails have blue squares with a question mark instead of a picture or bar code?

No app installed that will view the pics and bar codes.
Which email client are you using? Which version?
File suffix of the pics & bar codes? Example: .pic, .bmp, .jpg, etc.

Box with a question mark inside instead of the picture or graphic

I notice when I open i-Tunes 10.1.1 or the App Store most everywhere there are supposed to be graphics or pictures there is just a box with a question mark inside?
I am up to date on all software, what do I need to do to get the graphics to come up?
Thanks

"OS X Lion includes a new feature called Lion Recovery that includes all of the tools you need to reinstall Lion, repair your disk, and even restore from a Time Machine backup without the need for optical discs."
See: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718
If this doesn't work, it is likely that your HDD has failed, or is failing.

When I open an email there is a small blue box with a question mark instead of the picture. How do I change my settings so the pictures show up?

I'm not able to view pictures in gmail. Where the picture should be is a outline and a small blue square in the middle with a question mark. How do I fix that so I can see my pictures?

Try going to Mail/Preferences, Viewing, make sure display remote images in HTML messages box is checked.

Envelop with a question mark

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