Flashing Folder/Question Mark on Startup

I have been having an issue with my machine for the past couple days, and cannot find the Install Disks to remedy this situation (my OSX 10.4.4 disks will not recognize), so ANY help would be appreciated.
I have been able to troubleshoot using FireWire target disk mode. I've run DiskUtility and DiskWarrior on this machine from another machine and everything checks out with the hard drive, but I keep getting the Flashing Folder/Question Mark on Startup. Safe boot (Shift key at startup AND Shift-Command-V) do not work. Resetting the NVRAM / PRAM does not work.
Suggestions?
I don't need the info on the machine, as I am trying to set this up fresh for my wife.

But I was going on the assumption, as it was an internal drive (not an external data only drive), he had an OS installed, since his problem seemed to be that out of the blue he was getting the flashing folder question mark on startup. He had written +"I have been having an issue with my machine for the past couple days...."+ implying that it had booted normally before that.
Anyway, you're probably right; I'm just puzzled: how would his once bootable OS disappear just like that? Obviously something I'm not understanding here.

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Startup stuck on a Flashing Folder/Question Mark

Aloha,
I have been looking for a solution to my problem for several months now and have never found a solution.
One day my computer froze so I forced a shut down by holding the on/off button.
When I turned on the machine again the folder/question mark appeared.
I have tried all the hot keys.
Option-only shows the refresh and forward buttons but no options.
I thought my hard drive failed, so I bought a new one and installed it.
When I placed the OS DVD in to install a fresh copy I still got the flashing folder/question mark.
I don't know what to do, any suggestions?

sione wrote:
I don't know how to get to the system preferences if i can't get past the flashing folder/question mark.
Correct you'll not be able to...
The question mark appears when the boot loader cannot find a valid OS system/partition.
Here is what I would try:
1. Boot from the OSX installer by inserting the disk into the Mac then power-off. Power-on the Mac and immediately press and hold the "C-key" until you get the installer Language screen. Select your language and continue. The next screen should be the Welcome screen, go to the top and select Utilities/Disk Utilities from the tool bar. Once Disk Utilities is open select your internal (if it appears) then select the first aid tab. In the first aid pane select to run "Repair disk". If "Repair Disk" results in errors then run it again until it reports no errors found. Once "Repair Disk" is complete with no errors then press and run "Repair Permissions". Once complete reboot to test the Mac.
2. If the above does not work then try booting with the Startup Manager, by pressing and holding the "option-key" during boot. The GUI Startup Manager will appear and you can select the drive you wish to boot from.
3. Alternately press the "X-key" during boot.
4. And lastly before we give you the bad news... make sure that the mouse or track-pad button is not being pressed or stuck during system boot.
If none of these works then you most likely have a bad drive. And you'll need to replace it. You do have a back up right?
Do you have another Mac, to use for troubleshooting?

White screen with a flashing folder & question mark

My IMac froze today and when I turned it off and then back on, it just sticks on a white screen with a flashing folder & question mark... Help?

Reinstall Snow Leopard 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 Combo Updater for the version you prefer from support.apple.com/downloads/.
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.

Installed Leopard, boots sporadically - Flashing Folder / Question Mark

I have installed Leopard onto my PowerMac G4. It was working for a few months, now it won't boot up most of the time. I am getting the flashing folder/question mark when I turn the computer on.
This problem doesn't occur all of the time. I was messing around with the two internal hard drives, switching them around inside the machine, and whatever I did must have worked because the computer booted up just fine. All of my files were in tact and everything looked normal. This lasted for about a day. Now my computer is back to the flashing folder on startup.
What could be causing this problem, and how can I fix it? Thanks!

Thanks for helping me, I really appreciate it.
It is the strangest thing. Sometimes it will recognize the hard drive and boot up normally. Other times it hangs on the Apple logo with the spinning wheel. And other times it doesn't recognize the drives at all and gives me the flashing folder. Same thing when I try holding down the option key and use the device manager. Sometimes it will see the drives, and other times it doesn't show anything.
I have replaced the hard drives, the hard drive cables and the PRAM battery. I am running out of ideas! Anything else that you can suggest would be greatly appreciated.

Flashing folder question mark on boot

I started my computer today, and I hear this high-pitched noise and then clicking sounds. Then I see the flashing folder question mark. Could this be hard drive failure? Or is it the DNSChanger virus? I've tried to access the Recovery, but Command-R and the Option key don't work. When I use Option, all I see is a white screen with a pointer.

Compukid wrote:
When I tried Option, it showed a white screen and the cursor.
That's the firmware driven, no drive means either OS X is fried and can't boot, or the drive is dead, or it may be that something is wrong with the Mac or a cable, which if the drive is still good, will work later or in a SATA to USB adpater on another Mac or PC with MacDrive installed. You won't know that unless it's pulled out of the machine.
When I tried to move the mouse (a wireless one, if that helps), it did not move.
Can't use a wireless mouse, as the drivers load with OS X and OS X isn't booting, use the wired one or the trackpad.

TS1440 Air won't boot (flashing folder question mark); tried all the steps

I've read and tried all of the fixes in ts1440 and ts2570 and hit blocks in all cases. Anybody got any more ideas before I schlep my Air to an Apple store?
MacBook Air, 10 months old, running Mountain Lion
It restarts to a flashing folder with question mark.
If I hold down the <option> key, it gives me the option of booting off the internet (takes forever) and then I can use the Disk Utility, etc. The DU Verify Disk says there is no problem with my drive. However, the Startup Disk tool doesn't list the computer hardrive (or anything else) to boot off of.
In the utility I tried the option to reinstall Mountain Lion but it gives me an error message, saying I should call Applecare.
I plug in my Time Machine backup USB disk drive but the utility has the Continue button grayed out for the option Restore from TM.
I've tried rebooting with option-command-P-R to reset the PVRAM, and rebooting holding down the shift key (safe mode).
I don't have physical copies of the OS, I think its all from the cloud/AppStore. I've got a couple other Macs around (mini, macbook) but I don't think I have a compatible cable (without buying a doggle). I always use wifi with the Air.
Thanks for any suggestions.

It restarts to a flashing folder with question mark.
If I hold
down the <option> key, it gives me the option of booting off the
internet (takes forever) and then I can use the Disk Utility, etc.
The
DU Verify Disk says there is no problem with my drive.
However, the
Startup Disk tool doesn't list the computer hard drive (or anything else)
to boot off of.
Since you have TimeMachine you can opt to use Internet Recovery to erase/format the entire drive and restore from that.
1 partition, option: GUID, format: OS X extended journaled in Disk Utility.
If it doesn't work to restore, then take it into Apple as you have a one year warranty, Buy AppleCare.
Also a solo TimeMachine drive isn't the best,
Most commonly used backup methods

Erased disk utility with flashing folder question mark

My macbook pro retina came with Mountain Lion which was later upgraded to Mavericks. I recently decided to sell it and followed instruction on "OS X Mavericks: Erase and reinstall OS X" (http://support.apple.com/kb/PH14243).
After completing the erasing steps in Disk Utility, i moved on to Reinstall OS X. But the system showed up as Mavericks and asked for my Apple ID. Because i didnt want it to link with my ID so I looked up this other method (https://discussions.apple.com/message/23898740#23898740) which tells me to restart holding Command-Option-R.
So after i "erased and quit disk utility" before logging into my Apple ID on the "reinstall os x mavericks" screen, i couldnt find a restart button, so i hold the power button on the keyboard to force off the computer. After i turned the computer back on, i got a FLASHING FOLDER WITH A QUESTION MARK.
please help!!!

Your Mac must be linked to your Apple ID. It's noted in System Preferences > Users & Groups > Password
? on boot means your Mac can't find a system folder to boot from.
Startup your Mac while holiding down the Option key.
That should prompt the Startup Manager window where you can select the starutp disk, (v10.9)
A flashing question mark or globe appears when you start your Mac

New hard drive, flashing folder/question mark

I have a late 2009 macbook. I recently bought a 750gb seagate SATA hard drive. I tried cloning the current hard drive in disk utility which seemed to work fine but would not work when the hard drive was actually inside. Instead I simply got the flashing folder with the question mark inside.
I tried re-formatting it and cloning it again with 'SuperDuper' but had the same problem. I restarted the macbook and tried to reinstall Mountain Lion but then it says that the hard drive is locked.
I don't understand what could be the problem. Any ideas?

If this is Seagate's 750 GB Hybrid (XT750) model, then you should know it doesn't always work in older Macs. Suggest you go for the XT500 model which is older and will work or do not use a hybrid model. Also, some drives that support 6 Gb/s SATA interfaces will not always work in a computer that only supports 3.0 Gb/s or less drives.
EDIT:
It's critical that new drives be prepared correctly as follows:
Drive Partition and Format
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.
If you are preparing an external or a non-startup drive, then open Disk Utility in your Utilities folder.
2. After DU loads select the desired 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 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.

Flashing folder question mark

My wifes mac book worked fine yesterday and earlier today. During her last session (probably surfing the net) mac locked up. She attempted to restart it and now she has a flashing folder with a question mark. Of course the HD is full of info, pictures etc. Any help would be appreciated

Ok, one of three things possibly occured.
1: The firmware "forgot" what the boot drive is.
2: The hard drive is dead or some other hardware issue (disconnect other hardware and reboot)
3: Somehow software got messed up so now it's not considered bootable
1: Reboot the Mac holding the option key down, you hopefully should get a selection of bootable drives with a arrow underneath each one.
See the OS X boot drive? (pray here) now click it and it will boot, head to System Preferences and set the Startup disk to it once again, that will tell the firmware who's boss. Your done, count your blessing and make a backup of the files off the computer to a storage drive.
Most commonly used backup methods
Run through the relevent list of fixes here as best as you can (1-5)
#5 should see if the drive is dead or not as it won't appear on the left side.
Step by Step to fix your Mac
2: If you don't see anything holding the boot key down.
The drive could be dead, however, it might be the Mac, software or the cable, the drive itself, if removed from the Mac and a SATA to USB adapter used ($12-$30 online) it might work just fine on another Mac, or a Windows PC with MacDrive installed to get at the files. (filevaulted no way) you won't know this unless the drive is physically removed from the Mac.
If the drive is truely dead, then there are very expensive platter recovery services for a few grand will take it apart and image the drive. Drive Savers is one for instance.
3: If you don't see a bootable option holding the option key down,
that could mean it's just not bootable, the drive may still work and the data can be recovered. Sometimes something goes wrong with the retention of key info on the drive, so it appears not bootable.
For this you need to create this bootable external drive, then you can hopefully access the internal drive and recover files
Create a data recovery, undelete boot drive
Once you have gotten the files off then you need to perform this proceedure from the 10.6 disk on the entire internal drive.
How to erase and install Snow Leopard 10.6

Flashing Folder Question Mark Question

Hi all,
So on Wednesday this past week, I came into the office, started up the computer, went to get a cup of coffee, came back and found the flashing folder icon with a question mark in it. I used my iTouch to access the web, look for solutions and, as expected, tried to start up from the install disk. I couldn't find the original disk that came with the iMac, but happened to have a 10.5 install DVD so I popped that in, restarted, and waited.
After a minute or so of not doing anything, it promptly gave me that dark grey screen of death, the one with the error message saying "You need to restart your computer" in four or five languages. (Ah crap, I said.) So I shut down and when I restarted, I held down the Eject key to get the 10.5 DVD out. The computer started up normally. No problems.
I promptly backed up everything, repaired permissions, but had no other problems with the computer the rest of the day or all day yesterday.
This morning, I come into the office, same problem. Only this time I hunt down the original install disk that came with the iMac. I start it up and I'm able to get to the install screen. First, I select "Choose startup disk." My hard drive is not visible. I run disk utility. Same deal. No hard drive. Ah crap I say. So, I shut down the computer, restart it while holding down the Eject key. The install disk spits out, and the computer restarts normally.
(I'm backing everything up and running disk utility now.)
Anyone have any idea what's going on here? And, is it time to panic?
Important details: it's a 24 inch iMac purchased a little less than a year ago. It's running 10.5.7 and the last time I updated the software was probably Tuesday, or whenever the new iTunes was released.

As you have not actually seen the onset of the problem, there's still a question of the exact sequence of events (i.e., did the office cat prance on the keyboard?). However, the fact that you get the question mark disk icon (which means the firmware is not finding a bootable drive) twice now, but eventually manage to get the system going leads me to believe the drive may be failing. Odd, but not unheard of; my old PBG4's HDD failed three weeks after purchase and was replaced under warranty.
First order of the day, as soon as you get the thing working again is *BACK EVERYTHING UP* Try to get a suitable sized external drive and do a bootable clone of the startup volume; you can use SuperDuper!, CarbonCopyCloner or even Disk Utility for that purpose. Note that, in a pinch, you don't need a disk the size of the internal drive, you only need the size of the used portion: do a *Get Info* on the Macintosh HD desktop icon and look for the Used: item.
With your system, applications and documents safe, open Disk Utility, click on the device (item above Macintosh HD) and check the +S.M.A.R.T. Status+. If it says anything different from Verified, the HDD has some form of physical damage and should be replaced. Since the Mac is under warranty, you should get in contact with an Apple Store or Apple Authorized Service Provider ASAP before the one-year base warranty runs out (did you purchase AppleCare?).
If the HDD checks out as Verified, get your original Install DVD #1, stick it in, reboot and hold down the D key before the chime. That will load up the Apple Hardware Test diagnostics, which you should then run to verify all the computer. Report back what you find.

Blinking folder question mark at startup

When I startup my Macbook Pro, I just get a blinking file folder with a question mark and can't reset the PRAM.

Solution may be found if you search in the "More Like This" section over in the right column.

Folder question~mark at startup :(

when i start up my computer i get a folder with a blinking question mark. it then starts up fine, but i'd rather not get that sinking/scary feeling every time i startup... how can i get rid of it>?

Hi Jonathan,
You might wish to have a read of the Apple Knowledge Base Article found @:
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58042
for a lengthy discussion of this symptom and remedy.
Hope that helps,
littleshoulders [:-)

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.

2nd instance of flashing folder/question mark

After bringing my MBP into the Apple store last week (2009 with recently upgraded Mountain Lion) for a gray screen, flashing folder with a question mark, went ahead and made a copy of the data I wanted to save (mostly work/school documents and my iTunes library) to have the operating system reinstalled. Diagnostics in the store indicated that my hard drive was functional, but the OS software had been corrupted. The Tech expalined that copying/reinstalling the system would do the trick, and update anything that had been slowing down the system previously (due to it's older manufacture date).
After picking it up from the store today, all seemed fine. I reinstalled most of my applications that had been purchased and was in the process of transferring my iTunes and documents back over when the computer froze, and then persisted with the gray screen/question mark folder combo. Any thoughts of what could be at fault?
Lastly, I've tried getting to the Start Up Manager and Disk Utility as some of the threads have stated, but nothing seems to get it past the flashing folder screen.
Thanks in advance.

There has to be some sort of hardware fault that's causing this and they missed it.
Take the machine back to them and show them it's doing it again.
It looks like a NVRAM disfunction of some sort, we can't assist with this.

Flashing folder/question mark icon & no destination drive

I attempted to wake me PowerBook up from sleep today and only got a flashing question mark in a folder icon. I followed instructions on the Apple site as to what to do when this happens and had no success. I tried repairing the hard drive. I tried fixing the PRAM also; no good. I then decided to try to reinstall OSX and could not find a destination drive. Please help!!

If you don't need anything off the drive, try using disk utility to erase or partition the drive (and format it for Mac OS)
My install CD would not recognize my blank hard drive until I did this.
iMac Intel Core Duo Mac OS X (10.4.6)

Flashing Folder/Question Mark on Startup

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