Folder with question mark and the computer is unable to detect Macintosh HD

Turning on the computer, there is a gray folder with a question mark and it is flashing. Then, I turn off the computer, and go to boot by clicking option at the same time. After I get into the screen, I try to reinstall my computer, but it can not detect the Macintosh HD or other driver that there is no place to install the system. I try to turn on my computer when clicking left ****, left control, and left option. It does not work also. Is there any thing i can do?
can i go to saft mode?

There isn't anything you can do for there. If you have a 2012 MBA your solid state drive has probably failed (mine did two weeks ago). I wasn't able to get into safe mode or do anything with it. I installed the OS onto a USB to get onto the machine properly, but I couldn't get into the hard drive.
If the SSD has failed, you will need to replace the drive, make an appointment with Apple and see if they can help you. If you are outside your warranty there is still a chance they will replace it for free.

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When booting up get flashing apple folder with question mark and no sign, why?

When booting up get flashing apple folder with question mark and no sign, why? Computer will not open up. I have tried resetting the Pram. I can access the hard drive from another computer holding down the t key when starting up the Macbook Pro. What to do next?

The cable connecting the HDD to the logic board may be faulty. If the internal HDD can boot the MBP when in an external enclosure, that will confirm this issue. If not, the HDD may need to be replaced.
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Folder with question mark and smiling mac face at start up

After I was importing some video today, shut down G5 and on start up I get the folder with question mark and smiling mac face.
Any help?
Power Mac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.8)

Boot from a drive with Disk Warrior 4, or your emergency boot drive (FW or alternate) or if you lack that, use single user mode to run fsck command. The last option would be your Tiger DVD but that may be 10.4.3 or earlier and not your best.
I say that because it seems like it was more than just needing to reset the startup disk preference and may have a corrupt directory. It shutdown smoothly and fully?
At the least, using the OPTION key and SHIFT key for Safe Boot. My recollection of trying to do both is that it won't. You can do one or the other, but not both. So running FSCK is just insurance to repair the directory.

I have macbook mid 2009, with os leopard and I updated it till yosemite now while deleting partition I erased the main hitachi drive , now I have no backups and while switching on it shows folder with question mark,inserting the grey dvd it keep spin

Have macbook mid 2009, with leopard, updated to yosemite, while erasing partition erased hd, dot have backups, powerup shows folder with question mark, inserting grey dvd shows apple and spinning wheel, please help

Clean Install of Snow Leopard
     1. Boot the computer using the Snow Leopard Installer Disc or the Disc 1 that came
         with your computer. Insert the disc into the optical drive and restart the computer.
         After the chime press and hold down the "C" key. Release the key when you see
         a small spinning gear appear below the dark gray Apple logo.
     2. 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 the hard drive entry from the left side list (mfgr.'s ID and drive
         size.) Click on the Partition tab in the DU main window. Set the number of
         partitions to one (1) from the Partitions drop down menu, click on Options button
         and select GUID, click on OK, then set the format type to MacOS Extended
         (Journaled, if supported), then click on the Apply button.
     3. When the formatting has completed quit DU and return to the installer. Proceed
         with the OS X installation and follow the directions included with the installer.
     4. When the installation has completed your computer will Restart into the Setup
         Assistant. Be sure you configure your initial admin account with the exact same
         username and password that you used on your old drive. After you finish Setup
         Assistant will complete the installation after which you will be running a fresh
         install of OS X. You can now begin the update process by opening Software
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Download and install Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1. From here you can upgrade to Yosemite by re-downloading it from the Purchases page in the App Store.

I powered up my macbook and there is a file folder with question mark on the screen flashing. What does that mean?

Powered up Mac book and screen showing file folder with question mark flashing?

A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac
Hope that solves your issue.

MacBook Pro flashes file folder with question mark and startup manager will not run

My son's MacBook Pro won't boot (gets the flashing file folder with question mark). When I try to open startup manager (holding "option" key during boot does not do it). Other posts suggest inserting the install disk, but I am pretty sure that for Lion, there was no disk, it was just off the website through the App Store. Any further suggestions?

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.

Folder with Question Mark and a useless disk stuck in my disk drive!

Hello,
earlier on today my computer crashed. I have read on a couple of posts that I should try to boot the computer from the install disk. Cool. The only problem is that when my computer crashed I had a CD in the disk drive. When I try to start the computer up I see a question mark and folder, but will not respond to any commands like "eject" or even holding the mouse button.
What do I do? I'm in Korea and going back to Canada in two weeks, but I need my computer!

Hi,
The Question Mark folder implies that your MacBook can't find a System Folder to boot from. It doesn't mean the drive is bad.
Are you holding down the C key while booting? Make sure the MacBook is shut down. Now, press the power button, hold down the C key and insert the restore disk all at the same time. Keep holding down the C key until you see the Apple logo on the screen, then let go. You should see an Installer window, select English. DO not proceed with any installation.. do this. From the Menu Bar, click Utilities/Startup Disk. When that window opens, select MacintoshHD 10.x.x and click the Restart button. That will boot your Mac back up from the hard disk, not the restore disk. If this works, don't forget to eject your restore disk and store it in a safe place.
More help for the question mark: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1440
Carolyn
Message was edited by: Carolyn Samit

Help! Blinking folder with question mark and Mac Logo

Out of nowhere when I turned on my Powerbook G4 laptop the other day, the sound chimed like it was turning on, however instead of loading up, I saw a blank screen with a little file folder in the middle and the icon on the folder changed from a question mark to the mac logo back and forth. I have no idea what to do here. Help please!
Thank you.
I already tried rebooting, taking out the battery and putting it back in. Nothing has worked so far.

Not from doing what I've suggested. The computer has basic instructions on the chip which tell it what to do next after you press start - i.e. start OSX from a particular place on the hard drive. Hopefully, what I've suggested will enable the machine to do that and wall will be well
It is possible that your hard-drive has failed or is about to fail - I advise as soon as you can get the machine started to back-everything up.
If it does not start, you may have a hard drive failure. In which case you can try several tools which may manage to get the drive back up, or at least recover the data. If you are near an Apple Store, you could go in and see if they can start the machine from a Firewire External drive with OS X on it - they may be able to see some of the data and copy it for you.
But try what I suggested first and let's see what the issues really are before going into disaster mode
Best of luck.

Folder with Question Mark and I can't eject the CD

I've read a few similar problems on this board, but I haven't gotten anything to work.
My computer froze, and when I restarted it, I got a flashing folder with a question mark. I've heard that I should boot from the system disc, but I have a CD in the machine that won't eject.
I have both the system disc and AppleCare disc, but I can't get the other disc out of the drive. I tried to hold down the mouse button but that didn't work.
Is there a way to manually eject a cd when restarting? And then is there a way to save my hard drive?

I had a similar problem - see http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=6656332#6656332 - and found that after a night's rest my iMac booted up normally again.
The underlying problem turned out to be a corrupted partition map.
Simon

My macbook was stolen last month from my car. It would not power, it showed a white screen with folder with question mark in the middle? I don't have my serial number, is there a way to possibly track my computer?

My car was broken into in Uptown, MN last month and my Macbook was stolen along with my Wifi device. Although my computer would no longer power, it showed a white screen with a folder and question in the middle and then shut down. I hadn't had a chance to take it to have it checked, but is there a way to track my computer if I do not have the serial number? And if I purchase another computer is there a way to get the music that I purchased in iTunes back?
Thanks

Regarding your music, yes you can download it again at no cost. Launch iTunes on the new computer, and sign in to your account using the same Apple ID you used previously. Go to the iTunes Store. On the right side under Quick Links select Purchased. Click on All Songs in the upper left.You'll see a list of the music you purchased from iTunes. In the lower right corner click the Download All link. Note that this may take a long time, particularly if you have a lot of songs. Use the fastest Internet connection that you can.
About the computer, unless tracking software was already installed on it and turned on there is no way to track it.
I would suggest changing passwords of any accounts that you have on the computer, such as email. If you have any credit card information stored on the computer, have them cancelled and replaced immediately.
Sorry to hear about your loss. It is very distressing, I know.
Best of luck.

Blinking folder with question mark and a new hard drive: also installing Mountain Lion and 0 with a line through it appears please help?

Okay so my harddrive failed in my 13" Macbook I used to have a WD scorpio black 250 gb for a while. I upgraded to a WD scorpio black 500 gb 7500 rpm hard drive. Okay so I installed the harddrive and ran my friends startup disc to learn that grey face discs are specific to that computer. The start up disc ran fine (minus the error stating it could not install OSX because its specific to another computer) and I looked in disc utility after installing the new harddrive and it said verified. I lost my startup disc and did not have another one. Using a friends mac I created a bootable USB drive with mountain lion on it, I plug it in and it comes up and when I choose to start up on the harddrive a 0 with a line going throguh it appears. If I do not start up with the USB or my friends startup disc then a blinking folder with a question mark appears. So my question is what could the problem be if a startup disc runs on a new WD harddrive and says under disc utility that its verified but the 0 with a line through it appears after I try to boot it with a flash drive containing mountain lion? WHats the issue here im completely lost now

Sounds like some sort of power issue and now your drive is not working.
You'll have to take this to Apple for repair.
You should read this if you don't have recent backups of your data off the machine.
My computer is not working, is my personal data lost?

White Screen, Grey Folder with Question Mark and no USB

Hello
I have a iMac, that is in a classroom of similar machines, they are running os v 10.4.6 (ish).
The mac in question had been reported with a fault so i went along to check it and this was a new fault for me.
When the mac boots, it bongs the hdd starts up and then a black white screen appears after a few minutes this changes to a white screen with a flashing grey folder with a question mark.
now reading on the forums, internet etc. i have found that maybe i should boot to disk. tried this but not disk activity.
next i read to boot into verbose mode at which point i find that the USB ports dont seem to be running so i can use a keyboard.
Anyone any ideas how i can troubleshoot this problem or why the problem occurred in the first place?
Thanks for any help offered.

This error indicates either that the internal HD has physical problems, or there is corruption on the drive (a failing directory or corrupt system files). You should boot from the Mac's original installation disk, run Disk Utility from the Utilities menu and do Repair Disk on the internal drive. If this fails to recover the drive, you may have to reinstall the system.
Matt

Blinking folder with question mark, and disk utility doesnt recognise hard drive, please help!!!

So today i was using my macbook pro and for some reason my CD/DVD drive was causing noise when i put a DVD inside it, and for some reason it did not recognise my DVD. I force ejected it using the restart and clicking, but after that my computer showed a blinking folder and question mark during start up. I restarted my computer to Recovery HD, but instead it took me to internet Recovery HD (i have mountain lion), and so i went to disk utility to repair my disk, but in the left it did not recognise my hard drive. Please help! Im not that experienced in computing!

Sounds like some sort of power issue and now your drive is not working.
You'll have to take this to Apple for repair.
You should read this if you don't have recent backups of your data off the machine.
My computer is not working, is my personal data lost?

Flashing folder with question mark and SSD

I had an issue with my native mbp HDD about a month ago. New ssd (crucial m540 with trim) worked fine for a month, but after recent wake up it show a screen for several seconds and then a flashing folder screen appeared.
Now I see flashing folder on every boot attempt. Safe mode doesn't work, recovery partition either.
When I try to select boot partition different combination appears: regularly I see only recovery partition, sometimes only system one, and rarely both of them. Anyway every boot attempt results in question mark folder screen.
The questions are:
1. Is it possible to recover current state with the recovery partition tools from an external hdd?
2. What the chance it may be recovered through reformat and clone of the old HDD (e.g. may it be logical OS issue, or is it hardware issue and I need to look for SSD replacement)?
3. Is it something well known (possibly Mac os + ssd) issue and may it be avoided in the future ?

Aaaaand.. DONE!
I missed the fact my old "half dead" native hdd freezed in the case, but works properly in the external rack. Now I found it not only worked properly, but way faster than ssd worked (even with usb 2.0 rack interface and no additional power source).
A funny fact: the popular Black Magic Speed Test always show stable 300/500 mbps for my ssd, while the fact is it worked slower than HDD in the external usb 2.0 rack.
So, I've bought a new SATA cable, and yes, it was the real problem. The old HDD works fine, and the new SSD didn't throw any errors since the cloning process start, it would be ready in several hours but I believe no unexpected issues would appear.

Flashing folder with question mark on the inside at start up

My macbook only has a flashing folder with a question mark in it and it clicks.

Flashing questions mark indicates Nac can find a valid system to boot from.
Clicking usually indicates a dead or dying hard drive.
Do you have backup?
Probably is time to take it to Apple Store to have them repair it for you.
Allan

Folder with question mark and the computer is unable to detect Macintosh HD

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