Folder with Question Mark Icon--hard drive kaput?

Hello,
I know there's extensive info on this occurring at startup but I wanted to ask anyone a couple of specifics.
1). My imac is old. It's from 2007 and while I've enjoyed it etc., I understand that it's time has "probably come".
2). No and this is my bad; I've not backed it up. Luckily, there honestly isn't a ton of irreplaceable stuff on it so in worst case scenario it's not a disaster. It's more of a nuisance.
3). I used OSX Leopard.
So here's the meat and potatoes.   Whether its coincidental or causal, I can't say but after I upgraded my iPhone to iOS7, I started to get a couple of "can't connect to iTunes" errors and then suddenly my imac shut down and when I tried to restart, I'd get the grey screen with the ? folder.
I'm not a techie but I tried the gamut of troubleshooting fixes.   In short,
1) I tried rebooting after unplugging peripherals.
2). I tried rebooting while holding the Option key.
3). I tried inserting the OSX install disc and restarting while holding down C. The computer merely ejected the disc.
4). I tried resetting PRAM
On all attempts, the folder icon reappeared. I cannot get any kind of disk utilities tools to open. I cannot get past the folder icon.
I went to the Genius Bar this AM. The techie ran a diagnostic and concluded that my hard drive was dead and that he cold not help me anymore because the machine was too old. He couldn't/wouldn't give me any details presumably because apple has no interest in servicing/dealing with an old machine. All he would say to me is try an authorized reseller.
My experiences with Genius Bar are routinely unpleasant so I can't tell if this guy was truthful.
My questions:
1). Is there another fix I can attempt to get the imac to reboot? If I can get one reboot, I'll go immediately back up everything.
2). Does this sound like a hard drive death?
3). Are my data lost forever?
Thanks!

I tried rebooting while holding the Option key.
If the startup disk is not available from the Startup Manager window, that's an indication that the disk has failed
Genius Bar was most likely correct.

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Folder with Question Mark, Clicking hard drive and unformatted status on the hard drive in DU

Hi.
We have a mac Mini 2012. Only 6 months old and has been used as a media server for the entire 6 months.
All of a sudden the mac will not work as usual.
When it starts up there is a clicking sound, almost like a clock, then a white screen with a flashing Folder and Question mark.
I have used every startup key combination possible. I've even tried to boot in target mode with my Macbook Pro to see if I can access the files on the drive but had no luck.
I can only boot from the internet download OSX. I tried to install Mountain Lion again but there was no destination to install it to. When I go into disk utilities the drive is shown as a TOSHIBA (Blah Blah blah). Macintosh HD is not shown.
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I decided to try and erase it and reformat it but it gave me this error "unable to write to the last block of the device"
I'm pretty sure I know the answer to this but I'm gonna ask anyway.
"Are the files recoverable?"
and what the F do I do?

No, no backups, this was the backup for my laptop which was failing as well. I moved all my media and files across to the mini, deleted them on my laptop and had the mini work as a media server as well as a back up location for the files that were still on my laptop (mainly photography work)
I guess I'll have to take it back in store for the hard drive to be replaced as it's still under waranty.
Does apple give you the failed hard drive back? we have lots of bank statements/bills/passwords and all manner of personal data stored on it. I don't want it falling into the wrong hands.

MacBook won't start, shows folder with question mark. Hard drive fried?

Last night, my MacBook was loading the contents of a message board in Firefox. Someone had apparently uploaded 20 mb photos, or something, because my Mac practically froze trying to render the webpage. I left my Mac running for perhaps 45 minutes. When I came back, I noticed the fans were whirring very loudly, and that the bottom of the MacBook (I'm guessing where the hard drive is located) was very hot. When Force Quit didn't work, I decided to manually shut down the computer by pushing the power button. When I turned it back on the computer made high pitch screching sounds (perhaps from the hard drive) and the computer wouldn't start up, only showing a folder with a question mark?
Is my MacBook fried? I have five years' worth of very important pictures, not to mention all of my other files, stored there and nowhere else. Do you think I can get the files back?

If you see a flashing question mark when you start your Mac, it's probably because it can't find the system software it needs to start up. Usually, all you have to do to get your Mac back up and running is remind it where its software is.
See if this helps: http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1440
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Folder with question mark ! hard disk !

I NEED HELP !!! I Replaced my mac hard disk due to a malfunction in the first one but i already formatted it and when i start up, it gives this folder with a question mark ! When i start internet recovery i get this error 6002F !! I NEED HELP ... what is wrong and how do i solve this issue .
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The icon means that the Mac can't find suitable startup volume. In other words, it can't find the OS in the drive. Your only hope is connecting the Mac to the Internet and starting it up with Command-R pressed. Hopefully you will be able to do an Internet-based Recovery boot.
If that cannot be made to work, you will have to take it to an Apple Store or a Service Provider so they can install the OS.

Starting Up: Folder with Question Mark Icon

I do not know when this problem began whereas I do not restart my Mac that often. But the problem is that whenever I boot up my MacPro now I get this icon that is a folder with a question mark inside of it, and it keeps blinking.
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I have not done anything differently in the past few days to my computer to warrant this so I'm unsure of the problem.

Did you go back to system preferences startup disk control panel and reset it?
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If you have a known functioning boot drive, you can substitute that for the internal HDD.
You can try to use your current drive externally. Use Startup Manager and if the external HDD appears, select it. If it boots the MBP, then that is an indication that the SATA cable is faulty.
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1310
Ciao.

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I can't get my mac to boot. Instead I get the gray screen and a folder with question mark icon. I'm guessing the HD is dead? Any chance for recovery? If not how much does a new one cost? The one year warranty just expired!
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So, what is it? The thing froze today and wont reboot - just a gray screen with NOTHING. Then after about 10 min. the flashing question mark folder appears.
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Launch Disc Utility. The HD appears on the left. Click on it - all of the "Verify" and "Repair" buttons remain grayed out. So what the hxll do I do?
I cant boot into single-user mode or any other mode for that matter.
This is a Macbook pro, dual-core Intel, less than a year old.

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Kazmunai wrote:
I saw someone wrote that you can force eject the CD by putting a paper clip inside the hole next to the CD/DVD drive. I did this, and it did not work.
That was for very old Mac's and PC's, it's been a long time since any modern Mac had that ability.
CD that I inserted inside the DVD/CD drive didn't come out, and was stuck inside.
Press and hold the power button down to force a hardware shutdown.
Hold the trackbutton down and the option/alt key at the same time, now boot the machine.
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If you see MacintoshHD (or your OS X boot volume) click it and the arrow underneath and when you get into OS X, head to System Preferences > Startup Disk and set it again. Your problem should be resolved at this point.
If you don't see your OS X boot volume and it shows RecoveryHD only, or holding the option/alt goes to Internet Recovery, then your boot drive is dead or there is some sort of other issue/power /Mac related.
Try a #1 SMC Reset and a #2 PRAM reset and see if that fixes things.
..Step by Step to fix your Mac
If not, I then suspect because you couldn't eject the cd that something electrical bad happened to the Superdrive and as a result it also effected the power or something going to the boot hard drive.
The hard drive might still work just fine if it's removed from the machine and a SATA to USB adpater to another Mac.
My advice is to take the machine to Apple for a free hardware evaluation, then decide what you want to do from there.
My computer is not working, is my personal data lost?

Hard drive crash? Folder with question mark

Hi everyone! I had problems with my macbook pro (early 2013). Last week, it slowed down suddenly and the laptop heats up during sleep. Then the hard drive recently crashed, at least I thought it crashed after it showed the folder with question mark during startup and did not show my old hard disk drive. Now I bought a 1TB WD mainstream hard drive disk, unfortunately it does not detect it in the internet recovery (disk utility). Now my question is, Do I have to do something with the hard drive first for my laptop to detect it? Like formatting it? The box said that it is compatible with mac OSx Lion, but my internet recovery lets me install Mountain Lion only. Is that the problem? or is the problem internal like the cable that connects the hard drive to the logic board?

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Before asking, I found someone had asked exact the same question, but that was actually an unsolved thread.
Re: Blinking Folder with Question Mark after Erasing Hard Drive to try to restore to Factory Settings
Level 1(0 points)sdc3gJul 5, 2013 6:24 PM Re: Blinking Folder with Question Mark after Erasing Hard Drive to try to restore to Factory Settings
Re: Blinking Folder with Question Mark after Erasing Hard Drive to try to restore to Factory Settings
in response to Niel
Thanks for the reply, held command+R again and it is trying to pick up WiFi, but it's not picking up my network and won't accept the password even when I try to put it in manually. Any thoughts on that?
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Well, it was solved. I shifted to other place and tried other WIFis. One of the WiFi had the 2002f problem and another was fine, so the reinstall worked smoothly eventually.
On the apple support page it says that Supported network configurations and protocols includs both WPA/WPA2, not matter what they are, but it might not be true.

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Try starting up your Mac while holding down the Option key. That should prompt the Startup Manager window where you can select the startup disk then click Restart.
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Installed new hard drive in imac and i get folder with question mark, put in OS install disk and it does nothing? All I have is wireless key board and mouse, is this an issue?

Other than put disc in you don't give much info about what you've done. With the install disc inserted restart your Mac while holding the C key, that should start it up from the install disc. Should also work fine with a wireless Apple keyboard.

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Clean Install of Snow Leopard
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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.

Folder with Question Mark, to Apple Icon, to Kernel Screen at Startup.

At startup Folder with Question Mark, Followed all steps to resolve it to no avail, I try to re-install Snow Leopard and Apple Icon with Grey screen appears, then Kernel screen.
I cannot get past the Kernel screen. No options to click anything, like system preferences or anything. I have a Macbook, with Snow Leopard. Any help would be much appreciated.
I tried Pram Reset and everything.

Hey, thanks for the quick reply Mende.
I tried that, it goes to the apple icon, however after about 10 seconds of the apple it goes straight to the Kernel screen. It doesn't give me the options of opening anything. Infact it doesn't even have a mouse curser.
If I hold "option" it gives me the option of choosing only the "Leopard DVD" but that's it and then it goes to the Kernel Screen
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Hard disc dead??? flickering folder with question mark on start up

I get a flickering folder with question mark on start up, and i cant get into mac osx.
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I know many of you don't understand english. Basicly what the articel tells us is that there is a problem with the harddrive due to a contruction caused error.
I would say please do something about it. Start a program to solve this problem
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Der Festplatten- und Datenrettungsspezialist Retrodata aus der englischen Grafschaft Hampshire gibt eine beunruhigende Warnung an MacBook-Besitzer heraus. Apple-Notebooks, in denen ab Werk Seagate-Festplatten arbeiten, sind nach seinen Untersuchungen mit einem Fabrikationsfehler konfrontiert, der zum Totalausfall der Festplatte mit einhergehendem Datenverlust führen kann.
Nach eigenen Angaben erhält der Spezialist eine Vielzahl dieser ausgefallenen Platten zur Wiederherstellung von Daten. Die Untersuchungen von Retrodata zeigen, dass der Schreib-Lesekopf der Festplatte mechanisch ausfällt. Dies führt dem Spezialisten nach zu tiefen Kratzern auf der Oberfläche der magnetischen Scheiben mit entsprechenden Datenverlusten.
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Folder with Question Mark Icon--hard drive kaput?

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