Folder with question mark on my macbook pro

My macbook pro has a flashing folder with a question mark and will not boot up.  Any suggestions on how to fix this problem would be great.

So would providing which OS you have?
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58042 A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac

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    I wish the Apple Store guys reminded you to make a bootable Flash drive for this kind of situation.
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  • 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
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  • 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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  • Folder with Question Mark on Boot

    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.
    So, I popped in the install DVD that came with the computer, get the little gray Apple logo and it boots from the DVD.
    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.

  • Flashing folder with question mark at Startup

    Here is what I know so far.
    - The computer was powered off by pushing the power button without shutting down.
    - The computer was then restarted and it was coming into the white screen with the Apple logo in the middle, but i noticed that it was skewed slightly (like someone took a 4:3 ratio screen and stretched it to a 16:9) and then it would show a circle slash icon and then the flashing folder with a question mark on it.
    - It would not come up in single user mode (Command + S) and it said that there was an error loading kernel 'mach_kernel'
    - It would not come up in safe mode (Shift)(The flashing folder came up again)
    - I reset the PRAM (Command + Option + p + r) and it seemed to fix the problem with the stretched screen but did not help the boot situation (still got flashing folder)
    - I did the start up where you can select the hard drive to boot with, it owed the HD and i selected it, but then i got the flashing folder with question mark.
    - It would not come up in Verbose Mode (Command V) Error loading Kernel again.
    - I bought a FireWire cable and hooked it to another MacBook Pro, and booted the faulty Mac into Target Disk Mode, the FireWire logo came up on the screen and bounced around like all forums said that it would, but the drive would not show up on my host. I checked the System Profiler on the host and it did acknowledge the Target Disk Mode was there, but the drive of the target would not show up on the host. I restarted the host, nothing. I checked all of the connections, nothing. I replugged all of the connections, nothing. I even reversed the FireWire cable, nothing.
    - I have DiskWarrior 4 if i can get the drive to show up in TDM, but nothing so far.
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    Thanks for your help guys. I managed to get the computer started by holding down C at the Start Up with the Install Disc 1 in the computer. The disc was really kindof unnecessary, as the newest version of Mac OS X (10.4.10) became available via the hard drive.
    I then found out that the battery was not installed, so I reset the management system by removing the A/C power, the battery and pushing the power button for 5 seconds, and then reconnecting everything. It did not help, the battery is bad i guess, so I am going to call AppleCare and get a new battery.
    Thanks for your help.

  • Ssd can't boot from mainbay folder with question mark

    Hello I've searched for my problem but can't find anything same so I'm gona ask.
    first of  all I'm sorry for my English.
    I'm using MacBook pro mid 2012 with samsung 840 evo ssd 500gb.
    today it was working perfect it felt asleep and after wake up it  restarted and flashing folder with question mark appeared on screen.
    I Know it's some kind of hdd problem. So I've took it out and put in external box to connect to my friends  MacBook to see if it's working and does all information is still in it. It was working perfectly. after that I connected it via usb and boot it by holding opt key and it startups normal. To check that it isint sata cable I have puted empty hdd in main bay and booted from ssd connected by usb and both drives show up in disk utility.
    So hdd working perfect. Sata cable is good and can read drive.
    Macbook boots from ssd connected by usb without any problems.
    The only problem is that I can't boot my MacBook from ssd in mainbay it shows flashing folder with question mark.
    Maybe anyone had  had that issue before.?
    How can I solve this problem.?
    again sorry for my English. And thank you for all your answers.

    Do not apologize for your English.  I assure you your English is better than what my facility with your language may be. 
    I have seen a couple of posts similar to yours where the SSD will not boot internally but a conventional HDD will.  The resolution in one case was a new SATA cable even though the tests suggested otherwise.
    I would take the MBP to an apple store and have them check it thoroughly and see if they can pinpoint to the cable as the problem.  Obviously this just a guess on my part.
    A call to Samsung technical support may also be a good idea.
    Ciao.

  • Cant bypass Firmware password , Folder with Question mark!

    I have a  MacBook Pro (13-inch, Mid 2012)
    I had the folder with question mark show up. I took out my hard drive and put it in an enclosure and it is working fine. Could it be the hard drive flex cable that is damaged and that is why the system can't find the hard drive?
    Anyway the big problem i'm having is that  i can't remember the firmware password and i tried every combination (command+S, command+R) . memory pull out and nothing worked. I'm stuck please let me know what i can do to get this fixed

    Hi caliabe,
    Unfortunately, the only way to remove the password would be to visit an Apple Store or Authorized Service Provider, as I understand you can't even access the Mac in recovery mode without the Firmware Password. If you lost or forgot your firmware password - Apple Support
    Good luck.

  • 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.
    Ciao.

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