Getting flashing folder with ? When starting up

Getting flashing folder with ? When booting up

The flashing folder with a question mark means that your computer can't recognize the hard drive. This could either mean that your hard drive is dead or it just isn't connected to the actual computer.
You can first try pressing the option key immediately after pressing the power button to go into startup manager. There you can choose your startup disk. If it still doesn't work (like it didn't for me) you can check to see if the problem is in the hard drive or the cable by inserting the installation dvd and re-install. Go into disk utlility and If it's unmounted, than the hdd most likely dead. If there's no hard drive icon at all, there's a good chance it's the cable.
Alternatively, you can open up the back, connect the hard drive to a different computer, and test to see if it's working. If it is, than all you only need is a hard drive connector cable ($20-60), but if it isn't then you need to get a new hard drive (about $90~$300)
Honestly, your best bet is to go to the Apple website and schedule an appointment for the genius bar where they'll do all the testing and replacing. It's actually cheaper (and faster) than doing it yourself because they usually don't charge you for a labour fee, and you don't have to wait or pay for shipping if you're ordering the parts online. I got mine replaced for about $20 and it was done in 10 min. If you're replacing the hard drive though, you may want to take the oppurtunity to upgrade to a better hard drive. Here's a guide on how to replace it yourself: http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/Installing-MacBook-Pro-13-Inch-Unibody-Late-2011-Har d-Drive/7656/1

Similar Messages

  • Flashing folder with ?, if i reset, requests password i do not have?

    When booting iMac (21.5 purchased late 2011).i get flashing folder with "?". Cannot reboot in safe mode, tried to reset PRAM, was then shown padlock screen equesting password. I didnt realise id set a password so dont rember it. this password differs from admin password for this imac.

    iMac (Mid 2011) and later...Recovering a lost firmware password
    Only Apple retail stores or Apple Authorized Service Providers can unlock these computers protected by a firmware password.
    If you cannot remember the firmware password for your Mac, schedule a service appointment with either an Apple Retail Store or an Apple Authorized Service Provider.  If you plan to visit an Apple Retail store, please make a reservation at the Genius Bar using http://www.apple.com/retail/geniusbar/ (available in some countries only).

  • I have replaced my ibook hard drive but when I start up I get a folder with a flashing question mark. I have tried installing the OSX disk using the "C" key but can't get any further than the flashing "?." What do I do? What is the problem?

    I have replaced my ibook hard drive but when I start up I get a folder with a flashing question mark. I have tried installing the OSX disk using the "C" key but can't get any further than the flashing "?." What do I do? What is the problem?

    Which iBook do you have?
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1772?viewlocale=en_US
    Which version of the OS is installed, and which version are you trying to install?
    You could try starting up with Startup Manager and see if it will allow you to select the OS X install disc as the startup disk. If so, maybe you can proceed from there. I would recommend repairing the hard drive first since you are evidently having a bit of a problem with it.

  • When I start my Mac air I get a flashing folder with a question mark

    I am trying to start my Mac air and I get a flashing folder with a question mark. When I turn the power of it shuts down but wen starting it comes back

    Just being clear about your situation.  When you hold down Option during boot it does not show a system volume or a recovery volume from which to boot.  At that point if you select a network boot and you do not see a spinning globe that persists there a good while as it loads the recovery partition over the network.  True?
    A couple of more thinks to try:
    Disconnect all of your external devices.
    Reset PRAM
    Boot with the option key again.
    Standard things to try (which is sounds like you already have attempted) A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac

  • Getting a flashing folder with a question mark when starting Imac.

    I got this flashing folder with a question mark on it when starting my Imac this morning. Im running on Osx 10.6. I put it in target disc mode and connected it to my macbook pro. I opened the disc utility app on the macbook and found my imac. I "verified" it and found an error. When I clicked "repair" the disc utility app froze and crashed. When I opened it again my Imac didn't show up. I've restarted both computers several times with no luck. Whats my next step?

    Hi.
    Try restarting your iMac while holding down the option (alt) key until the spinng gear appears.  You should momentarily be presented with a list of startup drives to select.
    Choose Macintosh HD (your normal startup disk drive) and click the right-arrow.
    When your iMac boots, go to System Preferences > Startup Disk and again select your normal startup disk. Then click Restart.
    I hope this is helpful.
    EDIT - disconnect the machines from each other first.

  • Have a flashing folder with a question mark on start-up but cannot hold option as wireless keyboard won't connect, how do I get it to connect if I cannot turn on the machine?

    Hello all, I've registered here because I can't work out how to get my keyboard and mouse to connect.
    The issue is that when I turn my mid-2010 iMac on it doesn't load up, but instead shows a flashing folder with a question mark. I've Googled this and have some idea how to fix it, the first step in all guides to fixing the problem states that you should hold the option key upon start-up. The problem I'm having is that I've just had to change the batteries on my keyboard and mouse and they are now not connecting. I can't see how to get the keyboard and mouse connected with the Mac stuck on the flashing folder screen, and I can't get the Mac past said screen without using the keyboard. Does anyone know how I can connect the two devices?
    Thanks.

    The flashing folder with the ? mark indicates that a bootable system can't be found. You'll need to borrow a wired keyboard so you can boot into the Recovery volume (boot with the Command + R keys held down). From there you can reinstall the system and try a normal reboot.

  • When i boot i get a flashing folder with a question mark. disk utility doesnt work or read my harddrives to boot with. i installed a new SSD and its not reading that either. i have a macbook pro 2011, any help?

    So I came to this problem a while ago. M ycomputer basically froze so I was forced to shut down by holding the button down. When I started it up I got the flashing folder with a question mark. I started it up holding down the command and r keys which brought me to disk utility. Although my computer doesn't read that I have a hard drive to start it up. When I click on the disk utility app, I cannot verify or repair anything either. The buttons won't allow me to click on them. It also shows "Mac OSX Base System" which shows I have files and what not saved. I had been told that I need a new hard drive so I bought and manually installed a OWC SSD 240GB drive and when i booted the computer up it booted up yo the operating system fine with all my files and what not on there. After about twenty minutes, it froze again. I forced a shut down, restarted and the same thing happened. I am not able to choose my SSD to boot up, although thats probably because it doesn't have an operating system installed on it??
    i have a Macbook Pro 13" 2011
    any help would be great, I'm overall confused.

    ryansaint11,
    this isn’t Apple support; this is a user-to-user forum. We’re just fellow users of Apple products here.
    If you want to boot from your SSD, then you should put the SSD where your HDD currently is, and put the HDD into the optical bay. (That setup will also get you the best performance.) At the moment, you’re still booting from your HDD. Note that you will need to format your SSD in Disk Utility [with the “Mac OS X Extended (Journaled)” format] so that you can install OS X onto it.
    Since you have an Early 2011 model, it might or might not have originally come with grey installation DVDs. You will be able to find out whether it did or not by trying to use OS X Internet Recovery to install OS X onto your SSD. If it does not work, or if the installed OS turns out to be Snow Leopard, then it will have originally come with the DVDs, and you should purchase a replacement pair of DVDs from Apple or iFixit; those discs will have your MacBook Pro’s Apple Hardware Test and its iLife apps. If the installed OS turns out to be Lion, then it will not originally have come with the grey installation DVDs, and your Apple Hardware Test will be installed along with Lion, and your iLife apps will be downloadable from the Mac App Store.

  • I have the mac book air and when I turn it on its a light blue screen with a flashing folder with a question mark on it and I cant get past it. Anyone know about this?

    I have the mac book air and when I turn it on its a light blue screen with a flashing folder with question mark on it. Any one know how to get past it?

    The MBA is trying to tell you that it is not able to find a bootable system
    Either the file is corrupt or access to the storrage has failed
    I would start by seeing if it will boot with Command + R depressed

  • On a macbook I purchased secondhand hard drive got corrupted and I started to get the flashing folder with the question mark, I purchased a new hard drive and snow lion install DVD I installed the hard drive and tried disc but kept getting blinking folder

    On a macbook I purchased secondhand hard drive got corrupted and I started to get the flashing folder with the question mark, I purchased a new hard drive and snow lion install DVD I installed the hard drive and tried disc but kept getting blinking folder

    Welcome to Apple Support Communities. We're users here and do not speak for "Apple Inc."
    Power on the computer and insert the DVD immediately.
    Hold down the 'C' key to boot from the Snow Leopard DVD.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1533
    After selecting the appropriate language, if necessary, select Utilities, and Disk Utility.
    You'll likely need to partition and format the new drive before it's recognized.
    http://manuals.info.apple.com/MANUALS/0/MA161/en_US/MacBook_13inch_HardDrive_DIY .pdf
    (Yes, these instructions ARE 7 years old, but the procedure is the same for installing from DVD media.)

  • I can't log in to my computer- when it turns on it has a white/gray screen with a flashing folder with a question mark in it.  What does this mean and how can I get it to stop to log in?

    Hi
    I dropped my macbook yesterday and it turned itself off. When I tried to turn it back on all I got was a white/gray screen with a flash folder with a ? in the middle of it?  What does this mean and how do I get it to stop so I can log onto my laptop?

    Deev
    Normally the question mark on the gray screen means it can't find the operating system. Have you tried booting up from the installation DVD? Do that, and when you come to the screen where it wants to begin a system installation you'll notice in the menubar where it say's utilites. Click on that and choose disk utility. from there choose your disk and try to verify and repair the disk. If you can you may want to also try and new install of the system. I don't know how much critical data you have, but reinstalling is an option. did you purcahse you from an Apple store? If you did you may want them to look at it. Hope this helps.
    Regards,
    Joseph

  • HT1310 when i starst my mac i get a flashing folder with a question mark. i tried rebooting and holding the option button then i get 2 boxes, one with a refresh arrow and one with a forward arrow neither of them seem to do anything. now what

    when i starst my mac i get a flashing folder with a question mark. i tried rebooting and holding the option button then i get 2 boxes, one with a refresh arrow and one with a forward arrow neither of them seem to do anything. now what

    Here is an article that describes what it is supposed to do:
    Startup Manager: How to select a startup volume
    If no Volumes are shown, it is telling you there are no potentailly bootable Volumes attached. That means your boot drive has died or the bootable image on it is unrecognizable.
    What Mac Pro ? by year, GHz, number of processors, screen size?
    What Mac OS X ?

  • Flashing folder with a question mark in it when starting up

    Hi, I own a white MacBook that is fairly new. When I boot it there is a flashing folder with a question mark in it. I read here: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1440 what to do.
    I inserted my Leopard disc, held C while booting and then opened Disc Utilitiy. But the only images to appear in the left column of Disc Utility is the "Mac OS X Install DVD". So I tried resetting the PRAM by holding down cmd-opt-R-P while booting.
    Then I tried the same thing again but still there is only the install disc in the left column. If I go to Startup Disc there is only the install CD and "Network Startup".
    Now, if I were to reinstall the system as it says in step 4 of the guide, what will happen to my data? I read that this error could be a sign of the hard drive crashing, and with no back up I really don't want that to happen.
    So, is it safe to reinstall the system, or what do you suggest my next step to be?

    Try booting in Safe Mode
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1455
    Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck
    I tried booting in Safe Mode by holding down shift while starting, but it just went to the flashing folder with the ?-mark in it. Then I tried to enter single-user mode by holding down cmd-S while starting (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1492), in order to try the fsck-thingy, but still just the flashing ?.
    When I start my computer it makes bad noises from the bottom right side. I fear that the HD is broken , it sounds as if it is working very hard, making scratchy and clicky noises.
    I also tried using the computer as a FireWire target in order to retrieve some data (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661). When I bootet the "broken" computer and held down T the FireWire symbol appeared on the screen. But on the host computer I could not find the target computer.
    Any more ideas?

  • TS1440 When I start up, there is only the flashing folder with a question mark on it. When I tried to reinstall snow leopard, there is no hard disk to be found.

    After rebooting my computer, there is only the flashing folder with "?" on it. I tried several things like PRAM resetting and whatnot, but nothing worked. I then tried to reinstall Snow Leopard, but it appears there is no hard disc to be found to install it. I also wanted to repair the disk first but it wasn't present in disk utilities. Did I lose my hard drive, or is this still salvagable?

    That is evidence that your hard drive has failed and needs to be replaced.

  • MacBook Pro gets a flashing folder with a question mark

    I start up my computer and I get this flashing folder with a question mark. I looked up on here how to fix it but I get lost when I get to the disk utility part. All that shows up is something called disk0 and below it it says Mac OS X Base System. I click on it but the repair disk button is greyed out. What do I do? Please help!

    The MBP cannot find the OSX.  It may be a HDD or HDD connection problem.
    Start your MBP with the OPTION key down.  Select the recovery partition.  From the 4 option menu select Disk Utility.
    Select Disk Utility>First Aid and run Verify and Repair.
    If successful, you should be back in business.  If not, the HDD may be faulty.
    Ciao.

  • How do I transfer files from a flash drive to iMac. I get a folder with "no name" which I can live with but I can't find any way to make the actual physical transfer of the files to the iMac.

    How do I transfer files from a flash drive to my new iMac?  I get a folder with "no name" that I can live with but I can't find a way to transfer the flass drive files to to iMac hard drive.

    What happens when you try to drag & drop the files?
    ~Lyssa

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