Got the flashing question mark and mac folder on startup.

I've seen other questions on here about it. It happened after the last Safari update. Safari and Quicktime were the last updates I did. I have gone through all of the steps that I've read on here to no avail. (Safe Mode, Holding "x", Reset the PRAM, Checked the PRAM Battery) I tried starting up holding the option key...and no startup disks show up. It wont boot up in single use mode, so I cant try fsck... I ran Disk Utilities from the startup disk and it says my hard drive is not mounted. Is there a way i can mount it? Am i screwed?

It sounds like you have already tried to run Disk Utility so you're now at the stage of trying to rescue your data using the various utilities aBrody mentioned, or trying to repair your directory with Diskwarrior. Some prefer to rescue their files before trying other utilities in case using the repair utilities makes things worse. Rescuing has the downside that you have to have an empty drive to which to rescue items. Some rescue software packages have versions you can try for free which will look at your drive and say if they think they can do anything with it before you buy. The advantage to repair is if it works it will restore your old drive and you don't have to reassemble the whole thing from bits and pieces of rescued files, and repairing doesn't require a second hard drive. You will have to decide on how to approach this. Typically people will try Diskwarrior and if that doesn't work they will go with a rescue package. The big downside is that each software package will set you back $80-$100. (Item for consideration, you can get a backup drive for just over $100 and save yourself a lot of hassle in the future.)
Personally I'd download one of the trial versions and let it have a look. If it can't see things then (and maybe I'm wrong and others will chime in) your chances of getting anything to see the drive are remote.
Oh, there's also a package called Techtool Pro. DW is generally considered premier in repairing directories, but TTP can do some things DW can't. Ideally a person would have TTP, DW and a recue package, but as you're seeing that can add up fast.

Similar Messages

I,m getting a flashing question mark in a folder on startup

When i started up earlier i verified disk and it said i should restart and hold command and r and then repair disk using disk utility which i did and then restarted using the usual startup disk. Since then every time i turn my imac mid 2011 on 10.9.4 mavs on i get a flashing question mark in a folder. I have over 800 gb of movies id like to transfer to ext hard drive before i try anything else preferably...ive read online reinstalling the osx may wipe everything so i thought id ask the experts before trying anything else.

OK, this is a little different then we started out trying to solve...the erasing of swap and other files has damaged the Mac OS X pretty seriously since we don't know all of what was removed.
If you have the Seagate external drive and it has not been formatted, and you want it to be a Mac OS X drive, attach the Seagate, restart holding the Command and R keys, go to Utilities and open Disk Utility. When that opens, select the Seagate from the drives shown in the left sidebar of the DU window. In the main window, choose Partition from the buttons across the top, center of the window pane. If you want more than one partition, select how many you want, or just keep the default of one. Name the drive (partition), keep the default format as Mac OS X Extended (Journaled), and the default partition table as GUID. Apply that to erase and format the Seagate drive.
When that is finished, still using Disk Utility, select Restore as the function you want to do. Now drag the internal drive (Macintosh HD, typically) to the Source box in the main window of DU, and drag the name you have given the Seagate external to the Destination box in the main window of DU. Look things over to be sure you have done this correctly, the internal drive contents is the source material and the external drive is where you want to put it...what you are about to do is clone the internal drive to the external drive. If all is correct, Restore.
That will take some time since you have a lot of material to copy. When it is done, you should have an exact copy of your internal drive and its contents, i.e., your movies.
Now that you have an exact copy of your contents, you can do what you need to do with the internal drive, such as erase the drive and reinstall Lion or whatever you want to install. After doing so you can copy your movies back if you want, but DO NOT do a restore as that will mess up the operating system.

I recently had a Hard drive failure, got the flashing question mark

Hello,
I recently had a hard drive fail on my IMAC. The power went out in my home and knocked the computer off. When I turned it back on I go the dreaded white screen with flashing folder/Question mark.
I tried all the tricks I could find (on my other computer search) but nothing worked. I also inserted the install disk and then tried the "disk utility" ... this is where I got really scared...the utility saw my Hard Drive, but showed nothing on it with 0 space available. I thought I was fried and actually ordered a new hard drive online. (This is the second time in 3 years this has happened ... and wouldn't you know my extended warranty expired 2 weeks ago)
The next day, I think ... well, let me just try booting up to see if a miracle will happen. Low and behold it booted up! My drive is there, all my data everything! (and a new hard drive on the way overnight! lol)
So my friends, what the heck is going on? I immediately repaired permissions once I brought it up. But I'm afraid to shut the thing off now in fear it won't come back.
Any Ideas?
Thanks,
Ryan

Assuming you have some backups:
Drive Preparation and OS X Installation
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.
2. After DU loads select your 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. Set the format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.) Click on the Options button, set the partition scheme to GUID (for Intel Macs) or APM (for PPC Macs) then click on the OK button. 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 Options 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.
When formatting has completed quit DU and return to the installer. Complete the OS X installation.
If the drive is not failing then the above process will find any possible bad blocks. If no bad blocks are found and the drive reformats, then reinstall OS X. If the drive does fail and you have another you can install, then try that. If this doesn't fix things then take it in for service.

Not booting from DVD drive | Flashing Question mark and face folder SOS!

Hey there! I am hoping one of you folks can help.
I noticed my iMac running really slow.
I could not find my OS disks, so I bought OS X Leopard
When I tried to boot from DVD it would flash the question/face folder for about 30 seconds then reboot normal. (I was able to install the OS. Just can't boot from the disk in order to run disk utility)
Time got away from me and now my system is REALLY slow...
I went and bought Disk Warrior
Same issue, only my drive spits out that disk. (I can run and burn other disks)
I won't discuss my failed attempts at getting help from the Apple store and by having the geniuses (not) call me. I would rather not pay an arm and a leg to have an approved repair center run the disk utility for me. I've already spent $169 on the OS and $100 on Disk Warrior... PLEASE HELP

I think you are going in a totally wrong direction. Your profile indicates you have Leopard (10.5.X) however I don't believe that what you recently purchased. I think you purchased Snow Leopard (10.6.X), these are two totally different OS's! Unless you got extremely lucky and found someone selling 10.5.x then naturally you would have the problem you did trying to boot from it. My advice is:
1. Look to see what version of OS X you are running (click the Apple in the upper left of this screen and then choose About this Mac) then cross check what version of the OS you recently purchased.
2. If you are running 10.5.x then you will need to call Apple and purchase replacement discs for a nominal charge. Once received you should be able to boot from that disc and run Disk Utility from it.
3. If you are running 10.6.x then re post (with an updated profile) so we can determine what the next step is.
It seems like you don't know what you are doing and in an effort to save money you are probably going to spend more than taking your machine to an Apple Authorized Service Provider.
Regards,
Roger

Not booting from DVD drive | Flashing Question mark and face folder S

Hey there! I am hoping one of you folks can help.
I noticed my iMac running really slow.
I could not find my OS disks, so I bought OS X Leopard
When I tried to boot from DVD it would flash the question/face folder for about 30 seconds then reboot normal. (I was able to install the OS. Just can't boot from the disk in order to run disk utility)
Time got away from me and now my system is REALLY slow...
I went and bought Disk Warrior
Same issue, only my drive spits out that disk. (I can run and burn other disks)
I won't discuss my failed attempts at getting help from the Apple store and by having the geniuses (not) call me. I would rather not pay an arm and a leg to have an approved repair center run the disk utility for me. I've already spent $169 on the OS and $100 on Disk Warrior... PLEASE HELP

Hey,
No, I'm not running Snow Leopard. Running Leopard. 10.5.8
I'm guessing the problem is either with my computer itself, or perhaps the DVD drive. Hard to tell. Maybe even something corrupt in my software?
My problem is:
I desperately need to run a disk utility of some sort, however am not able to make my computer use my OS disk or Disk warrior as a startup disk (either by holding down C, or by assigning it in System Utilities.)
I was hoping someone might have a tip, or trick to get my machine to use one of these disks as the startup disk.
Thanks!

Flashing Question mark and Finder Folder at Start UP!

Hi there,
I just installed a new processor with upgraded firmware with mac os 9.1 as my OS. Well I have a start up tone but thats it. I have used a cd to choose which disk I want my computer to start up from but now I only get a start up tone and a gray screen during boot up. I have tried to reset my PRAM more than 4 times and it hasn't done anything. I have also reset the processor but that hasn't done anything either. I don't wish to do a clean installation because I don't want to reinstall my old 450 mhz processor. It would be great if I could have some help. thanks

Hi, DC502. If I understand you correctly, you have been able to boot to a CD with the new processor installed — is that correct? If so, what OS version is on the CD, and is the same version on your hard drive? Does the new processor (what make and speed is it, by the way?) have any minimum OS or hardware requirements, and have you checked to make sure you are meeting them? What firmware update did you apply?
If you aren't able to boot even to a CD, check the processor upgrade to make sure it is solidly seated, not crooked or uneven in its slot. Reset the CUDA after every internal hardware change. Perform all testing with all external devices except monitor, keyboard and mouse disconnected from the computer.
Please post back with further details if these ideas don't help.

Can't get beyond the flashing question mark

I can't get beyond the flashing question mark on grey folder, on starting up.
I have tried starting with option key down, but still get the question mark.
I have tried starting with the command, option, P and R keys down but still get the same question mark.
I have put the No 1 Installation disc in, and started holding down the C key. The disc was immediately ejected with no change on the monitor.
Can anyone please suggest what else I could try?

I would suggest taking the faulty hd out of the Mac, putting it in an enclosure and seeing whether you can get anything off it. Alternatively,there's an application called Data Rescue Data Rescuehttp://www.versiontracker.com/dyn/moreinfo/macosx/211375 that has an excellent reputation for retrieving data from a bad disk.
If you do manage to get your data off, and then onto your MacBookPro, you should have no trouble putting it on a new drive in your iMac.

Flashing Question Mark in a Folder

Hello All:
I have an iMac 24" (Model A1225; Mid 2007) running 10.7.3. The CPU will rarely boot up and will boot up with the Flashing Question Mark in a folder most of the time. I can start up from a OS DVD (Snow Leopard) or Lion on a Flashdrive, but the HDD will not appear when I attempt a reinstall. I was able to boot up once from my Lion Flashdrive and reinstall 10.7.3 with a normal restart. The HDD checkout fine using disk utility and I repaired my disk permissions. The CPU seemed fine and this morning the Flashing Question Mark is back.
I can start up the Target disk mode and I will see the FireWire icon, but the HDD will not appear on the desktop of the host CPU. I have a new iMac on order, but do you think it is wise to pull my data from the HDD via the Target disk mode or my Time Capsule? I guess I am not sure if it is the logic board or a bad HD.
Thanks in advance,
Irv

It sounds more like a failing drive or a drive in need of repair. Have you tried repairing it?
Repair the Hard Drive - Lion
Boot from your Lion Recovery HD. 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, then quit DU and return to the main menu. Select Restart from the Apple menu.
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.
If the drive is repairable then you will need to reinstall Lion:
Reinstalling 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. 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.
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.
If none of this works then I would definitely backup your data, but not with Time Machine. I would make a backup to a separate drive, not the Time Capsule, using Carbon Copy Cloner.

I got this flashing question mark, i did some research into this and found out that the hard drive is the cause

i recently found my ibook and decided to see if it would still turn on. it did but i got this flashing question mark, i did some research into this and found out that the hard drive is the cause. so i opened it up replaced the hard drive and closed it up, booted from the disc and crossed my fingers but it did not pick up the hard drive. i thought it might not have been installed properly, so i opened it up to check the connections to make shure they were secure and closed it back up but now it wont even boot from the disc. so dose anyone know whats wrong with it because i really don't just want throw it away if its a simple fix. please if anyone know i would greatly appreciate it.
<Re-Titled By Host>

There often were more than one build of Apple computer per model number designation...
In the instance of iBook (white dualUSB) there appear to be two with number A-1007.
And both of these were 14-inch display models.
•iBook G3/800 14-Inch (32 VRAM - Tr) 800 MHz PowerPC 750fx (G3)
•iBook G3/900 14-Inch (Early 2003 - Op) 900 MHz PowerPC 750fx (G3)
•Apple iBook Specs (All iBook Technical Specs) for entire series - everymac:
http://www.everymac.com/systems/apple/ibook/index-ibook.html
There are a few fairly good repair guides online, some on http://iFixit.com site.
Here's the link to the early iBook G3 series, includes color + white dualUSB.
If your iBook is a 14-inch G3 white dualUSB model that one is there, too:
•iBook G3 Repair guides - iFixit:
https://www.ifixit.com/Device/iBook_G3
Either of these may be able to run a system no later than OS X Tiger 10.4.11.
So a system install disc set could be used to troubleshoot, install, restore &
prepare a replacement hard drive for a new system.
Not certain what the issues are behind your situation, there may be more than
meets the eye. Some models of iBook were more prone to hardware problems
and as they age, fewer opportunities to affordably repair them exist.
Good luck in resolving the iBook G3 issues...!

G4 Won't Boot Up and Shows The Flashing Question Mark Folder Thing

Ok so I bought a Quicksilver G4 from this guy and he said that he took is info off it and now it won't boot up. So I have a Tiger Disk and I tried the to boot from the disk by pushing C down while it was booting and it still goes to that Flashing Question Mark and Folder thing. What should I do? Should I take it in or is there something I can do without taking it in?

Hi! It should boot from the install disc by holding down the "c" key at startup with the disc already inserted as long as it's a retail disc and not one for another model of computer. If it won't boot from a retail install disc then you have hardware problems. Tom

My MB pro doesn't recognize any start up discs. I have the flashing question mark, but when I press option/alt, I'm only prompted to start the internet recovery. Afterwards the Mac OS X Utilities pops up, but there's no start up disc?

I have the flashing question mark, but when I press option/alt, I'm only prompted to start the internet recovery. Afterwards the Mac OS X Utilities pops up, but there's no start up disc when I try to reinstall Mac OS x or anything.

Hello, sullivja.
Thank you for visiting Apple Support Communities.
Here is an article I would recommend going through when experiencing this issue.
A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1440
Cheers,
Jason H.

Flashing question mark on mac book pro,with grey screen when turned on?

flashing question mark on mac book pro,with grey screen when turned on?

Press the power button down to force a emergency hardware shutdown and hold the option/alt key down and reboot
If you see your OS X boot partition, then click it and the arrow, head to System Preferences > Startup Disk and reset it. Done.
Folder with question mark issue
If that doesn't it, then do a #2 PRAM reset and try the above again.
..Step by Step to fix your Mac
If no OS X boot volume appears in Startup Manager, then OS X is corrupted.
Try more of the Steps above (like 1-8) then if that doesn't work.
Create a data recovery/undelete external boot drive
Once you got your data off, erase and reinstall OS X onto the MacintoshHD partition and then restore from TimeMachine or bootable clone if you have it. or build new and return users files from the data recovery drive.
Most commonly used backup methods
If the drive doesn't appear in Disk Utility it might be dead or there are further complications let us know for further assistance.
Install/upgrade RAM or storage drive in Mac's
My computer is not working, is my personal data lost?
https://discussions.apple.com/community/notebooks/macbook_pro?view=documents#/?p er_page=50

Ugh, the flashing question mark...

Earlier tonight my three year old nephew got hold of my laptop and his little magic fingers did something to cause the screen to go blank and then, the flashing question mark showed up. So, I reinstalled the OS X dvd, when it asked do I want to keep the previous system in a folder, I clicked yes.
My question is: should I erase the folder with the previous system? If the answer is yes, where do I find it?
Thank you in advance for your help and Happy Holidays!

Yes, you can erase it. It's at the top level of your internal HD. Just open the HD via the Finder and it should appear.
(It won't show up via Spotlight or a Finder search).
Note that it will take quite a while to empty the trash.

Flash question mark, and no disk

Hello!
I've got a problem with my Power Mac G5. After a freeze-up, I did a hard reboot, and when it restarted, all that displayed was the 'flashing question mark'.
I read through the support tips. I booted from my install CD, and ran Disk Utility. It couldn't find any partitions on the hard drive, so I reset the PRAM and tried again. Still no luck.
In PC parlance, I would say that my machine has lost its Master Boot Record. I know how to fix this, there. What's the equivalent terminology in Macland? And, what's the tool to fix this?
I'd really like to be able to fix this myself (I'm in IT at a Canadian university, and it would be useful to know this for the machines that are charged to my care), and while I'd prefer a solution that uses free software, I'd be willing to purchase if necessary.
Thanks for your help!
Power Mac G5 Mac OS X (10.4.6)

When doing a hard reboot, my choice is to
boot into Single User Mode, run
/sbin/fsck -fy
run Applejack
Or, use the OPTION key and boot to an alternate (emergency system) drive (FireWire or partition on another drive).
You want to use the latest version of Disk Utility, which would be the fsck command, or 10.4.6 on another drive.
And to have handy a copy of Disk Warrior (and/or TechTool Pro 4.x).
You don't want to use a version of Disk utility from 10.4.2 or older to fix 10.4.3 or later.
Along with resetting PMU, sometimes you need or want to reset nvram from the Open Firmware screen - nvram can be corrupted, or the device tree needs to be rebuilt (adding or changing memory, disk drive, PCI cards).
MacGurus FAQ

Help. iMac flashing question mark, and now power loss at startup.

Hey. I've had some really weird issues with my iMac. It's a 2.8 core 2 extreme aluminium 2007 iMac. It was bought for me at the end of august 2007.
What happened was, I was watching a movie and it started freezing. Everything was so slow. So I turned it off by the mains since it wouldn't shut down. When I tried booting it back up it had the flashing question mark. So I read up on it and tried doing what the apple support website recommended, which was to put the install disc back in and use the disk utility to repair the disk. Except this wouldn't work and it said the hard disk could not be unmounted. So I read up again and apple recommended resetting the PRAM, which I did and then it wouldn't recognise the hard drive AT ALL. But after a few tries of booting up it found it again, I got on disk utility and still said the same thing when I tried to repair. So I repaired the permissions instead and restarted and the computer booted as normal. But then was still very slow and freezing. So I opened disk utility one more time and tried repairing permission, restarted the computer and now when it gets to the apple logo and the loading icon it looses power and goes blank. I've already tried resetting the SMU. it didn't work. Has anybody got ANY clue to what I can do? Is my waranty up? I don't have AppleCare. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

If you have an Intel iMac, it has an SMC not an SMU, so if you used the procedure that says "SMU" on it, you used the one for an iMac G5, which is not an Intel iMac.
Since you did many different things in a somewhat random order, you may want to do the following, even if you did some of it already.
Reset PRAM
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1379
If that does not help, reset SMC
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1543
which is basically disconnecting ALL cables and power, then reconnecting using a precise procedure. If you have been connecting the power cord to a crowded or old power strip (surge suppressor), try connecting it directly to the wall outlet, at least initially. First, power it up with nothing connected, except for power cord. If that works, add just your keyboard/mouse and use it that way for a while to evaluate how the iMac is working. If all is well, connect your other peripheral (USB/FireWire) devices one by one. If the problem does recur at some point, identify the device added last; it may be faulty or causing some kind of interference.
If the problem remain, even when trying to start up the iMac with nothing but power cord connected, connect just your keyboard/mouse. Insert your Mac OS X installation disc (for the currently installed system) and restart with the C key held down. Sounds like you did this already. You should note if the iMac is running normally when booted off the installation disc. If so, the problem may be your internal drive; it may be faulty. Run Disk Utility from Installer's menu bar, and try to do a +Repair Disk+ again. See if it works any better this time.
You can also try using the Apple Hardware Test, including on your original disc(s)
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1509

Got the flashing question mark and mac folder on startup.

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