HT4650 My computer turns to a white screen. In the center it blinks a suitcase with a question mark in the center. I can not access my desktop. Is this a malware virus?

My computer turns to a white screen. In the center it blinks a suitcase with a question mark in the center. I can not access my desktop. Is this a malware virus?

Hi, likely neither.
What shows for boot choices if you hold alt or option key on startup?
Bootup holding CMD+r, or the Option/alt key to boot from the Restore partition & use Disk Utility from there to Repair the Disk, then Repair Permissions.

Similar Messages

  • At start up I get a white screen then eventually a blinking folder icon with a question mark in the middle

    Help!  As of today, my iMac will not boot up.  When I turn it on I get a blank white screen then, after about a minute, a blinking folder icon with a question mark in the middle.

    Find your original install disk, insert it and re-boot holding the "C" key during startup. It will take longer but should boot. Then you need to select Disk Utilityfrom the Menu Bar. Do a Repair Disk on your hard drive. When it finishes re-boot normally.

  • TS1812 Hi Everyone, I have tried all the solutions mentioned by apple and still have a white screen with a blinking file folder with a question mark in the center, anyone have any ideas or experienced this?

    Hi Everyone, I have tried all the solutions mentioned by apple and still have a white screen with a blinking file folder with a question mark in the center, anyone have any ideas or experienced this?

    Nooo or you would use OS X Recovery Mode: Disk Utilty and then Startup Disk.
    Mac OS X & Mountain Lion Community
    https://discussions.apple.com/community/mac_os
    https://discussions.apple.com/community/mac_os/os_x_mountain_lion?view=discussio ns
    Recovery Mode
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718
    ExpressLane
    https://expresslane.apple.com/
    Mac OS X Help
    http://www.apple.com/support/macbasics/
    Isolating Issues in Mac OS
    http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1388
    https://www.apple.com/support/osx/
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  • When I went to turn the desktop on, the start up sound came on.  Then the screen was white with an icon flashing. The icon is a file folder with a question mark on it.  I cannot get it to fully turn on.  HELP

    When I went to turn the desktop on, the start up sound came on.  Then the screen was white with an icon flashing. The icon is a file folder with a question mark on it.  I cannot get it to fully turn on.  HELP

    Run a disk repair tool on the hard disk or install a new OS.
    (59898)

  • I've got a 15" white macbook which I bought about 2 years ago. It froze the other day and wouldn't respond so I shut it down. When I turn it on now it comes up with a flashing file with a question mark on it. How can I fix it?

    I've got a 15" white macbook which I bought about 2 years ago. It froze the other day and wouldn't respond so I shut it down. When I turn it on now it comes up with a flashing file with a question mark on it. How can I fix it? I've tried a few things i've seen online but the futhest ive got is to put the start up disk in when you makes it go to a grey screen with an apple logo and the spinning wheel which then stops spinning. Can anybody help?

    That folder with the question mark icon means that the MacBook can't find the boot directory. That can either mean it can't find the hard drive or the Operating System data on the hard drive is somehow corrupted.
    Put your install DVD into the optical drive and reboot. As soon as you hear the boot chime, hold down the "c" key on your keyboard (or the Option key until the Install Disk shows up). That will force your MacBook to boot from the install DVD in the optical drive.
    When it does start up, you'll see a panel asking you to choose your language. Just press the Return key on your keyboard once.It will then present you with an Installation window. Completely ignore this window and click on Utilities in the top menu and scroll down to Disk Utility and click it. When it comes up is your Hard Drive in the list on the left?
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  • Anyone help mac book screen White with a question Mark in the middle of the screen .matthew

    Can anyone help my mac book screen has gone White with a question Mark in the middle of the screen .Matthew

    Reinstall OS X without erasing the drive
    Do the following:
    1. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions
    Boot from your Snow Leopard 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. 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 installer.
    If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior and/or Tech Tool Pro to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
    2. Reinstall Snow Leopard
    If the drive is OK then quit DU and return to the installer.  Proceed with reinstalling OS X.  Note that the Snow Leopard installer will not erase your drive or disturb your files.  After installing a fresh copy of OS X the installer will move your Home folder, third-party applications, support items, and network preferences into the newly installed system.
    Download and install the Combo Updater for the version you prefer from support.apple.com/downloads/.

  • What does a blinking folder icon with a question mark mean when turning on computer?

    When I turn on my Mac Book Pro all I get is a blinking forder icon with a question mark in it in the middle of the screen. What does this mean and how can I fix it?

    Your Mac is not able to find a system folder to boot from so it displays the question mark.
    Allan

  • MacBook Pro won't boot at start.  I get a white screen with a blinking folder with a question mark in the middle. Any ideas?

    MacBook Pro won't boot at start.  I get a white screen with a blinking folder with a question mark in the middle. Any ideas?

    Read this article...
    http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1440?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

  • My iMac has a white screen with a flashing file folder with a question mark in the middle.  What does that mean?

    My iMac is completely unresponsive.  Whenever I restart it, it's just a white screen with a flashing file folder with a question mark in the middle.  What does this mean?

    this means the mac cannot find the startup disc. which more times than not means you need a hdd replacement.
    try starting holding the option key, then using utilities try to repair the disc.

  • Hey ppl,my macbook is not booting and by that i mean u can hear the audio wave when its starting up,the screen goes white and then after a while there's a folder with a question mark in the middle of the screen...anyone,any ideea?!?

    Hey ppl,my macbook is not booting and by that i mean u can hear the audio wave when its starting up,the screen goes white and then after a while there's a folder with a question mark in the middle of the screen...anyone,any ideea?!?Regards.

    That folder with the question mark icon means that the MacBook can't find the boot directory. That can either mean it can't find the hard drive or the hard drive data is somehow corrupted.
    Put your install DVD into the drive and reboot. As soon as you hear the boot chime, hold down the "c" key on your keyboard (or the Option key until the Install Disk shows up). That will force your MacBook to boot from the optical drive.
    Once it has finished booting and you are at the Install screen launch Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. Is your Hard Drive in the list on the left?
    If it is then select the First Aid Tab run Repair Disk and if that repairs any problems run it again until the green OK appears and then run Repair Permissions.
    If your hard drive isn’t recognized in Disk Utility then your hard drive is probably dead.

  • So i have a 2011 MacBook Pro and when i turned it on this morning a flashing folder came on with a question mark in the middle of it and it keeps flashing. So i tried googling any solutions and up so far nothing has worked. Please Help ?

    I tried googling several solutions, but so far nothing seems to work. Everytime i start up my laptop i press CMND+R to make it go to the repair disk utility but instead it takes me as if i have to install lion when i had Snow Leopard 10.6.8. When i do go to the repair disk utility, on the eft hand side shows two hardrives one is Untitled and another is Hitachi, i tried downloading snow leopard 10.6.8 onto a Re-writable disc  using my windows computer. When i insterted it onto the disc drive it came out under SUPER DRIVE and everytime i double click on the CD it says something about attaching images/ I also forgot to mention that the MAC OSX 10.6.8 Update shows on the left hand side on the bottom in DMG format. I dont know what else to do, please help?

    DestroyGalaxies wrote:
    a flashing folder came on with a question mark in the middle of it
    This is the firmware telling you it can't find a bootable OS X volume.
    Usually to solve this all you do is hold the option key down on the built in keyboard while booting the computer, this enters Startup Manager and then you choose OS X to boot, then in System Preferences > Startup Disk you change it to the boot volume and it tells the firmware.
    Everytime i start up my laptop i press CMND+R to make it go to the repair disk utility but instead it takes me as if i have to install lion when i had Snow Leopard 10.6.8.
    What you have is a 10.7 or 10.8 Recovery HD from when 10.7 or 10. was on the machine previously.
    The Macintosh HD partition only was erased and 10.6 installed on it, without erasing the entire drive like what should have occured to remove the Recovery HD partition.
    So you have a mucked up machine.
    i tried downloading snow leopard 10.6.8 onto a Re-writable disc  using my windows computer.
    Well there goes your problem there, your downloading illegal copies of Snow Leopard from a untrusted location.
    10.6 is not available for download, except from pirate sites. You likely have malware or a compromised system.
    I dont know what else to do, please help?
    What you need to do is call Apple via phone, tell them the make of your machine and order the appropriate 10.6 disks, they are inexpensive now. Some machines that came with 10.6.3+ origianlly need machine specific disks, other wise pre-10.6.3 Intel Macs can use the 10.6.3 white retail disks.
    Once you have the disks, you need to backup your personal information off the computer to a external storage drive using the emergency quick copy method, then disconnect it to prevent mistakes.
    Most commonly used backup methods
    Next follow this proceedure and make sure to select the ENTIRE drive on the far left with the drive makers name and size, this will erase the entire drive, then install 10.6 from the disk
    How to erase and install Snow Leopard 10.6
    When finished setup the machine and log onto the Internet and use Software Update to get current on 10.6.8
    Don't use pirated software, it's likely been compromised in some fashion.

  • Laptop turns on but has a folder with a question mark in the middle

    for the last month or so my computer has been acting weird. when i turnd it on one morning it wouldent load it just kept the apple sign logo on the screen then it would change too the circle with a line though it sign.
    now the logo doesnt even show up and a folder with a question mark on it is shown. is there a way to fix this problum and if so estimated how much...

    Hi wizy;
    It sounds like either your disk or the directories on your disk have been slowly going bad.
    Do you have a backup?
    The question mark indicates that your Mac is not able to find a system to boot from. I would suggest that you boot form the install media for your Mac and repair the disk with Disk Utility. Let us know the results of that and we can go from there.
    Allan

  • I just powered on my mac book pro and have a blue screen with a flashing folder with a question mark in the middle, how do I get out of this?

    I just booted my mac book pro and it is at a blue screen with a flashing folder with a question mark in the middle of it.  How do I get out of it?

    Click here and follow the instructions. If the computer was running Mac OS X 10.6.8 or earlier and you reach the third set of steps, insert a Mac OS X install disk.
    (126818)

  • My MacBook Pro turns on but not all the way, it gives me an icon of a grey folder with a question mark in the middle, and won't go further that that. Anyone knows why, or what's the problem?

    My MacBook Pro turns on but not all the way, it gives me an icon of a grey folder with a question mark in the middle, and won't go further that that. Anyone knows why, or what's the problem?

    If these do not resolve the issue or if you are not comfortable with proceeding through these steps then take your Mac to an Apple store or an Apple Authorized Service Provider.  An Apple store will perform these initial steps, diagnose the problem, and give an estimate for repairs (if needed).  If the Mac is less than one year old or is covered by AppleCare any repairs would be free.
              Genius reservation http://www.apple.com/retail/geniusbar/ .
              or find an Apple Authorized Service Provider https://locate.apple.com/country

  • My computer has some serious problems, my iphoto only shows thumb size pics when I try to open them, i tried to rebuild my files from folders that had the pics in them. originally all the photos has a large delta with a question mark. also I can't back up

    my computer has some serious problems, my iphoto only shows  only shows thumb size pics when I try to open them, i tried to rebuild my files from folders that had the pics in them. originally all the photos had a large delta with a question mark. also I can't back up the library file because its not there. I went to time machune and tried to find the file but I can't find it or I am looking in the wrong place. I also lost my Idvd file, only have broken chain showing.

    Details please
    What version of iPhoto and of the OS?
    i tried to rebuild my files from folders that had the pics in them.
    Exactly what did you do and how did you do it? this ay be the cause of your issue but without details we can n=ony guess
    my iphoto only shows  only shows thumb size pics when I try to open them,
    where do you see htis? In the iPhoto window? what does "try to pen them" exactly mean?
    originally all the photos had a large delta with a question mark.
    Ok - this usually has a simple solution - do you still have a copy of the library that has this problem?
    also I can't back up the library file because its not there.
    This makes no sense at all - all of your previous statements indicate that you do have an iPhoto library but have some problems with it
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    I went to time machune and tried to find the file but I can't find it or I am looking in the wrong place.
    Again unless you actually share what and how you are doing thing but continue to simply state abstract problems it is no possible to assist you - details on using Time Machine are here  --  http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US   --     and   --    http://pondini.org/TM/FAQ.html   ---
    I also lost my Idvd file, only have broken chain showing.
    This would be better addressed in the iDVD forum - but again unlesss yu share detailed information no one can assist
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