Macbook Pro - white screen with blinking folder with question mark

My wife returned from a trip today. The Mac worked fine yesterday. Today it will not start up. When you press the power button, the screen goes white with a blinking folder in the middle. There is a ? in the middle of the folder. Any ideas what this means? Thanks

i dont know of its the same but this happened to my ibook g4 and i done some exploring and i was told to cheap my ram.. so i unpluged and replugged the ram stick and reset the virtual memory and it worked with no memory loss but if you have the os installition disks reinstall the os and if not ... go to apple store .. sorry if any of this is wrong but its what happend to me,
hope htis helped

Similar Messages

MacBook Pro White screen, No apple logo, No question mark

Hi guys
I've MacBook pro 13 2010 model
The Laptop turn on all the time when i press power button
but It's stuck in white screen ( without apple logo ) . With hard drive connected or no hard drive i still can't see the question mark folder
What i've done
- Reset NVRM ( shift + Command+ option + power ) and it worked as i can see light changed in the charger
- I removed the hard drive put new one, then again removed hard from the board but no luck
- connected the Laptop to a monitor but not even showing video in the external monitor
Why can't i press PRAM button. NVRM work OK but not PRAM ( Option + Apple logo + P + R )
so keyboard is fine

askmeplz82,
if you’re unable to boot into Mountain Lion’s Recovery mode, then that limits your self-help options. These options still remain:
Do you still have the two grey installation DVDs which originally came in the box with your MacBook Pro?
Do you have a bootable external disk?
Do you have access to a FireWire cable and access to a second Mac with a FireWire port?
Do you have a spare SATA disk which can be temporarily installed inside of your MacBook Pro?
If the answer to all of these is no, then your only remaining option is to make an appointment at an Apple store or other qualified service facility so that they can diagnose/repair your MacBook Pro.

MacBook Pro starts up with blinking folder and question mark in it. Is there a fix to this issue or has the HDD crashed for good?

I startup my mac and I see a white screen background with a folder icon in the center and a question mark blinking in the center. Called Apple and the rep says this is probably a HDD crash. Only solution is to take it into a Apple store and get a replacement HDD which would cost $300 and upwards. This mac book is about 15 months old and cost $1300. Needless to say I'm highly upset. Does anyone have a fix to this?

Flashing folder with question mark?
Go step by step and test.
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1440
Startup Manager to select Startup disk.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1310
Repair Disk
Steps 2 through 8
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH5836
Reset PRAM.
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH4405
Reinstall OS X
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH10763?viewlocale=en_US

My Macbook Air 2011 got a white screen and a folder with a question mark. I tried to press option+r and try to install the OS X Lion but it didn't show the disk Macintosh Hd

My Macbook Air 2011 got a white screen and a folder with a question mark. I tried to press option+r and try to install the OS X Lion but it didn't show the disk Macintosh Hd

You are using Snow Leopard so you have no OPTION+R shortcut. You need to boot the computer from your Snow Leopard DVD or USB flash drive.
Reinstall OS X without erasing the drive
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 Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1.

Will not start - get a white screen and gray folder with ?

I tried to erase the drive and reinstall snow leopard - which got interupted.
Now when I try to start - I just get a white screen - sometimes with a folder and question mark in the middle of the screen.
I tried rebooting with original OS disc - while holding option key - but it eventually kicks the disc out.
thanks

There are four general causes of this issue:
1. The computer's PRAM no longer contains a valid startup disk setting when there aren't any problems with the disk itself. This can be checked for by pressing the Option key and seeing if the drive appears.
2. The internal drive's directory structure has become damaged. This requires usage of an alternate bootable system to perform the repair.
3. Critical system files have been deleted. This requires usage of an alternate bootable system to reinstall them.
4. The internal drive has died or become unplugged. This is the most likely case if the computer took a sharp impact or there are unusual sounds coming from its location.
(91991)

HT1379 I have lost everything on my mac, a gray screen with a folder and question mark is blinking. i hav another mac that is running slowly, how can I boot and reinstall os x Lion, i do not have the start up disc with me.

I have lost everything on my mac, a gray screen with a folder and question mark is blinking. i hav another mac that is running slowly, how can I boot and reinstall os x Lion, i do not have the start up disc with me.

Welcome to the Apple Support Communities
Lion uses Recovery to reinstall OS X. Press Command and R keys when your Mac starts, open Disk Utility, erase the drive and reinstall Lion. The other Mac has probably got its hard disk damaged, so take the Mac to an Apple Store

Blue screen with flashing folder and question mark on startup

Hello.
I need help with my Macbook Pro. I get a blue screen with a flashing folder and a question mark at start up. To date I have tried the following:
Apple Hardware (Extensive) Test (Results: "No Trouble Found")
Safe Boot
Reset NVRAM
Reinstall OS X via the internet (I received no discs when I purchased it). I select the StartUp Disk to reinstall. When reinstalling via the internet I get to a point of reinstalling Mountain Lion but it asks me to choose a drive - yet there are no drive options to choose from. Then a window comes up asking me to "Select the system you want to use to start up your computer" but no options appear. When I choose "Restart" a note pops up saying "You can't change the startup disk to the selected disk. Startup Disk could not gather enough information on the selected disk."
The only option is "Restart" from the Apple menu. When I choose that it goes back to the original "Blue screen with flashing folder and question mark on startup."
I have no Time Machine
I can't access the disc utility.
Are there any ideas as to what might be the problem?

Your hard drive has likely failed and needs replaced. That would explain why the system does not display it when you attempt to reinstall the OS via Internet Recovery.

HT1941 grey screen with a folder and question mark

On start up i get a grey screen with a folder and question mark- how do i get out of this?

10.8 Mountain Lion
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11046
Use Startup Manager to select Startup disk.
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1310
Repair Disk
Steps 2 through 8
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH5836
Reset PRAM.
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH4405

On power startup my Imac shows a white screen then subsequently a flashing question mark-- will not open

My iMac shows only a white screen and then a flashing question mark on power start up and will no open display

Help here > A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac

Not solved with Blinking Folder with Question Mark after Erasing Hard Drive

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?
Me too had tried the command+R and failed to manually connect to my network. Can anyone help?

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.

Getting white screen with file folder and question mark on it...help

My MacBook Pro starts up and only shows a white screen with a file folder with question mark on it. I have not had problems prior to this. Help!,

That means that no valid system could be found to boot from. What might have caused that is hard to say, but try referring to this document:
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1440
Note that if you are using Mac OS X 10.7 (Lion), you don't start up from your install disk. Hold down command-R at startup instead.

How can i retrieve data from a macbook pro that has the flashing folder with an ? mark in it, to a brand new iMac

I want to do a data recovery of my 15" MBP that has the flashing folder w/ ? mark in it, to an iMac 21.4"; how can i go about that?

DJSMACC wrote:
How do I go about removing the internal drive and mount it to an external enclosure @Linc Davis??? Sorry that I'm not too hip with all the technology lingo & etc?
You'll have to watch the video and buy a few tools to extract the driive.
http://eshop.macsales.com/installvideos/
Then use something like this to connect to the other Mac or PC with MacDrive installed.
http://eshop.macsales.com/item/Newer%20Technology/U3NVSPATA/
You also can get the same adapter elsewhere online for as low as $12 I've seen.
Likely it's a USB 2,1 which your Mac's can only accept USB 2,1 anyway, no need to pay more for a USB 3 unless you want too.
No compensation for site or product mention
You likely should be having a professional or Apple tech attempt to bypass the firmware password if you forgot it, it's the best way to go about things.
Just because the Mac has a spinning wheel gray screen at boot doesn't mean it's ruined, you just need to bypass the firmware password and then from there fix the machine's cause for not booting, which is likely a software issue from a third party kernel extension file.
Step by Step to fix your Mac
You should know that opening the iMac could likely ruin it and will ruin any warranty or AppleCare, and if it's a Early 2011 model or later you can't replace the hard drive yourself as Apple has proprietary software installed on the drive that needs to "talk" to OS X to control the fans speeds.
Good Luck.

Mid-2010 Macbook Pro White Screen of Death?

Hi all,
I have a Mid- 2010 Macbook Pro, running 10.8.2 that, when booting, sounds the Startup Chime but no Apple logo appears, just a white screen. I'm in IT so I've done several things, but nothing has worked and I couldn't find a previous discussion that was similar to mine.
Here's what I've done so far:
- Changed hard drives
- reseated RAM
- Unplugged Battery
- Reset the PRAM
- Tried to boot from CD using CTRL- C
- Tried Recovery boot using CTRL- R
Anything else I could try? I keep thinking it may have something to do with the Time Change, but that seems a little weird to me if that's the cause. It worked fine late last night and then it did this in the morning (after the time change).
Thanks for any help you can give!

Hi sanjampet,
Tried the SMC reset, safe boot, CD boot, and Recovery boot all with no luck. Not sure why it's going on, but it's looking more and more like a hardware issue to me. It's a white screen (instead of a grey screen), so I'm worried that it's something with it. I'm going to try and see if I can remote into it using Screen Sharing to see if it's something with the display.
My wife used it last and she told me that it was slow on the internet with the mouse freezing up, so she held down the power to turn it off then it came up with the white screen which hasn't come back on since. I'm using an 3rd party SSD hard drive and replaced it with another SATA hard drive, but it didn't help.
Thanks,
JN

2011 Macbook Pro white screen after apple logo and spinning wheel

Hey there guys,
My 2011 Macbook Pro has encountered some problems. Firstly while i was at school, i opened up my computer, usually the computer would require you to type your password, but my login page became fuzzy, white lines everywhere. So I restarted my computer and everything was okay. After that i came back home, my computer was running fine, after surfing the net for a few hours, my whole computer suddenly became blue. So what i did was i just restarted my computer, after that my computer would boot up Apple logo would come up, the spinning wheel would also come up, after 30-40 secs it would turn black screen and come back on as a white screen and would just stay like that. It would be on the white screen. Tried some rebooting ways but all didn't work.
1st: I wanna know whats the problem?
2nd: Is this a harddrive failure? (Because i have alot of important documents and personal stuff in my hard drive and i hope it isn't a crashed hardrive)
Thanks for your help..
PS: Im running on Moutain Lion, but i have no idea what version it is.

Make a "Genius" appointment at an Apple Store.
Back up all data on the internal drive(s) before you hand over your computer to anyone. If privacy is a concern, erase the data partition(s) with the option to write zeros* (do this only if you have at least two complete, independent backups, and you know how to restore to an empty drive from any of them.) Don’t erase the recovery partition, if present.
Keeping your confidential data secure during hardware repair
*An SSD doesn't need to be zeroed.

MacBook Pro White Screen

My MacBook Pro has decided to throw a right wobbler, or in other words it has PMT.
I left it in stanby last night closed up came to it this morning and the thing had a totally dead battery and when recharged refused to boot up (was hangning on a white screen). I can't get back to the main install disc until tomorrow so decided to leave it until then, but at about 8 this evening (BST) it just sprang back to life and fully booted and loaded everything without an issue. Anyway long story short it has crashed again whilst doing absolutely nothing, and I mean nothing no apps running or anything.
The system is shut down and if it tries to load I get the chime drive check and a white screen, can anyone help out or is this thing toast after just under two years? Never had a problem with it before and it is kept right up to date and doesn't have loads of apps, was recently updated as well. Runs Snow Leopard with no bootcamp and is a 13" i3 macbook

Have performed every single operation going, including replacing the hard drive and ram modules back to factory standard, nothing. Will boot using an install disc to load it as an installation, but it is not finding a HDD at all, which to me suggests a fried Logic Board. What really annnoys me the most is that I had litterally only performed an apple update on it less than twenty four hours before it was fried, I am now seriously concerned that the same thing is going to happen to my iMac which had an update at the same time.
As it stands it is not worth replacing the logic board as this 'failure' has already cost me work so I don't have the cash to pay for that. It should nto fail within two years and the things is now seriously overheating so I think that maybe apple need to look at the contents of their update packages, I can't loose that amount of data for fun when my job depends on it.Thank you ds store for you help, I pretty much knew how to do everyting on that list anyway, but it is handy for those that can't.
My solution - porbably going back to windows again, just like I did in the 90's when the tech started getting volatile

Macbook Pro - white screen with blinking folder with question mark

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