My Macbook Pro is coming on and off

My MacBook Pro Late 2008, Lion operating system, is coming on and off on its on without encouragement from me. The other day I clicked on something when checking from some lost emails in (Yahoo an account I no longer use, but occasionaly emails end up there). A strange looking screen came up saying "You are here." I do not know where "here" was but since then I get the rotating gear/beach ball frequently. I can get the ball to go away by going up to the address bar. However now the computer comes on with its usual start up sound and it does this frequently.
I wonder if there is some malware, etc. installed but I have no idea how to check for such things.
Any suggestion as to the problem will be appreciated. I know because age it could be a problem with the computer. However, recently, new memory and office was installed. That after everything in my hard drive was dumped. Should not have happened but such is the case.
Your usual fine help is appreciated.
Thank you.

The question mark means the computer cannot find a bootable volumes so can;t do anything, That, combined with annoying sounds, strongly suggests a failed hard drive.
You can ask a "genius" at an Apple Rtail Store to test it but I'm pretty sure the drive is kaput. I'm hoping you had your data backed up.

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MacBook Pro can turn on and off, but does not start up. Stays on white screen with flashing folder icon, does not go to desktop.

MacBook Pro is not starting up. It just stays on a white screen with a flashing folder icon. Have tried restarting while holding the Option key, and the cursor becomes visible and movable, but it does not go to the desktop.

Hello Sonya_Rose,
I found this article when researching the issue you describe here named A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac found http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1440.
Check the mouse and keyboard
This issue might occur if a mouse or trackpad button is pressed during startup. Make sure the button isn't pressed.
If the issue persists, shut down your Mac with its power button, disconnect any external mouse and keyboard, then turn on your Mac with its power button. If the flashing question mark issue persists, reconnect the keyboard and mouse.
Additional steps
If your Mac still starts to a flashing question mark, follow the steps below. If any step resolves the issue, you don't need to continue to the next one.
Select your Mac OS X startup disk with Startup Manager by restarting and holding the Option key. After your Mac starts up, restart again to verify that the flashing question mark does not appear.
If the issue persists, insert your Mac OS X installation disc. Be sure to either use the disc that came with your Mac, or, if you installed a later Mac OS X version from disc, use the newer disc.
MacBook Air note: On a MacBook Air, there are two options for starting up from Mac OS X media: Either connect a MacBook Air SuperDrive to the MacBook Air via the USB port and restart the computer, holding down the C key during startup, or use Remote Install Mac OS X to startup from a system software DVD that's located on a partner computer. Once started up from Mac OS X media, skip to step 3.
Restart the computer, then hold the C key during startup.
From the Utilities menu, choose Disk Utility. Don't click Continue.
Select your Mac OS X disk (named "Macintosh HD" by default) in the left side of the Disk Utility window.
Click the First Aid tab.
Click Repair Disk to verify and repair any issues with your Mac OS X startup disk.
After repairing the disk, try to start up normally.
Important: If Disk Utility finds issues it cannot repair, you may need to back up as much of your data as possible (or use Time Machine to back up to a different disk), then erase the disk and reinstall Mac OS X. You should back up important files and data before erasing a drive. Erasing deletes everything on the hard disk (including things on your desktop). Also, you can install Mac OS X onto an external disk, start from the external disk, and use Migration Assistant to transfer items from your usual internal Mac OS X startup disk to the external disk, then erase the internal disk and reinstall Mac OS X.
If the issue persists, and Disk Utility didn't find any irreparable issues, quit Disk Utility, quit the Installer, select your disk when prompted, and restart.
If the issue continues, reset PRAM. Note: After resetting PRAM, if the computer starts up normally, reselect the startup disk in the Startup Disk preferences.
If none of these steps resolve the issue, start up from the Mac OS X Installation disc and reinstall Mac OS X.
Regards,
Sterling

My macbook pro shut down unexpectedly and its not coming up.

My macbook pro unexpectedly shut down and its not coming up. Cant seem to get it to start. What do i do pls?

What were you doing when it crashed? Was it plugged in or running off battery? Are you currently attempting to turn it back on while connected to AC?
Go through each step below. If no resolution is found, you need to bring your machine in for servicing. BOL:
Troubleshooting: My computer won't turn on - Support - Apple

HT1338 my macbook pro has been running hot off and on

My macbook pro has been running hot off and on for the last couple of days

Are you running andy anti-virus or "cleaning" software? Both can shorten battery life and run up the temps.
Take a look at this Apple article:
Runaway applications can shorten battery runtime, affect performance, and increase heat and fan activity
Note in Step 3 you need to make a change if running Mavericks. In Mav, Activity Monitor's "Show All Processes" function moved from the application window to the application menubar:
Setting to "All Processes" is the only sure way to catch some suspects. Not noted in the article is this: AM won't tell you much if you run it shortly after a restart. Use your computer as normally as possible for at least a half-day before running the test. Also not clear is that you should be looking for any process that uses more than about 10 percent of the cycles. I've checked a lot of Macs with AM and, assuming you quit any user applications you started (other than AM) nothing should be a percentage larger than a single digit in a healthy Mac.

I can't start my macbook pro because I turned it off when I got a trojan on my mac. When I turn my mac on I get the message that my computer restarted because of a problem. Then it turns off again and turns on again and it starts all over. What can I do?

I can't start my macbook pro because I turned it off when I got a trojan on my mac. When I turn on my mac I get the message that my computer restarted because of a problem. Then it turns off again and turns on again and it starts all over. What can I do?

Boot into your recovery partition (restart, hold down ⌘R until you see the Apple logo), and use Disk Utility to repair your hard drive. Repair permissions too while you're there. OS X: About OS X Recovery

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In my Macbook pro camera just doesnt go off. Everytime I start it starts but doesnt detect.

Hello Abhishekrkate
Start your troubleshooting with the article below; it will assist with different options to get your iSight Camera back up and running.
How to Troubleshoot iSight
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht2090
Regards,
-Norm G.

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If what doesn't work?
If cloning your internal drive to the external drive is not successful, I expect CCC will tell you so. Assuming that doesn't happen, you will have a bootable replica of the internal drive on the external drive once CCC has finished.
You can then do any of several things:
1. Replace your internal drive with a much larger one (320GB or 500GB, or even larger), and clone the external drive's contents onto the new drive so you'll have all your data in one place. Note that if you do this, you'll also need to buy an external drive that's large enough to back the new internal drive up on.
2. Boot from the external drive as a temporary measure while you clear at least 30-40GB of data off the internal drive, allowing you to keep using it and saving small amounts of data to it. The external drive will then contain the only copies of the files you've deleted from the internal drive, so you'll need a seond external drive large enough to back both the other drives up on.
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If you sense a theme here — back up, back up, back up — you are correct. It's flat-out foolhardy to own or use a computer without maintaining complete, up-to-date backups of everything at all times.

Why does my MacBook Pro make background music and video quieter when I am on FaceTime?

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Have the same issue too. Apple can you please change this annoying feature. You are making long distance relationships more difficult.
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If you set your imessage off on your phone it will only turn it off on your phone i think I don't think it effects your mac. I'm not 100% sure on this though.
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Are there any new Macbook pro laptops coming out soon? Because if there are i will wait to buy one.

Applecomputer53 wrote:
Are there any new Macbook pro laptops coming out soon?
There are always new MacBook Pro models coming out soon. However with current 2011 models you can install the faster, Rosetta program loving OS X Snow Leopard with a hack, instead of the new clitchy and unstable OS X Lion.
So you have a choice now, but for not much longer. If you wait another 6 -8 months, Lion will be stable and more programs will be compatible with it.
If this is your first Mac, I would wait. If you can do a simple hack with another Snow Leopard Mac, then you can opt to get one now and revert it to Snow Leopard and have a stable machine.
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I have had my late 2011 Macbook Pro for 3 years and 5 months. Before I left for vacation on July 28th my battery held 98 percent charge. I turned it off and put it in my closet. Now when I have came back my battery holds 2.2 percent, not even enough to be unplugged for a second (128mah). I of course expect my battery to go at some point but my battery has only been through 340 cycles and apples site says the max is 1000. Any suggestions into why my battery is dead after so few cycles? Additionally any suggestions into where I can buy a battery for my computer?

ipodperson1,
your battery holding 98% charge before you left for vacation doesn’t tell the most relevant information — what its Full Charge Capacity was then. Is 128 mA·h its current Full Charge Capacity, or its current Charge Remaining? That is, is the battery merely drained, awaiting a full recharge, or is it now unrechargeable?
You can buy a replacement battery for your MacBook Pro by taking it to an Apple store, or if you prefer to replace the battery yourself, you can buy a suitable battery from reputable third-parties, e.g. NewerTech batteries from OWC.

What do I do when my macbook pro just shuts down and when I plug my charger in, it faintly blinks green and yellow and doesnt charge?

what do I do when my macbook pro just shuts down and when I plug my charger in, it faintly blinks green and yellow and doesnt charge?

Hi aaliyafrommarkham,
In order to troubleshoot this, I would recommend that you start with an SMC reset. Information on this procedure can be found here:
Intel-based Macs: Resetting the System Management Controller (SMC)
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964
Thanks for coming to the Apple Support Communities!
Cheers,
Braden

My macbook pro shuts down OSX and all my programs when the lid is closed

Hi,
I am having a problem. My macbook pro shuts down OSX and all my programs when the lid is closed. I close the lid, and then I hear the shutdown music and then when I open it again it automatically restarts OSX and all my windows and programs are closed, any info gone.
This doesn't happen all the time. Just once a day or maybe twice a day. It seems like it happens basically when I have my computer just the way I want it, to keep an eye on things for the day.
I just recently switched to a mac and while somewhat savvy, I am not a programmer or techie, but it seems to me that when I shut the lid, it should do the same thing every time.
I have a intel core 2 duo 17 inch macbook pro with 2.33 processr and 2 gig ram, if that helps.
I am in alaska and there is no genius bar here and I am hoping to figure this out before I begin bugging our local independant mac store about this.
Thanks in advance,
Lylah
17 inch Macbook Pro Mac OS X (10.4.9) intel core 2 duo 2.33g. 2 gig ram

Ahhh, enlightenment!
That would make sense. What I usually do, after closing the lid, is to wait for the apple to turn off and then set it down on it's side leaning it against the side table. I will try to wait for it to indicate that it is fully asleep before I move it next time. Personally, I prefer my computer to NOT fall asleep at all, but I am told it is not an option. Apparently this function is hardware related accoring to my local mac shop. They tracked it down for me because I hated this feature when I first bought my computer and was trying some way around it.
The shutdown music I was refering to was that music the mac makes when shutting down, which doesnt usually occur when it goes to sleep, unless it is malfunctioning like this.
What does resetting the pmu do? (what is a pmu as well?)
Thank you very much.
Lylah

Why is my macbook pro running so slow and losing internet connection?

Why is my Macbook Pro downloading so slowly and losing internet connection frequently?

Write off the MS stuff as indicators for now--starting with Office 2008, they developed very long launch times. The time to launch 2008 on my old 1.25Ghz G4 and my MBP 2.2G are virtually the same. Even document opens/saves are slow compared to Office 2004 and earlier.
1) You have adequate hard drive space so that eliminates one of the usual suspects.
2) Check for runaway background processes. Quit all running user applications so the computer is at normal idle. Find Activity Monitor in Applications > Utilities and launch it. If you've not run it before, change the "Show" pulldown at the top of the AM window from its default of "User Processes" to "All Processes." There is a column for "%CPU." Click that column header to sort by CPU usage. Watch the processes "bubble" for about a minute to get a better picture of the usage.
If any process is using more than about 25 percent of the CPU cycles while the computer is idling, post the names of the processes and we can see if they can be eliminated. My MBP shows nothing using more that about 5 percent on any given test run as long as I close all my user apps.
3) If you have never done any sort of maintenance procedures, taht can slow you down. Simply restarting the computer a few times a week clear a lot of temporary files. You also may wish to review this article on the Mac OSX periodic maintenance scripts, which, if run, also do a lot of cleanup:
http://thexlab.com/faqs/maintscripts.html
There are other useful articles on file maintenance associated with the one. Here's the index:
http://thexlab.com/faqs/faqs.html
Check out articles with "Maintain" and "Tuning" in the titles.
4) Use Disk Utility to check the SMART Status of your hard drive. A failing drive can make things slow before it makes things stop.

Why is my macbook pro running so slow and how do I improve the speed?

why is my macbook pro running so slow and how do I improve the speed?

Write off the MS stuff as indicators for now--starting with Office 2008, they developed very long launch times. The time to launch 2008 on my old 1.25Ghz G4 and my MBP 2.2G are virtually the same. Even document opens/saves are slow compared to Office 2004 and earlier.
1) You have adequate hard drive space so that eliminates one of the usual suspects.
2) Check for runaway background processes. Quit all running user applications so the computer is at normal idle. Find Activity Monitor in Applications > Utilities and launch it. If you've not run it before, change the "Show" pulldown at the top of the AM window from its default of "User Processes" to "All Processes." There is a column for "%CPU." Click that column header to sort by CPU usage. Watch the processes "bubble" for about a minute to get a better picture of the usage.
If any process is using more than about 25 percent of the CPU cycles while the computer is idling, post the names of the processes and we can see if they can be eliminated. My MBP shows nothing using more that about 5 percent on any given test run as long as I close all my user apps.
3) If you have never done any sort of maintenance procedures, taht can slow you down. Simply restarting the computer a few times a week clear a lot of temporary files. You also may wish to review this article on the Mac OSX periodic maintenance scripts, which, if run, also do a lot of cleanup:
http://thexlab.com/faqs/maintscripts.html
There are other useful articles on file maintenance associated with the one. Here's the index:
http://thexlab.com/faqs/faqs.html
Check out articles with "Maintain" and "Tuning" in the titles.
4) Use Disk Utility to check the SMART Status of your hard drive. A failing drive can make things slow before it makes things stop.

My Macbook Pro is coming on and off

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