My MacBook Pro turns on and only shows a folder with a question mark and blinks. The computer will not continue start-up. Suggestions/Advice?
I'm not sure how this screen is appearing, but I tried powering up my computer this morning and it immediately presents a grey screen, then displays a blinking folder with a question mark in the middle of it.
I am looking for troubleshooting advice and procedures to bypass this screen and allow my computer to complete it's start-up.
Thanks-
Gary D. Aston, Jr.
[email protected]
The folder with a question marks is usually an idication that the Mac can't find the system file to boot from.
Since you never told us which system your Mac was running there is nothing more to say.
Allan
Similar Messages
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I followed the initial steps in this post and reset pram. After restarting, the screen just shows a folder with a question mark. What does this mean?
Thanks Niel, I tried using Option and nothing happened so I next tried inserting the Leopard disc and rebooting while holding C. Nothing happened until the disc was ejected and then the folder with question mark reappeared. I inserted the disc again and at this point and it booted OSX. I tried to acess disc utility to repair but my harddrive wasn't listed, only the CD drive and the OS disc. Does this mean I'm lost everything?
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While searching the internet last night my Macbook pro froze up and would not respond to anything. I restarted the computer and now the computer will not ecen start up. It will go to the gray screen with the apple sign. It is there working for 10 seconds and finally shuts down again. Any ideas how to get the computer to come back to life?
Go step by step and test.
Start up in Safe Mode.
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH14204?viewlocale=en_US
Repair Disk
Steps 2 through 8
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH5836 -
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Hello, can someone help me: my eMac G4 700 MHz. I can not boot it. If he starts appears on the screen, only a small "folder with a question mark." The Mac was not used 1 year.
Question 1: Problem = hard drive?
Question 2: Problem = PRAM battery?
the
What can I do to boot?Restart with the Option key held down.
If the internal drive shows up, it's the PRAM battery.
If it doesn't, insert a compatible Mac OS 9 or X install disk, click the button with the circular arrow, and either repair the internal drive or install a new OS on it. If it doesn't show up in Disk First Aid(9) or the Disk Utility(X), it's either not plugged in or needs to be replaced.
(97530) -
My screen has gone blank on startup and occasionally a grey folder with a question mark appears. I have tried rebooting either by pressing the start up with power or pram.. Neither attempts have worked ! My iMac is 2008. Please help :)
Hey Carolinearnold!
I have an article for you that seems to address this issue and can provide some troubleshooting steps for you:
Mac OS X: Gray screen appears during startup
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts2570
Thanks for using the Apple Support Communities. Have a good one!
-Braden -
I upgraded the OS on my iMac to Lion from the App store; and after installation, it restarted and now the operating system won't start up.... it keeps displaying the apple/folder with a question mark and a circle with a line through it! Please help!
Try starting up with your Snow Leopard DVD and see if the disk can be repaired. Once you are at the installer screen go to the Utilities Menu and choose Disk Utility and choose repair disk. You might also want to try Diskwarrior.
Hope this helps.
Ben -
Start the computer and only show a folder with question mark
Hi,
I need help please.
A few day ago I startup up my iMac and only a folder with a question mark was shown in the screen.
I boot from the Lion DVD, run disk utility but the only drive I get was the DVD and disk1/Mac OS X Base System.
I turned off the computer and next morning I turned on agian and this time with no problems, I use it for a few days with no problems but yesterday it happens again...
I do run disk utility again onlu turn it off, and this morning I tried to turn it on again, but the same foder appears...I run disk utility (get the DVD and disk1) and turn it off for a few hours.
Now I'm praying that when I'm back from work I could turn it on with no problems.
What I should do ? Is there any 3rd party tools that I can try do use to solve this issue ?
Many thanks!
PS: when the iMac started up with no problems I run disk utility and made a repair disk to the mac HD...leonel junior wrote:
I boot from the Lion DVD,
There are no Apple supplied Lion boot DVD's , you use command r to boot into Recovery HD partition, if that doesn't work good chance the drive is dead, it likely will have to pulled to test any data recovery efforts made.
I turned off the computer and next morning I turned on agian and this time with no problems, I use it for a few days with no problems but yesterday it happens again...
Hold Shift key upon boot to fix the drive, reboot holding option and select OS X to boot and head to System Prefs, change the startup drive to OS X.
If you can't do this, your looking at data recovery efforts or repalcing the drive, total erase & restore.
PS: when the iMac started up with no problems I run disk utility and made a repair disk to the mac HD...
The option key, set startup disk in system prefs should resove the issue.
https://discussions.apple.com/community/notebooks/macbook_pro?view=documents -
Have a still folder with a question mark and OS on external HDD isn't loading onto the Mac Pro
Good Morning....... I'm having an issue with this Mac Pro I've recently purchased that came with an 500GB HDD and I added an 2TB HDD also, but it never had an OS on it and when you power on the Mac Pro, you'll get a still folder with a question mark on it. I am very determined to get this situation corrected!!! I had got a copy of Snow Leopard on a blank DVD from a friend of mine but nothing had changed or occurred when I put it in the optical drive & I even saved Maverick installation on an external HDD; it read the drive when I held down the option key during the startup chime, I choose the external because that’s the only volume it shown on the screen; nothing else!!! No sign of the copied disk, the two HDDs that's in the Mac Pro, just the external HDD with the OS on it; I choose the external with Maverick on it but it still doesn't read and then a still folder with the question mark appears..... Can someone please help & save me PLEASE?????????
Buy a retail copy of Snow Leopard, then we can "chat" and get you with a system installed.
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Mack G4 start up with just showing a folder with a ? mark and will not start
HI I have a G4 Mac and have it for 2 weeks and I was updating software and it froze and on restart it just shows a folder with a ? mark what can I do I tried using the Control key + P+S or what ever and it did nothing.
Please help so I don't go back to my PC it crashes every day that is whey I got the used G4 so Please anyone help Me.
Thanks ErickWhen you zap PRAM like you did, or have trouble, two things:
You lost the default path to the boot drive volume;
Your boot drive needs to be repaired.
Your better off with the PowerMac forum.
G4s can't run 10.7 or 10.6. And 10.4.11 is the best OS for PowerMac G4.
Mac Pro
startup disk maintenance Disk Utility fsck
Help_ Repairing startup disk
Hard Drives Recovery -
I have a folder with a question mark and I hear the drive running I think my drive crashed
I have an imac intel duel core I run OSX 6.8 lately the gear has been hanging up a lot I keep haveing to shut down and force quit and reboot. yesterday a folder with a question mark showed up. today nothing shows up but I can hear the hard drive. I booted up the os dvd for SL and it wont see the hard drive. only the dvd player and idisk (which I can't use anymore ) I have disconnected my external storages. I am now on my mac airbook chatting to you.
Do you have any suggestions as to what to do?Probably a crashed HD. Please carefully read Apple's Flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac article for trouble shooting steps. As long as you have been backing up the system it's minor inconvenience of replacing the Internal HD and restoring from your backup. If you haven't been backing up then you are about to learn why backing up it's optional it's critical.
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My MacBook screen is displaying a blank screen with a folder with a question mark on it. Can't get it to respond. Tried rebooting and folder with question mark comes back up. Does anyone know what to do? Thanks.
Question (?) Mark, Blinking Folder, or Gray Screen at Startup
These are related but not identical issues. Their causes are outlined in Intel-based Mac- Startup sequence and error codes, symbols. Solutions may be found in:
A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac
Mac OS X- Gray screen appears during startup
In most cases the problems may be caused by:
Problem with the computer's PRAM - See Resetting your Mac's PRAM and NVRAM.
Boot drive's directory has been corrupted - Repair with Disk Utility.
Critical system files are damaged or deleted - Reinstall OS X.
The disk drive is physically non-functional - Replace the hard drive.
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.
The main difference if you are using Lion or Mountain Lion is that you must first boot from the Recovery HD:
Boot From 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.
Reinstall Snow Leopard 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.
Reinstalling Lion/Mountain 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. 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.
Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the main menu. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions as follows.
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 click on the Repair Permissions button. Wait until the operation completes, then quit DU and return to the main menu.
Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion and click on the Continue button.
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless. -
My macbook crashed and I see a folder with a question mark blinking-
I was getting a file from my friend on AIM and my mac froze. So I tried to restart it but all I see is a white screen with a question mark in the folder blinking, instead of an apple sign. Does this mean that my harddrive crashed and I need a new harddrive?
I tried to insert the Utility DVD and restart the computer and press D or C, but nothing happens. What should I do???You will have to reinstall OS X. If the hard drive is OK and has sufficient free space you can do:
How to Perform an Archive and Install
1. Be sure to use Disk Utility first to repair the disk before performing the Archive and Install.
Repairing the Hard Drive and Permissions
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 Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger.) 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 installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior (4.0 for Tiger) and/or TechTool Pro (4.5.2 for Tiger) 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. Do not proceed with an Archive and Install if DU reports errors it cannot fix. In that case use Disk Warrior and/or TechTool Pro to repair the hard drive. If neither can repair the drive, then you will have to erase the drive and reinstall from scratch.
3. Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When you reach the screen to select a destination drive click once on the destination drive then click on the Option button. Select the Archive and Install option. You have an option to preserve users and network preferences. Only select this option if you are sure you have no corrupted files in your user accounts. Otherwise leave this option unchecked. Click on the OK button and continue with the OS X Installation.
4. Upon completion of the Archive and Install you will have a Previous System Folder in the root directory. You should retain the PSF until you are sure you do not need to manually transfer any items from the PSF to your newly installed system.
5. After moving any items you want to keep from the PSF you should delete it. You can back it up if you prefer, but you must delete it from the hard drive.
6. You can now download a Combo Updater directly from Apple's download site to update your new system to the desired version as well as install any security or other updates. You can also do this using Software Update.
In case you don't know how to startup from an installer disc:
Booting From An OS X Installer Disc
1. Insert OS X Installer Disc into the optical drive.
2. Restart the computer.
3. Immediately after the chime press and hold down the "C" key.
4. Release the key when the spinning gear below the dark gray Apple logo appears.
5. Wait for installer to finish loading. -
My macbook pro displays a folder with a question mark and won't open. What does this mean and how can I fix it?
it means your HD and the software can't find each other, the following article tells how to troubleshoot this issue:
https://support.apple.com/kb/TS1440
hopefully you have backup of your data since sometimes this means the HD is crashing.
if the article doesn't resolve the issue i would take the mac to apple store or service provider and have it looked at, the following link tells how to find one close to you:
https://locate.apple.com
good luck!! -
I have a problem with lion. My MacBook pro froze and now I get a gray folder with a question mark.
I recently upgraded to lion but my screen just froze. I had to shut it down by holding the power button down. Every time I tried to start it again I got a grey folder with a question mark and couldn't do a thing. I' ve been told to restore snow leopard but I dont want to loose my files or email. What can I do?
Boot from your recovery partition. Check and if necessary repair your startup volume with Disk Utility. You may need to reinstall Lion.
OS X Lion: About Lion Recovery
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