My Mackbook won't boot - Question Mark Folder

Hi Everyone,
I've got a problem and I don't know how to fix it for the life of me. Last week my friend was trying to delete a program using the terminal. He looked it up online and found detailed instructions on how to delete it but it ended up deleting everything on the HD. That's as much as I know for the back story.
Now, when I got it from him I powered the machine on and it acted as though there was a leopard installer cd in the drive (and the cd wasn't in the drive) and would load up just past the language select and fail. It would say it can't be installed on this computer. So I used command+T and tried to repair the disk but it would fail and say that I couldn't. So I erased the disk and installed 10.4 clean install. Powered off the machine, reboot and now I get the question mark folder.
It seems like the drive is fine but the kernel wont see the drive. I believe the drive is fine because I can select it and boot from it with the other mac I have (g4 1ghz) while the macbook is in target disk mode.
I've tried zapping the pram a few times, taking out the battery and holding the powerbutton for three secs, holding command+s or v (single user and verbose modes dont start up at all), holding shift, holding x, while starting up and nothing works.
Can anyone help me!? I'm a freelance designer and I can't function without this thing.
Thanks in advance!!

It means critical system files have been corrupted or damaged. You need to reinstall OS X:
How to Perform an Archive and Install
An Archive and Install will NOT erase your hard drive, but you must have sufficient free space for a second OS X installation which could be from 3-9 GBs depending upon the version of OS X and selected installation options. The free space requirement is over and above normal free space requirements which should be at least 6-10 GBs. Read all the linked references carefully before proceeding.
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.

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I just fixed it!
For future reference, what I did was:
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it won't pick up my other laptop in target mode
i've even put in Norton Utilites 8.x and it won't boot up from that either.
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Hi, I was having performance issues with my iMac, so after searching for a resolution, I followed some suggestions to reset the PRAM and SMC....after resetting the PRAM it will not boot up at all! The startup sound chimes, then a blank grey screen briefly before a flashing question mark folder appears. Nothing happens..... I have the install cd, but there is a CD in the drive and I can't get it out. Help!!
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HI Andrea,
To get the disk to eject, start the iMac while holding down the mouse button.
A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac
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Since it is a 24" iMac (from your description) it was
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Try this first before making a road trip.

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Hi everyone.
So yesterday I was using my macbook, and it apparently froze, so I turned it off manually and rebooted. It gave me the apple symbol, but then it turned into a circle with a slash through it.
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Hey. You could try using FireWire Target Disk Mode (see http://www.tekserve.com/service/mac-faq/plugging-things-in/firewire-target-mode. php) for instructions, but this requires another Mac and it could cause more damage to the system. If you take it to an Apple Store or an Apple Authorized Service Provider, they may be able to recover the data more reliably for a fee. Sorry to hear about your problem, good luck getting your data off!
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Hi all,
I'm having problems with my Macbook booting.
Yesterday it worked fine until I tried to open an old Excel file, then all became extremely slow, but anyway I was able to shut it down properly, or at least this was what I thought.
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Hello,
"*a flashing question mark forder appeared instead of the apple."*
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Go to Installer menu (Panther and earlier) or Utilities menu (Tiger and later) and launch Disk Utility.
Select your HDD (manufacturer ID) in the left panel.
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If DU reports disk does not need repairs quit DU and restart.
If DU reports errors Repair again and again until DU reports disk is repaired.
When you are finished with DU, from the Menu Bar, select Utilities/Startup Manager.
Select your start up disk and click Restart
The fact that you can't boot in Safe Mode (shift key) is not a good sign...
*"but I don't really see the reason why it should have done so..."*
How long have you had your MacBook? Do you have AppleCare?
Carolyn

Question mark folder on restart but boots fine on cold startup.

I'm having an issue with restarting my macbook. Every time I *restart* from the OS, I get a question mark folder flashing. When I start from a cold boot, however, I boot into my drive just fine.
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Please help! It's an avoidable issue but it bothers me and I'd like to have it fixed.

jchung1029 wrote:
After much research, I've found the solution.
My SSD is a Kingston V300 240gb SSD. For some reason, it has trouble with restarts but a firmware update fixed the issue. Do NOT reset the NVRAM/PRAM as it will keep your Mac from successfully booting into your drive. I had to wipe the drive and start over as the Disc Repair utility did not work either.
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urgh that sounds a little icky. Are PRAM resets still broken?
Do you know if this is an issue with specific Mac models or generally with this disk model & Macs. I'd be contacting the vendors to see if it can be exchanged or refunded, I'd be concerned it could alter how other startup actions behave too, like target disk mode (hold T), the boot picker (hold alt), single user mode (cmd + s)… Without these troubleshooting becomes much harder.

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The symptom you describe is usually a HDD problem or it could be an internal cable/connection problem. If you have an external bootable HDD, employ it and see if you can access the internal HDD via Disk Utility and run First Aid.
Ciao.
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1440
The above article may be useful.
Message was edited by: OGELTHORPE

Boots to flashing question mark folder and disc utility cannot locate internal hard drive

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My Mackbook won't boot - Question Mark Folder

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