Question mark flashing on screen

MacBook fell off office desk after I tripped on the charging cable and when it turned on again it's just flashing with a question mark on the screen and I am unable to do anything else with it.
Does anyone know what I can do to sort this.
Can access anything an worried I will lose all the files etc on it.
Need help?

That impact appears to have damaged the internal drive's hardware; if so, only a professional data recovery service can retrieve the files, and those can charge hundreds or thousands of dollars.
(93945)

Similar Messages

Question mark flashing om screen

question mark flashing on screen.

The question mark means your Mac cannot find a system folder to boot from.
Startup your Mac while holding down the Option key. That should prompt the Startup Manager window where you can select the startup disk then click Restart.
If the startup disk is not available, the disk is failing or has failed.
Startup Manager: How to select a startup volume

Folder with question mark flashing n screen

HELP my son's mac bok pro is flashing a folder with a question mark. How do we fix this? He has a report due and he cannot get past this.
Thanks

10.8 Mountain Lion
One of these steps may be helpful.
1. http://support.apple.com/kb/PH11046
2. Use Startup Manager to select Startup disk.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1310
3. Repair Disk
   Steps 2 through 8
   http://support.apple.com/kb/PH5836
4. Reset PRAM.
    http://support.apple.com/kb/PH4405

I need to reinstall my operating system for 10.5 after seeing a file folder and question mark flashing on my start up screen. Can anyone help me with this?

I need to reinstall my operating system for 10.5 after seeing a file folder and question mark flashing on my start up screen. Can anyone help me with this?

Hello,
That means it can find the Hard Drive, or can't find the things needed for booting.
See if DU even sees it.
"Try Disk Utility
1. Insert the Mac OS X Install disc, then restart the computer while holding the C key.
2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu at top of the screen. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)
*Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.*
3. Click the First Aid tab.
4. Select your Mac OS X volume.
5. Click Repair Disk, (not Repair Permissions). Disk Utility checks and repairs the disk."
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
Then try a Safe Boot, (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, reboot when it completes.
(Safe boot may stay on the gray radian for a long time, let it go, it's trying to repair the Hard Drive.)

I powered up my macbook and there is a file folder with question mark on the screen flashing. What does that mean?

Powered up Mac book and screen showing file folder with question mark flashing?

A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac
Hope that solves your issue.

HT3964 I just opened up my MacBook Pro after a few days of not using it and it was frozen. I turned it off and back on and all I see is a white screen, there was a file with a question mark flashing for a bit but I can't do anything, please help me!!

I just opened up my MacBook Pro after a few days of not using it and it was frozen. I turned it off and back on and all I see is a white screen, there was a file with a question mark flashing for a bit but I can't do anything, please help me!!

Jerricayoung,
you have a 13-inch Mid 2012 MacBook Pro. It’s modern enough that it supports booting into Recovery mode. To do so, hold down a Command key and the R key as you start up. It should eventually show a Mac OS X Utilities menu. Select Disk Utility from that menu; when the Disk Utility window appears, select the bootable volume from the left-hand side of the window. (It’s typically called “Macintosh HD”.) When the volume is selected, some buttons will appear on the right-hand side. If it’s not greyed out, press the Verify Disk button; if it is greyed out, or if it reports on errors that it found, press the Repair Disk button. Once the verification/repair is completed, exit Disk Utility and select Restart from the Apple menu; that will restart your MacBook Pro in its normal mode. With luck, that will be enough to get you to your normal login screen, rather than the white screen.

I have a question mark flashing on my screen.

I have restarted my computer multiple times, and there is this question mark flashing within a folder on my screen. I have held down the option key to bring up the software page, and this has not worked. I do not know how to fix this.

That is telling you that a startup disk can't be found.
If yo have Lion or later try booting to Recovery and repair the startup disk via disk utility.
OS X: About OS X Recovery
If earlier OS then boot for install disk
Next would be to reinstall the OS
Failed boot

I installed the window 7 os in to my mac book pro. after that the partition is not supported and then the folder with question mark flashing on my screen. plaese helf me what to do next to resume the mac os x?

i installed the window 7 ultimate OS in to my mac book pro. after that the partition is not supported and then the folder with question mark flashing on my screen. plaese helf me what to do next to resume mac mac os x?

Assuming that you tried to install Win 7 in bootcamp.
Power on the machine and press and hold the "option" key when you hear the bong sound.
Select the Macintosh HD icon and press "return" or just click on the icon.
Once booted into OS X go to System Preferences and select the Startup Disk icon and configure startup to use the Macintosh HD.

MacBook question mark flashing on my screen

Helpppppp
Ican't suitch on my Mac!!! There is a question mark flashing on my screen!!!! What to do???

I responded to you here > Flashing question mark: Apple Support Communities

Just turned my macbook air on and the screen is white except for what looks like a camera with a question mark flashing. any ideas what to do?

turned by macbook air on and the screen is white with a question mark flashing and nothing else on the screen. will not boot up.

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 or connect the computer's original thumbdrive.
(124635)

My macbook has question mark flashing on a grey screen and no functions, my macbook has question mark flashing on a grey screen and no functions

Hi
My MacBook has a question mark flashing on a grey screen and no functions, 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'llsee 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?
If it is then click on the Mac OS partition of your hard drive in the left hand list. Then select the First Aid Tab and run Repair Disk. The Repair Disk button won't be available until you've clicked on the Mac OS partition on your hard drive. 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.

My imac at start up only gets white screen with a folder with a question mark flashing.

My imac gets a white sceen with a folder with a question mark flashing.

Here's the apple article on the issue:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1440?viewlocale=en_US
Regards,
Captfred

Did my hard drive die? Folder Question Mark Flashing.

When I boot up, I get a folder with a question mark flashing on the screen. I booted up using the install CD, chose disk utility, but it could not analyze the disk at all. I assume the latter is the case because the disk is flat out not working - maybe a busted motor or corrupted. I do not hear the disk working at all when I try to listen for that.

I have to agree with Peck here, if the drive does not show up in Disk Utility it's a goner.
Some people have found themselves lucky and it turned out to be a loose cable after a repair or replaced drive but if you had neither done on your mac the drive is dead.
I hope you made backups.

Question mark flashing CD stuck in macBook

Hello,
My MacBook doesnt tur on, I got a question mark flashing. There is a CD stuck inside. I tried everything:
ctrl-command-o-f
mouse buttom-power
reset the memory with command opt p r
But the cd is still inside and the question mark too. What can i do???

Peppino, welcome to Apple Discussions.
Re: Stuck CD
First try a Restart while holding down the mouse button.
If that doesn’t work, look at these links:
A dozen ways to eject or unmount a recalcitrant CD or DVD
http://www.osxfaq.com/dailytips/08-2002/08-12.ws
Ejecting media in Mac OS X: Removing 'stuck' CDs/DVDs
http://www.macfixit.com/article.php?story=20041011075232575
PowerPC-based Macintosh: How to eject a disc when other options don't work
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106752
Re: Flashing ?
Look at A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58042
*Resolve startup issues and perform disk maintenance with Disk Utility and fsck*
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
*Your Mac won't start up in Mac OS X (Mac OS X 10.3.9 or earlier)*
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106464
 Cheers, Tom

Question Mark flashing on top of folder

sure hope someone reads this.
Every once in awhile i get a question mark flashing on top of a folder icon. not every time, just occassionaly. but tonight is different.
I restarted about 4 times before I could get it to come up so i could post on these forums.
I partitioned my HD into 2 parts and updated to Maverick. every since then i have problems starting up. Ive run permissions, disk first aid, etc and all seems to check out fine.
Ive gone to system preferences and selected the correct startup disk several times.
It is an early 2008 tower model. it has ran like a well oiled machine ever since i bought it...... even it goes out today. i can say ive definitely gotten my moneys worth from this machine.
also, the original ram went out after i updated and i replaced it. im running 6 GB memory. it seems to check out ok.
I have all my data on several external HDs. i only have applications loaded on the main computer.
sure hope someone can help me. i love this machine. its been my life saver.

Have you seen this support article and proceeded through all mentioned troubleshoots?
A flashing question mark or globe appears when you start ...
You may need to erase your normal startup disk and reinstall OS X

Question mark flashing on screen

Similar Messages

Maybe you are looking for