Question Mark Folder at Start up. Tried Everything!

Hello I have a mid 2009 15" MacBook Pro. I am getting the question mark folder at startup.
I have read many message boards and tried all of the following things.
1. Tried to go to boot into safe mode via the shift key at startup. Continues on to question mark folder.
2. Tried to go to startup manager via the option key at startup. Goes to blank white screen with usable mouse pointer.
3. Tried to clear PRAM via the Command / Option / P / R at startup. Restarts but still continues to question mark folder.
4. Used OSX install usb drive to get to install screen. Could not find hard drive to install to.
5. Put hard drive in external inclosure and successfully booted from it.
6. Put in a new hard drive in computer just to check and attempted number 4 again. Same results.
7. Purchased and installed new hard drive cable.
8. Installed original hard drive. Still went to question mark folder.
9. Put in new hard drive and install still could not find it.
10. Returned and got another cable just to make sure that one was not bad. Same results.
Please somebody help me. What am I missing? What else can I try?

You'd better take your MacBook Pro to Genius Bar and tell them about your problem.

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Question mark folder on start up and broken cd drive

My macbook won't load up any more but instead comes up with the flashing question mark folder. I've tried resetting the PRAM and SMC, I've tried holding down both the option button and C whilst starting up, so far nothing. I do have operating disks, BUT the cd drive is broken so I only have a USB plug in one, and whilst it does make noises that suggest it's reading the cd, nothing happens.
Is there ANYTHING else I can try??
I've guessed which OS I have as I can't find out right now, but I'm pretty sure it's 10.4.something....

Hey Beck
I thought I broke my work MacBook Pro when the question mark came up and none of the answers helped me however by fluke what I done was -
Turn off your MacBook
Turn it upside down (with the black spine towards you)
Push down your open compartment button
Take off your sheet metal cover section
(silver battery on the left/black brain box on the right)
NOW
make sure the connector on the right is inserted properly (mine wasn't)
Follow the instructions to take out the black box and the metal teeth must be securely fixed into the brains box
My cable came undone and the laptop wouldn't read the start-up and couldnt connect (the question mark - "I don't know where my iOS is, I can't find it")
That's why my MacBook Pro wouldn't start.
Hope this helps
Draco Xx

Flashing Question Mark Folder on Start-up

I recently starting having administration issues with my Mac Mini.
I went to update to OS 10.5.7 and when the administrator box came up asking for my password, my name was missing. After putting in the correct information, was unable to update, but received the message what my clue to password was.
Anyway, I performed a safe startup, changed the password and tried again. Same issue as before. So I started up from the Start Up Disk, and ran Disk Utilities and verified the disk and repaired any permission issues. When I started up my Mac Mini from the hard drive, I still did not have my administrator password working.
At this point, the start-up ping is gone.
I reset the Pram and had the same issue. So, I saved all important files to an external hard drive and tried to do a clean install. I was unable to do the clean install.
I removed the hard drive from my Mac Mini and installed it into a friends Mac Mini. I had complete control of my computer with no administrator password issues, the ping was there, and I could reload all saved items and still not have any issue no matter how I started up the computer. I then performed a complete erase and reinstall and still had no problems.
I reinstalled the hard drive into my Mac Mini, and I now have the Flashing Question Mark Folder with gray screen on start-up and no ping. Can't fire wire to start up, can't clone, can't start-up from disk, safe mode, etc..
Any ideas would be helpful. Most likely I will be going to the Apple Store and seeing what they can do.

generally, the flashing folder mark means it can not find the startup drive.
if you hear those kind of noises your hard drive is most likely dead. while this is almost certainly true you can try booting from the install DVD and see if the drive is visible in disk utility. if you can't insert the DVD try this. reboot and hold option at the chime. this should boot you into startup drive manager. there you should be able to insert the DVd and choose it as the startup drive. boot from the DVd and once past the language screen start disk utility from the Utilities menu at the top. see if it detects the internal drive. if it does, try repairing it. if it doesn't the drive is dead.

Flashing question mark folder at start, broken CD drive, warranty Q's.

Hello! Thanks for reading.
Okay, so here's the background: I was just chilling around the house yesterday with my macbook, and it freezes, with no response from the touchpad or keyboard. I figure no problem, and just turn it off and on again. And then thats when I got the flashing question mark folder.
So I hopped on my family's PC to do some research, hoping to be able to fix it myself. Turns out the best way to fix it is to pop in the disk that came with the computer during start up... which I can't do because my disk drive is broken. I also tried other things, like pressing various keys (ctrl + option + p + r, or something like that)... and that didn't work.
The disk drive broke when I was at school, and as it was finals week, I had no time to get my computer to a genius bar. Then I moved quite a distance (see below), a process which has taken up most of my summer and made me quite busy to the point it has taken my macbook pretty much dying on me to get it to a genius bar. Gah.
So I guess I have a lot of questions now.
My computer is JUST a year old, by give or take a week or two.
I bought my computer from an authorized U.S. reseller in Japan while I was living there (I live in the US now, which I definitely wasn't expecting a year ago)... and no contact from apple came to buy apple care. Is it possible that because of the circumstance under which I bought my computer, that apple may still cover any repair or replacement fees under the warranty?
Also, I made an appointment at the local genius bar. Will that be free?
Also, does anybody have any other suggestions about how to get my computer up and running away from the **** that is the question mark folder?
Much thanks! I appreciate your time.

You made 2 big mistakes. 1) Apple may or may not contact you about AppleCare (sometimes I've gotten a postcard or email and other times I've not) but it is up to you to buy it before the 1 year mark. 2) whether it was convenient to get the computer repaired at the time or not, you should have contacted Apple to get the issue in the computer. If you didn't, Apple has no reason to believe it happened after the warranty ended.
You are going to foot the bill for the repairs

MBP has gray screen with question mark folder on start up

Hi Mac Experts,
I have a MBP that won't start up. I get a gray screen with the question mark folder. Nothing else. I tried starting without the battery and also while holding the shift key but still get the same result. Any idea what happened and what I should try next? Thanks!

Need a Vacation:
Use the Leopard disk.
Repair Disk
Insert Installer disk and Restart, holding down the "C" key until grey Apple appears.
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.
Select First Aid in the Main panel.
(Check S.M.A.R.T Status of HDD at the bottom of right panel, and report if it says anything but Verified)
Click Repair Disk on the bottom right.
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I get a question mark folder upon start up

My Mac has been freezing up lately, now at start up I just get a grey screen with a question mark folder. Anyone have any suggestion?

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 one or more of these:
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.
Note that the information I have provided is what Apple recommends, If other users suggest different solutions than found here, then be sure what they recommend does not impact on your warranty, if any, or ability to get continuing Apple service.
Please don't start removing drives or changing cables unless you know what you are doing and have exhausted other non-invasive alternatives outlined here. If you perform any work yourself that is unapproved by Apple, then you will void any warranty you may have and lose all further Apple Support.
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.
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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
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Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion and click on the Continue button.
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Flashing question mark folder when start iMac after Time Capsule performed a new back up

I switched my iMac on after a few days away and I was asked to start a new back up for Time Capsule to enhance the performance of the device (or something along those lines). Clicked the back up now and carried on, having read the process could take a few hours (not surprising because of the amount of data on my computer).
Left it running overnight and when I came back this morning the computer was off. Switched it on, saw the apple logo and the progress bar but it didn't move past 25% before I had a message in several languages to turn the computer off (and some script in the top left corner. From memory I think I saw <panic> in that script but not 100% sure).
When I switched it back on I had the dreadful flashing question mark so performed steps described in support.apple.com/kb/ts1440 several times and performed a safe Boot. No results.
I haven't reinstalled Mac OS X (step 11 in ts1440) as I don't want to erase the hard drive.
I have plugged the Time Capsule in a MacBook and it seems empty bar 2 very small files so I'm now very worried. I have some questions:
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2 - Is my data wiped out in the iMac and Time Capsule? If yes is it recoverable - obviously not by me but by an expert?
3 - what created the problem? My Lightroom 3 catalog was corrupted 3-4 times over the last few weeks and was surprised that Time Capsule wanted to perform a new back up but everything otherwise was working fine.
I'm very much looking forward to your help and suggestions.

You have a couple of options and I also have a suggestion for the future. First is you can try Data Rescue software. You can find it at:
http://www.prosofteng.com/products/data_rescue.php
The other is sending the HD out to a professional data recovery service.
My suggestion though is using a redundant backup system. Many on this forum do just that because a backup (as you have found out) can fail too. What I use is TM and on a separate EHD I created a bootable clone using SuperDuper. You can use SuperDuper or Carbon Copy Cloner for this. I'd recommend reading the following MacWorld articles for backup strategies. I think you'll see a recurring them in them and that is redundancy is wise.
Backup Plan
Backup Plan II
Backup Plan III
Also it wasn't a virus, you are correct there are none for OS X.
Good luck on the recovery.

Question Mark Folder on start up on an iMac; USB "doesn't work" unless...

I am having a very difficult time with an old Indigo iMac (slot-loading). The symptoms are as follows:
Blinks between Smiley Face and ? on start up
Keyboard doesn't work unless in the Developer mode(? mode with the white screen and some command options. I think it's developer mode...)
I do not know what to do really. Even using alternative methods to try and get the computer to boot such as hooking up another drive from a different computer to it via an IDE to USB and trying to get it to boot, but to no avail. Is there anything I can do in the Developer mode that would help?
Power Mac G3 800 mhz Mac OS X (10.4.2)

Hi, Lezard -
If it is a 333MHz model, it is not a Slot-Loading model; it is one of the last of the tray loader models (designated as the Five Flavors models), as indicated in the right-hand column for that model (fourth one down) in the KBase article you linked to, Article #58669.
In that case it is not USB bootable.
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Not that I'm aware of - Open firmware is not that flexible.
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Also, if you can get it to boot to an OS Install CD, run Disk First Aid from the Utilities folder on the CD - let it have a look at the drive, and repair whatever it can.
While booted to the CD, take a look at the System Folder on the hard drive - does it show the Mac OS glyph superimposed on the folder's icon, or is the folder icon plain? If it is plain, that System Folder is no longer blessed, which is relatively easy to fix.
Note - when using keyboard startup commands, for most of them be sure you press the key(s) early enough, usually about the time the startup chime sounds; and keep them held down until you are sure the command has been accepted or been invoked.

Flashing question mark folder on start up, macbook pro. plz help

Hey folks,
I know there are threads on this but since I am using my blackberry to write this message I am unable to search the forum.
Ok. So that's what my macbook pro is doing and its also not letting insert a cd or dvd in the superdrive, seems like it just jammed up. However when I press T on the start up it brings me into a firewire mode? How can I fix my start up issue?
Secondly I hear the left side of my macbook pro (I think that's where the hard drive is) while the computer starts up I hear it sipping and the noise it makes is like a scratching noise.
And finaly no idea as to why its over heating?
Plz help.
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generally, the flashing folder mark means it can not find the startup drive.
if you hear those kind of noises your hard drive is most likely dead. while this is almost certainly true you can try booting from the install DVD and see if the drive is visible in disk utility. if you can't insert the DVD try this. reboot and hold option at the chime. this should boot you into startup drive manager. there you should be able to insert the DVd and choose it as the startup drive. boot from the DVd and once past the language screen start disk utility from the Utilities menu at the top. see if it detects the internal drive. if it does, try repairing it. if it doesn't the drive is dead.

Computer frooze - now flashing question mark folder on start up

Help...what is my next step. Tried to look through threads for quick answer. All my manuals are in another place! J

DavidOC suggested to start from the original DVD. What might be a thought is for you to repair permissions / disk from there. You need to go past "Use English as install language". The, from the simplified finder bar, choose "utilities/disk utility".
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Flashing question mark folder at start up

My boyfriends Imac has not been running for months now and his birthday is coming up so I want to get it fixed. Before it quit turning on there was a weird clicking noise coming from the fan like a click click click vrrrroooommm.. and it would happen over and over and make all of the applications run slow. Then it turned into starting the computer to a blank screen and a flashing folder with an envelope. We think it is a failed hard drive from reading the message boards and the warranty has expired. Do I still have to get a diagnostic from the store or can I say the hard drive has failed and buy a new one and get the apple store to replace it? Do you think it will be expensive?

Welcome to Discussions - getting a diagnosis from a Genius at the Apple store is free, and I would suggest doing that before investing in a hard drive. Once you know what the problem is (and it could well be a failed power supply), you can decide whether it is economic to fix it, or perhaps invest in a new machine. Apple will be happy to replace the drive for you, however, you can get good drives much more cheaply at a place like [macsales.com] and then ask a local Apple reseller to install it for you.

Flashing question mark folder at start up. Standard solutions do nothing!

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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.
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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.
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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.
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Blinking question mark folder upon startup on a 2 month old Pro?

Hi I had the grey screen on my macbook pro. I tried reinstalling maverick os x, but my wifi connection got interrupted and so did the download. I now have the blinking question mark folder upon start up. What can I do since I know it's probably not a hard-drive problem?

Startup Issues - Resolve
Startup Issues - Resolve (2)

New Hard Drive still have Question Mark Folder

So I first got the 'Question Mark Folder' and had to keep running Safe Boot Mode to use computer. Finally got around to replacing the Hard Drive, but this Question Mark Folder still comes up trying to turn the computer on and now trying to setup the new hard drive. Won't let me do anything. I've tried all of the button combos/recovery mode/etc. Tried inserting both a backup disk of Mavericks and Snow Leopard, nothing. Is there any other problems that could cause this? Maybe a dead SATA cable? or something else small hopefully?

My newest Mac just did the same "folder of death" dance. It's too late for you now, but you might consider a passport backup drive.You can get 2&3 T-bytes now fairly reasonably priced. A given with computers is they will crash, just a question of how bad and when, so you can be prepared for the next time.

Question mark Folder issue.

Hey i've been looking around about the question mark Folder issue i have tried every step from PRAM to Disk Utility(repairing/verifying) to Recovering over Internet the whole 9 yards. (BTW It didn't let me Internet Recover because i have a later version of OS X i gave up on that). After a while i gave up went to sleep later turned it on and it booted up normally. After a bit of use i noticed that my Mac HD OS X isn't selected on the Startup Disk to boot from. I select my Mac HD OS X, clicked restart, then folder with question mark pops up again. I let it rest like i did last time and it let me boot up normally.
I have no idea how to fix this. What i noticed was the spinning color wheel before all this happened was popping up more often. My laptop actually froze with the wheel and i did a hard shut down and that is when the folder with ? popped up. Now it pops up once or twice every hour or depending on how much CPU i use. I can't quite figure this out.
I don't want to think my drive has failed or is failing cause it is barely a year oldl treat it very well.
Any help would be appreciated!
Here are my specs.
Macbook Pro 13-inch Mid 2012
Processor: 2.9 GHz Intel Core i7
Mem: 8GB 1600 MHz DDR3
Graphics: Intel HD Graphics 4000 512 MB
OS X 10.8.5

Hello Ben.
Try deselecting and reselecting the startup volume and then restart.

Question Mark Folder at Start up. Tried Everything!

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