Question mark in file icon

In the middle of class my friends macbook froze and shut down. Upon restarting it for her, the blue screen flashed a question mark in a folder icon. Listening closely, there seemed to be a clicking noise coming from the hardware. The computer is a 3 year old macbook.
This has happened twice to me, both times with my MBP. Each time I had to completely replace my HD and I lost everything. Could this mean anything differently for her? Losing 6 months of law school notes and outlines isn't really an option at this point so if she is going to lose the HD is there any way to save any of the files?
Thanks for any help.

Back up, back up, back up your data. For crying out loud, who in their right mind, going to law school, would not take the time and spend a little money on a back up hard drive?
It does sound like the HDD is dead.
Good Luck.
Adam

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Question mark on "file icon" appears on startup screen

I need some help, when I turn on my iMac 9 out of 10 times it makes a "clicking" noise and then a "file icon" with a question mark on it appears, it doesn't start. Some times it starts just fine, please let me know if there's a solution. Thanks in advance...

Welcome to Apple Discussions
First do you have and iPod or external HD connect, if so disconnect them and restart to see if that helps.
If not use the article in link below to help you repair your startup volume from the Install Disk 1 that came with your iMac.
[Mac OS X - Using Disk Utility to Repair a Disk|http://kb.wisc.edu/helpdesk/page.php?id=3810]
Message was edited by: den.thed
Hi elmac an OS X reinstall is a little drastic at this point in time, shouldn't the OP try to repair it first!
Dennis

Question marks instead of icons in the dock.

Hi,
can anyone suggest why my macbooks have question marks instead of icons on and off in the dock. When clicked the icon will re-appear and the application will launch. There is no pattern to which icons will be replaced by question marks or how many. Sometimes all will be question marks, and other times only one? Any ideas?
Also - just a general question - of less importance, but with Leopard looming, historically how well does a server cope with new software versions on clients? Will I really need Server 10.5?

With regard to the questionmark issue, check out this thread:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=1137292&tstart=0
No answers yet, but it's being explored.

I got home today and got a message on Messages or IMessage and the Messages app would not open i restarted my computer and it had a question mark as the icon for the app. Help!?!?! What does this meen how can i prevent further damage or fix damage delt

I got home today and got a message on Messages or IMessage and the Messages app would not open i restarted my computer and it had a question mark as the icon for the app. Help!?!?! What does this meen how can i prevent further damage or fix damage delt

Is this what you see when you start up your MBP?
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts1440
Ciao.

Boot error with question mark on folder icon

Hello.
This is very newest iMac (2014 late).
It worked very first time with basic way.
But 3 days later, iMac doesn't boot at all.
I've tried everything about reinstall and boot
Internet recovery, P+R+Alt+Cmd, recheck and verify hard drive.
However, sometimes There's no show hard drive on disk utility mode.
Can't even erase or format because I don't see it on hard drive list.
And now after power on, there's only [question mark on folder icon] and
it looks like warning me something.
Should I refund it? Or try something else?

Hi
Given Solution
1st check Hard Disk Working or Not
2nd check Partition table
3rd check reinstall Mac Os
and
after any problem vist ; [email protected]

Question Mark on Safari Icon - it won't start

I'm a newbie to Mac. I purchased my iMac in March. Last night I clicked on the Safari icon in the dock. A question mark overlaid the icon and it wouldn't start. Through Finder I found a command to start (or run) Safari but I got a message that Safari was either disabled or (I believe) deleted.
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I cannot find it in the applications folder on those accounts, just on the main account
Safari is supposed to be in Macintosh HD --> Applications
If Safari is not in that folder, move it there.
It should not be in Users --> yourusername -->Applications

I think I trashed my chess game that came installed on my computer. The Icon is on the dashboard but when I clicked on it there was a question mark within the icon and the game did not appear. How do I get it back without paying for it?

I think I accidently trashed my chess app. that came installed on my computer, how do I get it back, it isn't in my apps but on my dock and when I clicked on it a question mark showed up in the chess icon. Really dumb I know. But I am a novice at computers.

Reinstall OS X 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.
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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.

Question mark on an icon in the dock.

I deleted iStat from my Mac using App Zapper, but the icon in the dock remained and now has a question mark on it. I tried to drag it to the trash but it won't move. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

RedSox1424 wrote:
I tried that too. All it says now is, open, show in finder, and open at login.
If you had the utility "Property List Editor" (part of Apple's Developer package) installed, you could probably use it to edit the file <yourhomefolder>/Library/Preferences/com.apple.doc.plist to eliminate that entry from the "persistent-apps" entry. If you don't, you could drag that file out of its folder, then log out and back in again. The problem with that approach is that you'd have to repopulate your Dock with anything you'd put there manually.

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I got a PowerBook G4 tonight from my brother's friend. His friend said it's works fine, but he thinks it needs updated. It powered up fine at first. I looked around and found files that belonged to the previous owner (pictures etc) so I dragged them to the trash and deleted them from the trash. I couldn't get the wi-fi working. It recognized that it was there, but when I clicked on it and typed in the password, it wouldn't connect. So I took it out to our BTHomeHub and took the Ethernet cable out of the computer and plugged it into the PowerBook. I tried going onto Safari but nothing happened so I restarted it. When it loaded back up there's a globe icon that flashes and then a folder icon with a question mark on it, the first time it loaded past it. I held the power button down to turn it off and turned it back on again (hoping it would've disappeared) Now it won't load past that. I've looked around trying to find a solution, but nothing I've tried has worked. I even tried turning it on and off again, countless times. I'm really worried I've done something wrong and that it's broken! PLEASE HELP! (I'm not brilliant with computers, so simple instructions please!)

The globe icon means the Mac is trying to find a Network system to boot. Startup but depress the Option key. This will activate the Startup Manager window. Hopefully you hard drive will appear. Select it & click the right arrow.
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2008 imac - beachball lock ups and no-boot 'question mark in file' issue

Firstly apologies am new to this forum.. am happy imac user (2008) but recently my imac is freezing in use and/or failing to boot on startup; the grey screen showing for a bit and then a file with a question mark in it. This now happens frequently and I find my self having to wait hours before my mac will boot. I have looked through forum responses and tried disk repair utility, but that showed no problems other than repairing a few permissions - also downloaded and run EtreCheck - but again nothing obvious, although I'll readily concede I don't really know what I looking for. Before I sadly head off on a long journey to a Genius Bar appointment maybe for a new hard drive?? Can anyone suggest anything please - all advice welcome. Thank you

Hi triffiid,
I'm sorry to hear about the issues you've been having with your Mac. If you are currently booting to a grey screen with a flashing question mark, you may find the troubleshooting steps outlined in the following article helpful (apologies if you have already seen it):
Mac OS X: Gray screen appears during startup
http://support.apple.com/kb/ts2570
Regards,
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Flashing Question Mark on Folder Icon on Startup: Not Yet Fatal

I running into a potential problem with my White, 13" MacBook. I'm running 10.5.6 (upgraded from 10.4).
I recently bought a new, larger capacity hard drive. I used the Applications "SuperDuper" to clone my existing drive onto the new drive. My computer runs (as far as I can tell) the same as it always did. However, whenever I startup the computer, it briefly flashes the dreaded "giant folder with a blinking question mark". However, this is quickly replaced with the Apple Logo, and the computer boots normally.
I have repaired permissions, and verified the disk using disk utility. The disk verified with a message along the lines of "The disk appears to be ok".
While my computer's working now, I'm concerned there might be a deeper problem, and I'd like to catch it before it becomes critical. Also, if this is something standard that happens when you replace a hard drive with a new one, I'd like to know that as well so I can stop worrying.
If your answer is "put your old drive back in", pretend I did that and am still seeing the problem. What now?
Possible data point, I opened the console and saw the following two lines right before the "got boot device" line
4/29/09 5:00:07 PM kernel Waiting on <dict ID="0"><key>IOProviderClass</key><string ID="1">IOResources</string><key>IOResourceMatch</key><string ID="2">boot-uuid-media</string></dict>
4/29/09 5:00:07 PM kernel AppleYukon2: 532111ab,00000000 sk98osx_dnet - CheckDictionaryEntry failed, expected vs. dictionary
Thanks in advance for your help.

Open Startup Disk preferences, select your startup volume from icon list, click on the Restart button.

Power book G5 flashing ? mark with file icon !

My power book G5 is showing a flashing ? mark in the middle of a file icon, it doesn't want to respond to any disk's or function keys, please help.

I might add, here is an image of the machines known as the PowerMac G5:
A very similar Mac which is not a G5, is called a Mac Pro:
Note the extra drive bay on top for the Mac Pros.
iMacs came in both G5 and Intel models and are both white in appearance. To tell the difference between those two, you need to read the EMC model on the foot, and use Apple's article here:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1463?viewlocale=en_US
Powerbooks and iBooks are both clearly indicated what machine processor they are under the screen. If your 4 or 3 key is broke, feel free to use Roman numerals:
III is 3
IV is 4
It is very important you state which Mac model you have, so we can tell you what article can better identify your Mac so we can troubleshoot your problem further.
Message was edited by: a brody

Safari only opens under 1 user,question mark appears over icon in dock...please help,i am clueless

as title says safari opens under wifes user name,it was not in her dock we found it in trash and "put back",then icon appeared on her desk top we put it in her dock,now its in dock and desk top,and other usres cannot open safari,get question mark over icon in dock,we are clueless as u can probably tell any help appreciated

ralphfromronkonkoma wrote:
we found it in trash and "put back",then icon appeared on her desk top we put it in her dock,now its in dock and desk top,and other usres cannot open safari
If you found Safari in the Trash it was probably the Safari.app itself. Icons on the Dock do not go into Trash. They drag off and "Poof".
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Question mark instead of icon in dock

I'm seeing a question mark instead of the VLC icon in my dock. Does anyone know why?

The icons in the dock are basically shortcuts to the applications themselves.
Can you still open VLC through Spotlight or the Applications folder?
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~Lyssa

Question mark in file icon

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