What does a blinking file with a question mark mean?

Hey guys! i have a mid 2008 macbook pro and it recently turned off and whenever i try to turn it back on, a blinking file with a question mark pops up? any thoughts or ideas? Maybe the hardrive is broken or something?

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What is a grey file with a question mark inside doing on my start up screen

when i start up my computer instead of the normal apple symbol showing up i get a grey folder that has a white question mark inside and it is flashing. I know that that means that the computer cannot find the operating system. can anyone help or give me a solution to this problem and a way i can fix it.

There are four general causes of this issue:
1. The computer's PRAM no longer contains a valid startup disk setting when there aren't any problems with the disk itself. This can be checked for by pressing the Option key and seeing if the drive appears.
2. The internal drive's directory structure has become damaged. This requires usage of an alternate bootable system to perform the repair.
3. Critical system files have been deleted. This requires usage of an alternate bootable system to reinstall them.
4. The internal drive has died or become unplugged. This is the most likely case if the computer took a sharp impact or there are unusual sounds coming from the hard drive's location.
(79144)

Trying to install snow leopard on my Macbook Pro. After already having problems with Grey screen, blinking file with a question mark, etc. Computer now says that one of the hard drives is failing.The "hitachi" drive says it's failing in disc utility.

o.k. So, I've been tinkering with several "self help" fixes for several days now with no positive results. I'll explain my initial problems and then end with my most current situation. In hopes that someone out there will have a good suggestion or possibly remedy for the issues i'm facing
First, my problem started after my wife played a game on my macbook pro and the computer froze. She went into a panic and decided to shut down via power button. When computer restarted she got the blinking file/grey screen and that problem continued for a couple of days before I began using steps from various support topics from apple concerning the grey screen/blinking file folder.
Ultimately, yesterday I decided to erase my Macintosh HD file as one tip suggested. Following the brief online and on screen (via the process) tips that were there. Once that was completed I attempted to reinstall snow leopard (my most current version on hand) into the pc.
At first, I thought this would work. It looked promising. But, after several hours the installation screen returned with failure. I attempted to repeat. And, even repair drives during this try and re-try process.
Now, today, one of the drives.. "hitachi..." states that it's failing and is in red letters with no ability to repair via the disc utility screen. The Macintosh HD drive shows that it's o.k. But, this drive is listed under the HItachi drive so I think that's where a problem might lay.
So, I guess my question really revolves around.. What if anything can I do to get the hitachi drive back up? (short of taking it to a repair facility and replacing.)
And, how on earth can i get my OSX back up to I have a laptop again.
Operating on a macbook pro here. It's my lifeline. Otherwise, I am using a Windows desktop that i'm not that fond of. lol
I'm trying to bring this 2006 laptop back to life. Trying to avoid a rather expensive repair or the purchase of a new laptop. Also expensive...
Any help would be appreciated.

Well, running on a 2006 model. I did not have a startup disc. Initially, it booted up on original software in 2006. Since then, I've upgraded to 10.6 via a box set. And, since then I think I popped it up to lion.
All I have on a disc is snow leopard. And, I can't get farther than the setup screen due to hard drive. I'm taking to a apple authorized repair store right now. We'll see what they tell me . I'm just going to weigh the cost of repair vs. buying new.
Another bad, stupid thing is I had no means of backing up my stuff. So, I might have lost things like music, vids, etc. we'll see if they can recover. If the cost is too much for repair I might just forget it and start over with a new system. Just not sure at this point.

When I turn on my computer, I get a grey screen with a blinking file with a question mark inside. What does this mean?

Powering Up!!!!

Tell us more about your machine.
What year, model and what OS it had running before it failed.

What does a blinking file folder with a question mark indicate?

What does a blinking file folder with a question mark indicate? I cannot get past it or do anything with the unit.

glamiera wrote:
What does a blinking file folder with a question mark indicate?
That's the firmware telling you it can't find the operating system it's been assigned to boot from.
It could be because it forgot somehow, or the operating system is no longer there or readable or the hardware holding the operating system has failed.
Hold the power button to force a hardware shutdown, then reboot holding the option/alt key held down on the wired or built in keyboard, icons will hopefully load on the screen and if OS X appears, click the arrow to boot from it.
Once in OS X, head to System Preferences > Startup Disk and select your boot drive so it can remind the firmware.
If there is no OS X boot volume, just recovery or Bootcamp (if Windows installed) then you need to perform more work.
Create a data recovery/undelete external boot drive
To get a copy of your files off the drive.
Step by Step to fix your Mac
To fix your machine and find out (hardware test) if it's a hardware issue of some sort.

What does it mean when I see the file with the question mark on my screen?

What does it mean when I see a file with a question mark on the screen?

Means no bootable system can be found or required system files are missing or damaged. Reinstall OS X.
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.
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.

What does a picture of a file with a question mark on it displayed on the screen mean?

Hello out there,
Does anyone know what a file with a question mark displayed on screen means?
And how to get to start up, I am not able to exit the page.
Help would be much appreciated.

Follow these support documents
https://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570
https://support.apple.com/kb/ht3964
https://support.apple.com/kb/ht1509
If you have OS X Lion you can hold option and select the Recovery Partition to boot off of or download the recovery
https://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718
https://support.apple.com/kb/dl1433
If you can hold c and boot off a 10.5 or 10.6 OS X installer disk, you can install OS X onto a external drive and reboot holding option key to select the external drive to boot off of to retrieve files too.
If that doesn't resolve the issue, use another Mac, a Firewire cable and Target Disk Mode to recover your files off the internal drive before taking it in to Apple for service.
https://support.apple.com/kb/ht1661
Do what you think you can handle above, just don't erase or reformat your drive unless you have gotten a copy of your files off first.
Most programs can be simply reinstalled from fresh sources, make sure you have any license keys handy.
You have one year warranty and another two more years with AppleCare.
It's possbile to take a computers internal hard drive and place it in a external drive enclosure to access your files on another machine, so if the computer is going to be replaced, ask for the internal hard drive.

My computer is will not boot up. INstead its making a clicking sound and in the middle of screen picture of a file with a question mark. What does that mean?

Does anyone know what's wrong with it? not booting up. instead of it a picture of a file appears with a question mark on it in the middle of screen?

Sounds like abad hard drive. The clicking sound is coming from the HD. The folder with the question mark means that your computer can't find the statrup disk or the hard drive.
Boot your computer using the install disc and check if Disk Utility can recognize your HD. If not, then it needs HD replacement. If you have AppleCare or within the 1 year warranty, then replacement should be free from Apple. Check the nearest Apple Store in your area.

What does the folder with a question mark mean?

When I power on my black Macbook a white screen appears with a folder with a question mark flashing. what does the folder with a question mark mean? I just replaced the hard drive. When I put the install disc in the cd drive makes a very loud whirring noise then eventually the disc pops back out. Any ideas?

You will need to reinstall:
Reinstall OS X without erasing the drive
Do the following:
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 the Combo Updater for the version you prefer from support.apple.com/downloads/.

What does a grey file folder and ? mark blinking mean on my macbook?

What does a grey file folder and ? mark blinking on my macbook mean and how do I fix it???

With 10.4, 10.5 or 10.6 put your install DVD into the optical drive (CD/DVD drive) and reboot. Be sure to either use the disc that came with your Mac, or, if you installed a later Mac OS X version from disc, use the newer disc. 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) until the apple shows up. That will force your MacBook to boot from the install DVD in the optical drive.
When it does start up, you'll see a panel asking you to choose your language. Choose your language and 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 Reset Password. After resetting the password use Startup Disk from the same menu to choose your hard drive for startup and restart.
With 10.4, 10.5 or 10.6 if you don’t have an install disk check this article. http://www.macyourself.com/2009/08/03/how-to-reset-your-mac-os-x-password-withou t-an-installer-disc/
If you're running 10.7 Lion check this article
http://osxdaily.com/2011/08/24/reset-mac-os-x-10-7-lion-password/
With 10.8 restart holding the Command and R keys, then from the drop down
of actions, choose Terminal. When Terminal opens type:
resetpassword
and press enter.
You will get a reset password window from which you can select the user you want to reset, the admin account in your case. Type a new password twice, do not do anything with the hint box. Click Save, then confirm you want to do this reset. Then click apply to the user's home directory, and click the apple in the left corner, and choose Restart.

My Intel iMac only shows a blinking folder with a question mark when powering it up. What can I do besides running the hardware test of the original installer disc.

My Intel iMac only shows a blinking folder with a question mark when powered up.
I did run the hardware test of the original installer disc and no trouble was found and I am out of options. Does anybody have any advice what to do next

If the drive shows errors then repair, if after the 3rd pass of Repair Disk in Disk Utility it still shows errors it's telling you it's time to be replaced. Take it to your local Apple Store or AASP for repair, when it comes back use your backup (either Time Machine or bootable clone) to restore so you can pick up where you left off.

HT4718 I have nothing on my Mcintosh HD after trying to install Mavericks. I did save a recovery copy of files however this was also lost. All I now have is a file with a question mark with nothing else happening. What should I do?

Apple recently sent a message asking me if I would like to upgrade to Mavericks which was free. I considered installing after saving a copy of my HD to a WD external drive. I proceeded with the instalation however when it was time to reboot the programme the computer displayed a message that it could not process the request due to errors with the hard drive. The computer then requested that i save a copy and the verify disk and repair disk which i followed and the computer would not repair due to an error. At which pioint I did some research and was told by the IMac to push shift when it starts to enter disk utility and repair the Mcintosh HD. I did as asked however the computer would still not install with Mavericks.
So after many attempts of trying to start over, I was prompted to erase the Mcintosh HD and reboot using the saved copy. At this point all data was lost and all that is left on my computer is a file with a question mark with no way of restoring the HD drive. Could anyone help please?

It sounds like your HD may have died.
If you could answer a few questions it may help figure out what you should do next:
What OS did you have on your computer before you tried to upgrade to mavericks?
Did your computer originally come with installer disks?

Hi I installed a new hard drive in my Mac mini osx lion an when I turn it on I get a flashing file with a question mark. I tried holding command and R keys when turning it on but the recovery fails to work. Does any one know how I can get it to recover?

Hi I installed a new hard drive in my Mac mini osx lion an when I turn it on I get a flashing file with a question mark. I tried holding command and R keys when turning it on but the recovery fails to work. I can hold the option key at start up and choose my network, then Internet recovery shows up with an arrow pointing up. When I click on the arrow Internet recovery fails and all I get is a globe with a triangle on it with an exclamation mark on it, and under that it says
apple.com/support
-6002F
Does any one know how I can fix this without a recovery disc? Thanks

I just want to add to this, in case someone else searches for this error on Apple Support (google doesnt cover apple support.. how clever is that?)
I had the same error. And i had a Computer that had worked, with a SSD drive and 16GB upgrade done by the owner himself.
I tried swapping with a Mechinal Harddrive, no luck.
Kept the Mechanical drive in, and tried with some other Ram, it worked..
So for me this error and after reading the other responses can be boiled down to a Harddrive problem or Ram issue.
It was Ram for me..

What do I do about the file with a question mark when it starts up?

I have a MacBook Pro, had it for 2 years now. It has been good, up until just now... It was on, perfect as normal until I plugged in my iPad mini and my iPod touch. It started freezing up, and so I turned it off, but when I turned it back on, the file with the question mark just shows up. What am I supposed to do now? I have never had this problem before, and I don't wanna lose everything inside it as I have 2 years worth of pictures and videos. Any suggestions? Is there any steps I can take?
P.s I'm not sure which operating system it is, so I just chose one that might be close to it, as I updated my Mac just a couples weeks ago.

A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac

Blinking folder with a question mark at startup.

Dear all.
I am a newby with Macs and I just found an iMac G3 266Mhz. (Why anybody would throw a Mac away is beyond me but anyhow)
When starting up I just get a blinking folder with the question mark.
I can start up with an CD of Mac OS 9.2 but when wanting to install the software I get an error message about my firmware not being up to date etc etc... when going through the things I have to do for an firmware upgrade I get an error message saying disk locked....By browsing through these pages I found that that was most likely due to starting up from the CD.
But now I'm not able to start up from any other folder then the CD.
If I select to start up from the hard disk I just get the folder icon with the question mark again.
Please please please can anyone help me....or I am doomed to using PC´s forever.
Irol

Hi Irol
You're in a sort of catch 22 situation. You have to run the firmware upgrade while running from the HD.
Anyway. Try this
Start up from the CD as you did before then copy the firmware update app onto your hard drive .
While running from the CD open the HD and look for the "System Folder"
What does it look like? Is it a plain folder or is it a folder with the picasso face?
It should have the picasso face.
If it's a plain folder do this.
Open it and locate a file called "System" - it will have the picasso face. Drag the file out of the system folder onto your desktop.
Now close the system folder.
Now with one swift action - drag the picasso file and drop it onto the closed system folder - do it quickly so that the folder doesn't open. Then wait a moment.
The picasso face should appear on the systgem folder. Now try starting the mac normally.
Does it work?
If so, run the firmware updater. There are two versions, one for a tray loader and one for the slot loader. It you get the wrong one it will tell you, It will also tell you if the firmware is up to date.
Anyway, if you can't start the mac other than from the CD it is most likely that there is some corruption on the disk. A good tool to use is Diskwarrior - it's a bit expensive but it's a staple of my toolkit - it's far more efficient than both Norton and Techtool.
Another alternative - but probably more difficult. is to run from an 8.6 or 9.0 CD if you can find one - ebay?
Just to say - the flashing question mark is the system's way of saying "I cannot find a valid start-up folder"
Hopefully one of the above will get you going.
The fact that you can start the mac up from the CD says that the mac itself is OK - I wonder if it was thrown away because the owner couldn't sort it out.

What does a blinking file with a question mark mean?

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