When power on show question mark folder

at the first time i did not operate my mac mini for 3 months.when i want operate they  like as usually but maybe on 5 minutes my mac  mini off power.now power is on again but when power on my mac mini loading to desktop suddenly appear question mark folder on monitor.

Hello Jodi,
Couple of things to try...
Hold Option or alt key at bootup to see if you have boot choices.
Have you done a PRAM reset, CMD+Option+p+r...
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=2238
"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.)
If perchance you can't find your install Disc, at least try it from the Safe Boot part onward.

Similar Messages

  • MacBook Pro hard disk upgrade shows question mark folder

    I recently bought a 1TB hard disk for my teenaged daughter's MacBook Pro.
    I formatted it, used Carbon Copy Cloner to clone the existing drive. I even made sure to create the recovery partition.
    I restarted while holding the option key and chose the new drive.  It booted fine so I checked in System Preferences to make sure it was selected as the boot device.
    I opened the case and swapped the drives. Put it back together and restarted only to see the question mark folder!
    I tried booting while holding the option key and now I get the choose a network prompt.
    I am desperate and hate the thought of disappointing my daughter. It used to be that I was her hero who could fix anything now I'm the guy who asks too many questions and doesn't put enough money on her debit card. Granted she busts her butt getting awesome grades and I was upgrading her drive so she could continue her video yearbook for her school. So I shouldn't complain but it would be great to be her hero again.
    BTW, I am not a newbie to the tech world but I don't do nearly as much in the Apple arena as I do in the PC world.  Then again I've been a senior tech in the industry sine before IBM had a PC.  In fact, my first real work was on a 6502 processor that used the same machine code as the Rage of the day, the Apple ][. All that to say I usually can find my way around a problem but this one has me stumped.
    I appreciate any assistance offered.
    Thanks,
    Thom

    I tried to reboot with the option, command P. And R keys pressed.  I heard the ding several times it still showed the question mark!  I also tried the shift option and it only displayed the network selection. Also I tried to press C so I could boot from USB and it didn't work either.
    If I cannot get this to work I fear my only other choice is to use a FireWire enclosure. This isn't a good option as my daughter does mostly movie work and iMovie has this terrible "feature" that forces all movies to be stored in one place. It sure would be handy if it allowed movie projects to set the storage location individually.  I suppose I could simply move all the movies to the drive and try to find a way to point all iMovie projects to the external drive.
    Unfortunately,  my daughter is one of those Mac users who isn't savvy enough to use anything but the default settings. Heck I've tried to explain to her that she ought to get rid of the big files once she has done her work.  That's why her drive is always full.

  • Mac mini (late 2012) when booting shows flashing question mark folder

    Hello, so after installing software update to my mac mini *late 2012* it froze for few mins so then I rebooted it and now it wont boot it shows flashing question mark folder, I can't use the boot buttons because it asks me for a frimware password and I dont remember setting one up so how can I fix it .

    If you need to reset the firmware PW see:
    http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13727_7-57542601-263/efi-firmware-protection-locks- down-newer-macs/

  • How do I reboot my machine when it is flashing a question mark folder?

    How do I reboot my machine when it is flashing a question mark folder?

    Booting From An OS X Installer Disc
    1. Insert OS X Installer Disc into the optical drive.
    2. Restart the computer.
    3. Immediately after the chime press and hold down the "C" key.
    4. Release the key when the spinning gear below the dark gray Apple logo appears.
    5. Wait for installer to finish loading.
    After the installer loads proceed through the installation procedure.  If you are reinstalling Snow Leopard then your hard drive will not be erased.

  • Respected sir, i have problem with my mac book pro 13, i shows question mark when i start up the laptop. so please reply with the convinient solution

    respected sir, i have problem with my mac book pro 13, i shows question mark when i start up the laptop. so please reply with the convinient solution

    ajit5544 wrote:
    ..  my mac book pro 13, i shows question mark when i start up the laptop. ...
    See here  >  http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570

  • I cant even reinstall os x after a question mark folder showed up on my mac.

    I opened my macbook pro this moring and this question mark folder came up. I restarted it and it came back normally and was working just fine. I came home and the same problem occured, Ive tried to shut it down and press option key on my keyboard. Os x utilities popped up and it seemed like theres nothing for the system to repair so I moved on to restore from time machine which also didnt work. I finally decided to reinstall os x mountain lion knowing that all my files will probably be gone. but then there was no disk I could select for the new installation. What's happening? Is there any ways I could fix this problem?

    its a mid2012 macbook and yes theres one near where i lve. Connecting cable as in the charger? Sorry i have very little knowledge on stuff like this. But thanks for letting me know. Just out of curiosity do u know what can i do to prevent future damge thats similar to this one?

  • Question mark folder at startup, safe boot not working

    Last night my iMac froze up, Force Quit didn't work, and I used the Power button to shut it off.  When trying to restart, it was getting stuck at the grey Apple.
    I tried unplugging the peripherals and restarting; zapping the PRAM and restarting; safe boot and restarting.  Safe boot did it.
    I then ended up going through those steps a few more times as my iMac starting freezing up again.  One of those times I changed all my applications in the dock that were set to launch at login to not do so, wondering if that was somehow causing a problem.  I also took a folder of recent items I'd created, mostly a LOT of PDFs of newspaper articles, burned it to a DVD and deleted the folder to free up more memory if that was part of the problem (I'm running out).  I then restarted from the Apple menu and it shut down through safe boot and then restarted without safe boot and did so just fine.  I ran Disk Utility and very few if any permissions needed repairing.  And it was operating OK for a bit and then froze up again.
    Now I'm getting the question mark folder at startup and safe boot isn't working.  What should I be trying next?  Lion Recovery with Command-R?  I'm relatively new to Lion, but it had been working OK for me for a while now.
    What other things should I try?  Would Target Disk mode possibly work from the MacBook I'm using now, which doesn't have Lion installed?

    The question mark folder usually means that the
    firmware could either not find a valid operating
    system to boot, or, it could not find a hard disk
    with an operating system on it.
    Have you tried booting to Lion Recovery?  If
    you can, then go into Disk Utility and do a
    Repair Disk on your OSX volume.  If the
    OSX volume is not showing up, you may need
    to do a reformat and re-install.
    Since it is a 24" iMac (from your description) it was
    a pre-Lion Mac.  If you still have the original install
    disks, try booting with it and use Disk Utility from it
    to see if the hard drive is working.
    Try this first before making a road trip.

  • Flashing question mark folder after update!!!

    Yesterday i did an update on my macbook. After the update the system normally starts again, but mine didn't i waited for 20 min and came to the conclusion that i have to hold down the power button. after that i started again and i got a flashing question mark folder. So i took my SSD out ( vertex limited edition) and put my old HDD with snow leopard in to see if i connect the SSD externally if it would show up but it doesn't i took another HDD case but this also didn't work. So i also tried putting my ssd in the macbook of my sister but this also didn't work. I am clueless, i don't know what to do. I still have warranty but i have new data since my last back up and i really would like it back.

    I've not seen any other posts about it causing problems, worked fine here. You've tried resetting the PRAM the only other thing you could try is:
    Boot holding down Apple/S and don't let go until you see scrolling text.
    When that stops and you see a root#: prompt enter
    fsck -fy
    Let it run through all the checks and repairs.
    If it fails first time, at any time, or finds and fixes a fault - run the command again and keep doing so (some fixes can take several passes) until it says "Appears to be OK" then enter
    reboot

  • TS2570 i have an intel imac and im getting a grey sceen. I get the flashing question mark folder. iv changed the H.D 2x and tired to install a new os into it but no luck. The mac isnt going into safe mode or anything. help?

    Intel imac 2009. Grey screen with question mark folder. Changed harddrives 3 times now. Tired 5 keyboards on all Usb ports and a hub and keyboard wont boot to startup or safemode of anything but hub gets power. disc drive wont eject or accept a disc cuz keyboard commands not being sent to computer. Help?

    Keyboards must be connected directly to the USB port, not through a hub.
    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/.

  • I need to reinstall lion OS on my MAC mini. I have the 'question mark folder'.

    It is a mid 2011 mac mini. It boots to the 'question mark folder'. I installed lion server over my lion OS. After trying to remove the server app unsuccessfully, I id a command-r boot and erased the Macintosh HD where my OS was wiht the intention to reinstall. THe on-screen instruction I thought said I had to reboot after to use the recovery HD so I di. Now when it boots, it jsut goes to the 'question mark folder' and does not load. I only have the bluetooth keyboard so will the mini recognize the command-r on boot? It doesnt appear to.
    Thansk for any input,
    Ken

    Had the same problem w/ a Mac mini server. The only thing that helped was not the timing, but a disconnection of all cables from the machines: power, keyboard, etc., and a wait of one minute which according to Apple support - resets some config on the machine. After I did that, Command R worked just fine.
    BTW, According to Apple, you have to hold Commmand R just after you hear the chime, and keep holding it until you see the recovery utility. Another alternative can be holding Command Option R for network recovery.

  • Persistent Flashing Question Mark Folder Icon, after Repair & Rebuild-THX!

    Hello All,
    Thank you in advance for any insights.
    For the past week, one/two days after a force re-boot, my Quicksilver Mac (OSX 10.4.11 and OS 9 Classic) starts up with the dreaded flashing question mark folder.
    The start up disk has always been on "Mac OS X, 10.4.11 on main stuff" ("main stuff" is the name of the hard drive.)
    The first time, I ran DiskWarrior and rebuilt the hard drive, which is kind of new as it was replaced in April 2009. Then I ran OnyX and got a clean bill of health. The Mac was shut down at the end of the day as is my habit via turning off the power strip.
    If it helps, here's part of the DiskWarrior report:
    • 13 files had a directory entry with an incorrect text encoding value that was repaired.
    • 340 files had a damaged extended attribute that was repaired.
    • 3 folders had a directory entry with an incorrect custom icon flag that was repaired.
    • Incorrect values in the Volume Information were repaired.
    Disk Information:
    Files: 370,719
    Folders: 85,161
    Free Space: 92.55 GB
    Format: Mac OS Extended (Journaled)
    Block Size: 4 K
    Disk Sectors: 268,171,472
    Media: WDC WD5000AAKB-00H8A0
    The next day, the flashing question mark folder reappeared. This time I used the original system installer CD (labeled Power Mac G4 OS X Install). Disk Utility made its repairs. And this time, the computer was put to sleep instead.
    In the morning, it woke up, the wireless optical mouse worked for a few seconds, the hard drive is humming along then all of a sudden the arrow (mouse) froze and none of the keys on the keyboard functioned.
    After some research, I deleted the energy saver preference (powermanager.list?) and ran Disk Utility again. And again, I shut down b/c I wasn't going to use the Mac for a day or two.
    This afternoon, the pesky icon reappeared at start up. At first Disk Utility didn't see the hard drive then I restarted and the hard drive was selectable though not mounted. It was repaired and verified yet once again. Btw, when I did hard drive test, the message says something to the effect that it appears to be working properly.
    My question is, might anyone know what's wrong? I've been backing up after every use and I have a laptop. But I love working on the desktop and if this issue can be fixed, that would be perfect.
    As an aside, I've read that I should do a clean install. Would doing a clean install mean I need to re-install OS 9 as well as all other all other software programs-Adobe Creative Suite, Quickbooks, Verizon DSL, printer drivers etc.?
    One final question, can I continue to boot up from the CD, repair then restart or will I damage the computer? Once it restart, everything seems to work normally and well.
    Many, many thanks for reading and any help would be greatly appreciated!
    Have a wonderful weekend.
    Sam

    Disk damage can also affect the startup sequence, but I think what you have already done should have repaired any disk damage, or given you more information.
    Once you have ruled out Disk damage, you get the flashing question mark when your Mac cannot find:
    • the preferred operating System
    • of the preferred version
    • on the preferred startup drive.
    All these items are stored in the parameter RAM, backed up by a 3.6 volt, non-recharging 1/2-AA size battery that lasts three years or so, unless you turn off all power at night.
    If you cannot remember when you last changed that battery, now is a good time. Be sure to reset the PMU/PRAM after installing the new battery.
    Message was edited by: Grant Bennet-Alder

  • How do I fix the GRAY boot-up screen with FLASHING QUESTION-mark FOLDER?

    When I turn on the MacBook Pro laptop, I opened up the Safari Browser and its when the problem started. It was stuck on an loading infinite loop. I decided to force quit the application and/or turn off the mac by the Menu options, It did not work. So I did a "Hard" Shut-down and restarted the Mac, the Boot up screen stood gray for like a minute until the Flashing ? Folder icon showed up!.
    My sister's laptop's warranty is expired so I wonder how can I fix it without having to spend too much money on a simple troubleshooting tip.
    How can I download/create a boot-up Disk/Flash Drive so I can reset it to factory settings?
    I cannot access the laptop because It's kind-of software bricked if you ask me. Also, I do not know how to check the Mac OS version outside of the "About Mac" menu. I do have another Mac which is a desktop computer with a CD drive.
    I would appreciate some expertise on this issue a.s.a.p. Thank you!

    Ok, now I am stuck:
    Why does my Mac boot its OS from the Flash Drive instead of the INTERNAL HARD DRIVE???a
       If I start up my MacBook Pro, It will have the flashing question mark folder UNLESS i plug in the OS-Boot flash drive. When I at the desktop screen and work on a program, When I unplug the Flash drive, THE OS WILL CRASH AS IF I TOOK it's soul (OS x Lion) out of the body (MacBook Pro Laptop)
    this is frustrating because when I did the INTERNET RECOVERY, When I install OS x Lion, the Flash Drive only show up as an option as opposed to the HDD.
    I cannot format the hard-drive in DISK UTILITY because it's grayed out. This is just frustating. I never had problems with PC Windows OS recovery but this (Mac OS).

  • Question Mark Folder?!

    Hey all (im posting this for a friend, as you can see i use a MB)
    Well from what he was saying is that he just got the Question mark folder. He was working on it and it froze with the spinning beach ball. He closed the lid and it didnt go to safe mode so he held the power button to shut it off. So he turns it back on and it comes back, the folder so he turns it off and on and tapped hard lol underneath it and it works. He wants to know if his MBP is dying. He also dropped it before and after he turned it on the folder showed up.
    Its this fixable or will he have to get a new MBP?

    It's too soon to conclude that the MBP is dying, but it looks like it's having trouble finding its startup disk. Here's the place to start:
    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58042
    Try all the steps in the article and post back if you don't get it working again.
    Also, it wouldn't hurt to open Disk Utility after he gets it working again and verify and repair if necessary both permissions and the startup disk. Also, check at the bottom of the DU window and make sure that SMART status is verified.
    Please post back if you need further clarification.
    Good luck!
    Message was edited by: S.U.

  • Flashing Question Mark Folder... with a twist

    Hi all, I hope you can help me out.
    A month ago I had some trouble with my MacBook. It would continually freeze, then when I restarted it would show the flashing question mark folder icon. When I booted from the OSX CD it couldn't see any drives to install to. Restting the PRAM eventually fixed the issue, but only temporarily: it kept doing it and eventually it seemed that the hard drive was well and truly dead.
    I took it to my Mac shop and they replaced the hard drive for me as it was still under my Applecare warranty. Things seemed fine for a couple of weeks.
    Then it happened again. Now it seems to have skipped the stage where resetting the PRAM would fix things and has gone straight to the signs of a dead hard drive. I find it hard to believe the replacement drive has died after a couple of weeks. Is there some other issue, such as a faulty motherboard, which could be killing hard drives?
    My MacBook is a Core 2 Duo 2.0, with 2GB of RAM and 200GB hard drive, running the latest version of OSX.

    I had this happen to my MB a few weeks after purchasing it last November. I took it to the Genius Bar at my Apple Store, and the Genius took my HD out to test it, and said that it had completely locked up, and he wasn't able to get it to load on at all, and that it was dead. They sent it away for me, I got it back a couple days later with a brand new HD, and I haven't had a problem since.
    My lesson learned: Backup, Backup, Backup!!! I use Apple's Backup App because it came w/ my .Mac account, but there's plenty of other great Backup Apps out there. Have one or more External HDs set up as backups in case anything happens to your internal, and remember a computer is a computer and sometimes they have problems. However, it does sound like Apple invested in a bad lot of HDs. If it's happening to a lot of people, report it to Apple. There may need to be a recall.

  • A question mark folder appears on the start up after the sound ... with white back ground

    im using macbook pro 11in ... i had recently ungraded to os x lion through app store .... i was working on my laptop with firefox open .. i closed my macbook just as i normally do to make it go to sleep (not shutdown) ... i went hope i opend it and it was stuck .. nothing was moving ,.. there was this rainbow wheel instaed of the mouse arrow .. so i pressed and hold the power button and it got shut.. i opened it and now there is the question mark folder after the start up sound ... i dont have my snow lepoard dvds with me .. im traveling ... when i press the option key on the start up i dont get the recovery disk which was an option with the lion os x ... so now wat i do ... help help !!!!

    You can try a SMC and PRAM reset, but I think something got fried and your going to need to take it in for service.
    https://support.apple.com/kb/HT3964
    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?path=Mac/10.6/en/26871.html

Maybe you are looking for