White screen with a blinking file icon

just turned on my MacBook and get a white screen with a blinking file with a question mark on it. It won't do anything and I have no idea what is wrong.
Please help!

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1440

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TS1812 Hi Everyone, I have tried all the solutions mentioned by apple and still have a white screen with a blinking file folder with a question mark in the center, anyone have any ideas or experienced this?

Hi Everyone, I have tried all the solutions mentioned by apple and still have a white screen with a blinking file folder with a question mark in the center, anyone have any ideas or experienced this?

Nooo or you would use OS X Recovery Mode: Disk Utilty and then Startup Disk.
Mac OS X & Mountain Lion Community
https://discussions.apple.com/community/mac_os
https://discussions.apple.com/community/mac_os/os_x_mountain_lion?view=discussio ns
Recovery Mode
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718
ExpressLane
https://expresslane.apple.com/
Mac OS X Help
http://www.apple.com/support/macbasics/
Isolating Issues in Mac OS
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1388
https://www.apple.com/support/osx/
https://www.apple.com/support/quickassist/
http://www.apple.com/support/mac101/help/
http://www.apple.com/support/mac101/tour/
Get Help with your Product
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304725

TS1440 Mac on start-up becomes a white screen with a blinking file folder with question mark. Can't log in or get on computer.

Please help, other forum from 2011 didn't help. Can't get info because I can't log in.

See this Apple note, which applies to OS X 10.7 Lion as well. This Apple note applies to OS X 10.6 and earlier but provides a little more information. When they talk about booting from CD, that's a boot with command and r keys held down in OS X 10.7 Lion.

15" MacbWhite screen with a blinking file folder icon with a question mark on it.

15" Macbook. When i power on all I get is white screen with a blinking file folder icon with a question mark on it.N

You may have a bad hard drive. The flashing folder with the ? indicates that the system cannot find your hard drive. Use the installation disc that came with your machine. Insert it into the disc drive and restart the machine holding down the "C" key . When the restart shows the Apple screen you can release the C keyWhen the installation screen appears, click on the utilities button. Does the left side of the disc utilities screen show your HD? If not, then your HD is bad or it could be a loose connection. ifixit.com has a good tutorial on how to replace the HF in the Macbook. Follow the instructions to remove your HD. Reinstall your HD and boot up your machine to see if it recognizes your HD. If it does't, you probably will need to replace your HD>
Is your machine still under warranty? If so, take it to your nearest Apple Store for repairs as the repairs will be covered under your warranty. If you bought AppleCare when you bought your computer your warranty is for three years. If you didn't buy the Apple Care, then your warranty is only good for one year from the date of purchase.

My MacBookPro has a white screen with a grey file folder in the center of the screen with a white question mark blinking in it. What does this mean? And how can I get my computer back up and running normal?

My MacBookPro has a white screen with a grey file folder in the center of the screen with a white question mark blinking in it. What does this mean? And how can I get my computer back up and running normal?

Start up in Safe Mode.
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH14204?viewlocale=en_US
Repair Disk.
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH5836
Reset PRAM.
http://support.apple.com/kb/PH14222

I have a blank white screen with a flashing file folder

What do I do if I have a blank white screen with a flashing file folder?

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 hard drive data is somehow corrupted.
Put your install DVD into the 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 disk in the optical drive.
Once it has finished booting and you are at the Install screen launch Disk Utility from the Utilities menu. Is your Hard Drive in the list on the left?
If it is then select the First Aid Tab run Repair Disk and 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.

When my phone is not plugged into the charger or computer, it will not turn on at all; even though it is not dead. When it's plugged into the computer, it will go to a white screen with a grey apple icon and then it will turn off again and repeat. IOS7

When my phone is not plugged into the charger or computer, it will not turn on at all; even though it is not dead. When it's plugged into the computer, it will go to a white screen with a grey apple icon and then it will turn off again and repeat. IOS7 and iPhone 5.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1808
Try this step and if you cannot get your device into recovery mode there is a chance you have a hardware failure and you need to call apple to see what service options you have.

MacBook Pro won't boot at start. I get a white screen with a blinking folder with a question mark in the middle. Any ideas?

MacBook Pro won't boot at start. I get a white screen with a blinking folder with a question mark in the middle. Any ideas?

Read this article...
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1440?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

My iMac has a white screen with a flashing file folder with a question mark in the middle. What does that mean?

My iMac is completely unresponsive. Whenever I restart it, it's just a white screen with a flashing file folder with a question mark in the middle. What does this mean?

this means the mac cannot find the startup disc. which more times than not means you need a hdd replacement.
try starting holding the option key, then using utilities try to repair the disc.

White screen of death/blinking folder icon

My wife's macbook has a white screen of death which started when she had to force-quit out of firefox. The wheel of death spun for a good 15 minutes before she powered it off. Upon turning it on again, nothing but a white screen with a flashing folder icon that starts after a few minutes.
I've crawled other forums and was attempting to follow these instructions: http://discussions.apple.com/message.jspa?messageID=7740855. I am able to put the install disk in, hold c, and get to the installer to run disk utility. I see her hard drive with a "smart status: verified."
The HD has a sub entry which I assume is supposed to be the partition. The instructions said to click repair disk, but the option is grayed out because the partition is not mounted: "mount point: not mounted."
I see the mount button in the top bar, but I wanted to double check that this is what I should do before mucking around. I'm PC-savvy, but pretty noobish when it comes to macs. I haven't touched anything yet, so I have access to anything in the install screen. Recommendations?

Yes, go ahead and select the Mount function. However, it is not necessarily going to mount considering that it crashed in the first place while using an app and then would not restart after a forced shut down. That should not have happened, and may indicate there is something amiss with the drive.

What does a white screen with a flashing folder icon with a question mark in it mean?, what does a white screen with a flashing folder icon with a question mark in it mean?

My computer seemed locked up, nothing would open. I had to force quiy everthing. I tried to normally shut it down and it wouldnt shut down. I held the on off power switch. When I tried to turn it back on It stays tuck on the white screen with a flashing folder icon with a question mark in it . Has my hard drive gone bad?

Reboot the computer holding the option key down, you will get a selection of your OS X internal boot drive or the perhaps the disk you stuck in.
You can choose what you can boot into.
If it's the hard drive and it's there, then select that and head to System Preferences and change the startup disk to the hard drive, you shoudl be fine.
If only to disk, then select that and run Disk Utility > Repair, If your drive doesn't appear on the left, it's likely dead.
Repair the drive and reboot holding the Shift key down, see if that fixes things some more and reboot again normally.
https://discussions.apple.com/community/notebooks/macbook_pro?view=documents

My mac won't boot up, just has a white screen with a blinking ? mark, any suggestions?

my mac won't boot up, just has a white screen with a blinking ? mark, any suggestions?

this usually means the software and hardware can't find each other for whatever reason the following article addresses this issue:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1440
can also do apple hardware test, following article on that:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1509
if you can't access the apple hardware test in the above article you can also do fsck command to check the hardware as well, following article tells how to do that:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1782
hopefully one of these articles helps w/ resolution!!

My PC won't startup normally or in safe mode . I have a white screen with a flashing folder icon which has a ? on it. How do I get it to start?

My PC will not start normally or in safe mode. I have tried several times in safe mode. All I have now is a white screen with a folder icon containing a ? questiomark. This icon is flashing. No cursor available.

The blinking question mark means the startup drive can't be found.
It could be that it has failed or needs major repair. Boot from the Snow Leopard DVD and run Disk Utility.

After what seems to be a normal upgrade to the new Lion OS. My computer counted down to restart and left a white screen with only a file folder in the center of the screen with a ? in it. How do I get my screen back to normal? Jim L.

After what seems to be a normal upgrade to the new Mountain Lion OS X on my early 2008, 24" iMac. My iMac counted down to restart but did not turn all the way off. At the end of the count down the screen went white with a small file folder flashing on and off in the center of the screen. Also there is a ?, question mark in the miaale of the file folder. The screen responds to no keyboard or mouse commands. Request help.

My computer was doing the same as yours hinikuru but now there is a change. I turned my iMac off by the button on the back and left it off for about an hour. When I just turned it on the center Apple logo was back and soon the loading logo for the new Mountain Lion program came up. On the bottom of the logo there is a horizontal sliding bar that says the program will take 34 minutes to load. Time will tell. I have two iMacs and if this goes we'll I will install the new Mountain Lion tomorrow. Hinikuru, I was about to follow the information in one of the side bar blocks titled "More like this" on the right side of this screen when my iMac seemed to fix itself! Good luck. I think not all is lost.

Got white screen with big Mac HD icon in center with arrow below.

turned computer on this morning got this screen as described above.....
then a few seconds later I got the regular desk top and have had no problems.
Ideas as to why it started up with that mac HD icon? Never seen that before... No start up problems in the past.

Go to the flag up on the right side of your Menu Bar and select Show Keyboard Viewer.
Then start testing some keys including the Option key and watch the Keyboard Viewer to see if any are stuck or sticking.

White screen with a blinking file icon

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