White screen with a flashing gray folder and question mark.

I usually have my laptop asleep. Yesterday, when I tried to wake it up, the little box where I usually type in my password didn't show up. I ignored it and shut it down, only to find that it wouldn't even start up later. All it did was show a flashing folder with a question mark. I've read other questions and answers that say the worst case scenario is a hard drive disk failure. What should I do? Is there anything that I can do about it on my own? Is the memory lost? If so, is it restorable? I have a Time Machine backup from around a month ago. Would that help?

That simply means that no bootable system could be found. At worst, the hard drive has died and will need to be replaced. However, it's also possible that the drive simply has become badly corrupt, and will be able to be repaired. Try repairing the hard drive with Disk Utility. If that doesn't work, you can try repairing it with something like DiskWarrior, or you can just erase the hard drive and reinstall everything from scratch. If you get it repaired and it still won't boot, try reinstalling the system.
You can certainly restore your system from the Time Machine backup, if that proves to be necessary, but you will lose anything less than a month old.

Similar Messages

  • 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.

  • 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.
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  • When (attempting to) boot up my 2007 MacBook, I only get a white screen with a flashing gray file icon and a white question mark on the file

    I have the battery plugged in, everything I normally do when booting up the computer. The major problem is not being able to access anything.

    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 Operating System data on the hard drive is somehow corrupted.
    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.
    Or if you are running 10.7 Lion, boot from the recovery partition (Command +R on boot) and use Disk Utility to repair your OS 10.7 partition.
    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 Disk Utility and click it. When it comes up is your Hard Drive in the list on the left?
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    If your hard drive isn’t recognized in Disk Utility then your hard drive is probably dead.

  • Flashing "Finder Folder" and Question Mark on start up...

    I've been following the discussions on the question mark issue and yes, I have gone to the Apple sight and read all of the solutions and tried them. The machine is a G3 iBook 700mhz. I have reset PRAM, tried all the startup button pushing and even control C with the... That's the problem: it won't accept any discs including the original 9.2 restore disc and even a retail Panther set I bought. It just spits them out when the unit gongs. My trusty iMac G3 400mhz did this a few months ago but at least I got to the Disc Utility icon, although I couldn't get passed it. I was able to use the target mode , however, and empty the hard drive. I haven't tried doing this on the iBook, becaause I don't care about the crap that's on there. I mainly use the iBook for wireless surfing and I have pulled the Airport Card, additional Ram and even disconnected the keyboard. Is the hadrive simply dead? Thanking all you Mac people in advance,
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    I take it that you mean you have tried ALL the steps in the following Apple Knowledge Base article?
    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58042
    There is another way to repair the hard drive (if it works). Try booting into Safe Mode. This will take quite awhile longer than a normal startup because it does a file check and repair of the hard disk.
    If this works you will see your normal desktop. Once completely started up in Safe Mode, try to restart normally, and go to Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility. Click on the top hard drive icon in the left sidebar and note the S.M.A.R.T. status at the bottom right of the pane. What does it say?
    Select the named boot volume in the left sidebar, ("Macintosh HD" unless you've renamed it). What is the hard drive capacity and how much space remains available on it? Repair permissions on it.
    See if you are able to do some hard drive maintenance to help things out.
    Good luck.

  • Folder and Question Mark

    I asked this question earlier but the problem keeps reoccuring. Every morning my iMac is flashing a folder and question mark. I just push the button in the back to turn it off, turn it right back up and it runs perfect all day. But the next morning it will be on (rather then sleeping) and flashing this question mark and folder. I understand it may have something to do with the startup disk? But I keep selecting the correct startup drive and it works fine all day and into the night but for some reason come morning it is always flashing. I do not understand. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I don't want to lug my iMac into the apple store, its out of apple care warranty by now anyways.

    Hi Cookie
    I occasionally get this if one of my External HD's is left on or if I have left a device +(iPod, iPhone, FlashDrive, Camera etc.)+ connected during restart and startup.
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    2. Go to: System Preferences > Startup Disk > select the Mac OS X on Macintosh HD > Lock the Lock.
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    2. Eject and disconnect flash memory devices prior to shutting down and reconnect them after startup.
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  • I need to reinstall my operating system for 10.5 after seeing a file folder and question mark flashing on my start up screen. Can anyone help me with this?

    I need to reinstall my operating system for 10.5 after seeing a file folder and question mark flashing on my start up screen. Can anyone help me with this?

    Hello,
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    "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.)
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    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.
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  • 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

  • White screen with a flashing folder & question mark

    My IMac froze today and when I turned it off and then back on, it just sticks on a white screen with a flashing folder & question mark...  Help?

    Reinstall Snow Leopard without erasing the drive
    Do the following:
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    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 the Combo Updater for the version you prefer from support.apple.com/downloads/.
    Reinstalling Lion Without the Installer
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    Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the main menu. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions as follows.
    When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. 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 main menu.
    Reinstall Lion: Select Reinstall Lion and click on the Continue button.
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  • 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

  • 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/
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    http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304725

  • Blue screen with flashing folder and question mark on startup

    Hello.
    I need help with my Macbook Pro.  I get a blue screen with a flashing folder and a question mark at start up.  To date I have tried the following:
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    Safe Boot
    Reset NVRAM
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    Your hard drive has likely failed and needs replaced. That would explain why the system does not display it when you attempt to reinstall the OS via Internet Recovery.

  • What does a white screen with a file folder and question mark indicate?

    what does a white screen with a file folder and question mark indicate upon start up?

    That the computer can't find a useable boot volume.
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    If it says it can't repair the disc, you may need heavier guns such as DiskWarrior or TechTool to attempt a rescue.
    Hope you have backups; retrieving data from adead drive can be expensive and tricky.

  • HT1379 I have  lost everything on my mac, a gray screen with a folder and question mark is blinking. i hav another mac that is running slowly, how can I boot and reinstall os x Lion, i do not have the start up disc with me.

    I have  lost everything on my mac, a gray screen with a folder and question mark is blinking. i hav another mac that is running slowly, how can I boot and reinstall os x Lion, i do not have the start up disc with me.

    Welcome to the Apple Support Communities
    Lion uses Recovery to reinstall OS X. Press Command and R keys when your Mac starts, open Disk Utility, erase the drive and reinstall Lion. The other Mac has probably got its hard disk damaged, so take the Mac to an Apple Store

  • Question: my macbok  - just opened and now a white screen with a flashing grey box with a question mark - help?

    Good Evening
    Have just opened my macbook laptop and shows a white screen with a flashing gey box in the middle with a question mark ?
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    Thank you

    A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac

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