White screen with blinking folder at startup

When I start up my macbook the screen has a blinking folder with a question mark on it and is unresponsive.
Any suggestions?

My year old MacBook just suffered the same death. Except mine was the circle with the line through it at startup. Tried DiskWarrior, and it wouldn't start from that. Drive Genius started it, and it showed severe fragmentation on the disk, so I defragmented it. That didn't solve the problem. Started from the Leopard install disk, ran Disk Utility, but it hung after the first step, then the drive disappeared completely.
Installed a new hard drive yesterday, and so far so good, but a drive failing after one year of light usage is troubling, and I've read too many posts from people who have replaced the drive more than once. This is not normal, and I'd like to know what is going on with these MacBooks.

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Macbook Pro - white screen with blinking folder with question mark

My wife returned from a trip today. The Mac worked fine yesterday. Today it will not start up. When you press the power button, the screen goes white with a blinking folder in the middle. There is a ? in the middle of the folder. Any ideas what this means? Thanks

i dont know of its the same but this happened to my ibook g4 and i done some exploring and i was told to cheap my ram.. so i unpluged and replugged the ram stick and reset the virtual memory and it worked with no memory loss but if you have the os installition disks reinstall the os and if not ... go to apple store .. sorry if any of this is wrong but its what happend to me,
hope htis helped

HT1553 I did the back up as instructed... Installed a larger hard drive and followed the restore instructions... Now I get a white screen with a folder icon and blinking question mark. When trying to set startup with new drive I get a bless tool error...

I did the back up as instructed... Installed a larger hard drive and followed the restore instructions... Now I get a white screen with a folder icon and blinking question mark. When trying to set startup with new drive I get a bless tool error... Help!!

If you have installed a new hard drive , you will need to have formatted it in Disk Utility correctly. This may explain your problem.
Boot into your 10.6 Install disk again at the top menubar > Utilities > select Disk utility and in there select your new hard drive, and select the tab Erase and choose to make the format as Mac OS Extended Journaled. When that is finished look in the main window to make sure that the partition map scheme says GUID Partition Table.
Now go to the Restore tab and reinstall from your backup.

Imac G5 ALS shows grey screen with blinking folder icon on startup

Helping a friend - her imac G5 got the blinking folder icon with question mark and grey screen and then wouldn't start. She had OS 10.4.11. I booted from install disk successfully- Disk Util said No repairs Necessary. Disk Warrior hung (never had that happen before). Performed Safe Boot. Multiple reboots were all successful.
But a few days later, it happened again. Then I did a clean install of 10.5 and all software updates. Restored her user folder from a clone I'd made before starting. All seemed well.
Now, the grey screen with folder question mark still occurs fairly often. If she restarts, she does get booted. (so far anyway)
My question: what do I need to do to resolve the grey screen with blinking folder icon on startup?
Additionally, the computer is slower than before. Does Leopard run slower on these machines than Tiger? (I'd already advised her to get more ram)
Thanks for your help!

The blinking folder means just that, it can't find an OS to boot to. Tray zapping the PRAM and it wouldn't hurt to run Rember and if the RAM checks out, she might want to add some, 512 is really a minimum, and Leopard should really have at least 1GB.

My macbook pro has white screen with flashing folder.

my macbook pro has white screen with flashing folder.
i called the repair services and they say its hard disk problem
so i would like to ask everyone here if the problem would be solved if i just changed the original hard disk to a ssd myself or do i realy need to let them repair for me.
ps : i dont have warranty

See A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac. I would suggest you try reinstalling OS X.
If you are running Snow Leopard:
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.
If you are running Lion or Mountain Lion:
Reinstalling Lion/Mountain Lion Without Erasing the Drive
Boot to the Recovery HD: Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.
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/Mountain Lion: Select Reinstall Lion/Mountain Lion and click on the Continue button.
Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless.

White screen with a folder and a '?' ...

Hi
I bought my iMac in 2008 and it has work fine and remained just as fast as it was when i bought it unitill last night. I went to watch a film and it failed to load up quicktime and then froze. I turned it off then back on and was given a white screen with a folder and a question mark inside it. At this point i turned it back off again and left it. I found out that this screen is refered to as 'The Screen Of Death' and usually indicates that the Hard Drive is dead.
Once i had left the iMac for about 10/15 minuets i switched it back on. It loaded my Mac but very slow. Everything is still there but continues to be slow and will crash completely if i open any programme.
In other cases that i have read the posters say that they cannont get the mac to boot at all once they have seen the white screen. I was wondering if what has happened to me is something different or may just be the fact that its a run up to the inevitable.
Any information on the matter would be great.
Thank You

Hi Brettus and welcome to the Apple Discussions.
This would be a good time for a backup if you can do so.
You could try to boot from the install disk that came with your iMac, startup holding the C key until after the tone. Then choose the language, go to utilities, first aid, disk utility and run repair disk. See if that finds damage to the file systems.
If it comes back ok, reboot normally on the hard drive and then run dis utility from the hard drive and repair permissions.
If you are unable to startup or have more problems, you probably have a failed or failing hard drive.

White screen with flashing folder containing a question mark

I attempted to boot my MacBook and it is now only showing a white screen with a folder containing a question mark. I have only had the MacBook for less than 3 months. Help!!!!

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 its location.
(102241)

Help! White screen with gray folder with question mark

Help, my macbook always shows this white screen with gray folder with question mark after turning it on.

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.
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.
Or if you are running 10.7 Lion or 10.8 Mountain Lion, boot from the recovery partition (Command +R on boot) and use Disk Utility to repair your OS 10.7 or 10.8 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?
If it is, then click on the Mac OS partition of your hard drive in the left hand list. Then select the First Aid Tab and run Repair Disk. The Repair Disk button won't be available until you've clicked on the Mac OS partition on your hard drive. If that repairs any problems run it again until the green OK appears and then run Repair Permissions. After repairing use Startup Disk from the same menu to choose your hard drive for restarting from your hard drive.
If your hard drive isn’t recognized in Disk Utility then your hard drive is probably dead.

On start up my mac book pro shows a white screen with a folder with a ? in it then switches to the apple symbol with the loading bar under it but it freezes about half way any ideas

My mac book pro on start up shows a white screen with a folder with a question mark in it then switches to the apple symbol with the loading bar under it but it freezes about half way. Only started to have problems since upgrading to yosemite any ideas.

I do hope you have recent backup, because it look like your hard disk is failing. You can start up in Recovery Mode, and run Disk Utility to see if the disk can be fixed: OS X: About OS X Recovery - Apple Support

Hello! i've a problem with my Imac. it shows me white screen with a folder with quastion. it could be a problem with hard drive. i should insert mac os cd, but i couldnt find it. in Russia, in Finland and in Sweden the same problem)

hello! i've a problem with my Imac. it shows me white screen with a folder with quastion. it could be a problem with hard drive. i should insert mac os cd, but i couldnt find it. in Russia, in Finland and in Sweden the same problem)

Have a look at some of the suggestions in this link:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US (Russian is available from the link within the article (top right of the page).

I messed up badly by trying to restore my brand new macbook pro by doing restart then command R and choose disc utility repair now when I start ,all I get is the white screen with a folder and a question mark,What can I do???help please

I messed up badly by trying to restore my brand new macbook pro by doing restart then command R and choose disc utility repair now when I start ,all I get is the white screen with a folder and a question mark,What can I do???help please

Can you still boot to the Recovery partition using Command and R whilst booting? Or did you wipe the Recovery partition as well?
If your Recovery partition is still intact, you can simply boot to it and reinstall the OS via the Internet. If you wiped the Recovery partition, you can hold down Command, option and R keys whilst booting and boot into true Internet Recovery mode. You'll be able to reformat the hard drive, erasing all partitions (format it as "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)" with a dingle GUID partition) and then reinstall the OS that shipped with your machine.
Note that you should use a physical Ethernet connection when restoring over the Internet - it's three times slower if you use wifi.
Try your Recovery partition first and if that doesn't work, use Internet Recovery.
Clinton

White screen with a folder and a question mark in the Folder

Hi,
My daughter's Desktop Mac Pro won't reboot. On reboot, it shows a white screen with a folder and a question mark within, It just stays there and nothing happens. Is this a problem with a dead hard drive, dead processor, faulty USB connection, problem with airport.? We need advise and help, please!
effie imperio

Hi, Anonymoustache, thanks for responding.
Yes, I think it is "a flashing question mark". If it is flashing, you think it is a hardware problem like a dead hard drive? I had a flashing question mark with my Power book G4 and Apple replaced a dead hard drive.
Thanks Hatter, I will convey your response to my daughter and see if it will help.
effie imperio

I locked my MacBook - it switched itself off - restart it - white screen with a folder and a questionmark appearing on the screen, I can type in the password or do anything at all

I locked my MacBook with the find my iPhone app, then it switched itself off and now, when i restart it there is a white screen with a folder and a questionmark appearing on the screen, I can type in the password or do anything all. I really didn't wipe it, and in the app it says: MacBook locked toay at 15:49.
I am really desperate. Plz help me.
Thanks.

Did you setup a lock code? I have done this operation via iCloud just few minutes ago and it's booted with 4 numbers lock code just fine. When you lock your Mac, it's restarts automaticly and then loads with lock screen and you are only able to enter password of 4 numbers to unlock it.

White screen with a folder

I purchased my MacBook Pro a few months ago, right before school started. I love it. It works really well with the classes I'm in. But yesterday I tried turning it on, and all what popped up was a white screen with a folder that had a question mark on it. I made an appointment to get it checked out. But it's an hour drive from my house. I ordered my MacBook off of amazon and it didn't come with a receipt... Will they still be able to help me or will they send me home because I have no proof of purchase? I need my computer for school ASAP!

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

White screen with grey folder question mark

hi,
i was trying to restore my mac pro 10.7 to factory setting. so i restarted my mac and pressed command+R erased my HD but while installing it back my mac turned off becuse it was not charged know when i am starting my mac its showing me white screen with grey folder with question mark. please tell me what to do

It's showing that screen becuase the OS didn't finish installing and the computer can't find the files that it needs to boot the OS. Have you tried going into the setup again by pressing the "Command+R" buttons again? If you can get back in there, try setting the OS up again and that should help.

White screen with blinking folder at startup

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