Why do I see the basic white screen with a blinking grey folder on it.

I'll need some help fixing this, as I am not a developer in any way, and don't have much experience with macs.
So my question is, is there a way to fix it without bringing it for repairs?
Signed, Curious Apple Fan In Need

You can have the hard drive replaced. Is there an authorized Apple service place near you?
Also, do you have a backup of the internal drive? If not, it's something to start doing once you get your iMac back up and running. It's also helpful to have an external drive around with an OS installed that you can boot from if there is a problem with your internal drive. It is easier to run Disk Utility and some other repair tools from a different drive than your main system disk.

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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.

I bought my 6 plus last night decided to upgrade the IOS 8 like they suggest and now all I see is a white screen with the apple sign in the middle with an occasional flashing red screen. Did my new phone seriously just crash? What do I do now?

I bought my 6 plus last night decided to upgrade the IOS 8 like they suggest and now all I see is a white screen with the apple sign in the middle with an occasional flashing red screen. Did my new phone seriously just crash? What do I do now? I left it overnight with the white screen, thinking maybe it'll go away and needs time to upgrade. Woke up this morning, nope still white screen. Very disappointed with Apple. I was so excited to get my phone and can't even use it right now.

First turn the iPhone off and back on and see if it works. If that doesn't work then do a Reset by holding the Sleep / Wake Button (The Power Button) and the Home Button at the same time until the white Apple Logo appears, the release both Buttons and wait until a Full Reset occurs. The iPhone 6 should come back to your Lock-Screen. If that doesn't work then you could connect the iPhone 6 via the Lightning Cable to a Computer with a Current Version of iTunes. Then open iTunes on the Computer and wait until your see a Button that represents your attached iPhone and click on it. This should bring up a Summary Screen on the Computer within iTunes. At that point your can choose Update Software if an Update is available or Restore the iPhone to Factory Settings / New In The Box, or you could try to Restore from your Backup if a current Backup had already been saved from a previous iPhone.
If you don't have a computer with iTunes and you can get the iPhone back on, then go to Settings>General>Software Update and see if the iPhone is still on iOS 8.0 or if it is now on iOS 8.0.2

TS1587 Hello, I downloaded an ntfs systemfile from tuxera and used it to convert a usb stick, my imac froze a while after so I turned it off the on and now I have blue vertical lines on boot up and the a white screen with lots of tine blue symbols, need h

Hello, I downloaded an ntfs systemfile from tuxera and used it to convert a usb stick so I could put more than the fat32 4gb on, my Imac froze a while after so I turned it off the on and now I have blue vertical lines on boot up and the a white screen with lots of tine blue symbols after, mouse pointer moves but thats about it.
Have used R and cmd to get a menu up but once I choose one of the four options my mouse is rendered useless and I cant get any further, have downloaded, to another usb stick recovery disk assisstant and am trying to use that in conjunction with the lion option on the previously mentioned screen, computer was responding really slowly and has now frozen on the terms of software license agreement (maybe the last hurdle!) can anyone pleeeeeease help!!!!!??????

It's likely that the boot drive is failing, or that there's some other hardware fault. Run the Apple Hardware Test.
Intel-based Macs: Using Apple Hardware Test
Even if the test is negative, you should make a "Genius" appointment at an Apple Store to have the machine tested more thoroughly.

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.

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!!

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.

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

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 ?
Help
Thank you

A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac

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.

My MacBook Pro won't start. Every time it has a white screen with a blinking folder in the middle with a question mark inside... What should I do?

Thanks for any suggestions!

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.
(91987)

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.

Why do I see the basic white screen with a blinking grey folder on it.

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