hotrod45

Q: file folder picture with question mark blinking on screen

i just bought a 2 month old 15" macbook pro from an individual. i turned it on this morning and there is a picture of a little file folder with a question mark in the center, blinking on and off. anyone have a solution for this?

MacBook Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11.1), 16 gb ram, 500 gb samsung 850 evo

Posted on Feb 15, 2016 5:44 AM

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Q: file folder picture with question mark blinking on screen

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  • by KimUserName,

    KimUserName KimUserName Feb 15, 2016 6:48 AM in response to hotrod45
    Level 4 (1,400 points)
    Notebooks
    Feb 15, 2016 6:48 AM in response to hotrod45

    Hi Hotrod45:

     

    Was it booting up before or is this the first time you turned it on since buying it?

     

    Check out this tech note. If a flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac - Apple Support

     

    Kim

  • by hotrod45,

    hotrod45 hotrod45 Feb 15, 2016 10:19 AM in response to KimUserName
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 15, 2016 10:19 AM in response to KimUserName

    this mbp is 2 months old. i bought it from the previous owner who reset the disc and reinstalled osx. when i powered it up, a file folder image with a ? in the middle of it appeared and was flashing. i tried holding down the command r keys but the second i let up on the keys the file folder appears.

  • by KimUserName,

    KimUserName KimUserName Feb 15, 2016 10:38 AM in response to hotrod45
    Level 4 (1,400 points)
    Notebooks
    Feb 15, 2016 10:38 AM in response to hotrod45

    Hi Hotrod45:

     

    He may have erased the disk, but it does not sound like the OS X was ever reinstalled.

    The ? means that the Startup Files cannot be found.

    If you try to start up in Recovery mode by pressing and holding the Command and R keys until you see an Apple Logo does not work, that means it cannot find the recovery partition.

    You could try the internet recovery mode Command and Option and R keys and see if that works.

     

    If these don't work, you may want to talk to whoever sold it to you.

     

    Kim

  • by hotrod45,Helpful

    hotrod45 hotrod45 Feb 15, 2016 10:41 AM in response to KimUserName
    Level 1 (9 points)
    Mac OS X
    Feb 15, 2016 10:41 AM in response to KimUserName

    he did erase the disc but never installed the osx. i hit the power button and the command key and it opened up to disc utility and i selected instal osx. it is installing now so hopefully it is going to be ok. thanks for the info