Jason-Crestawood

Q: my macbook air will not start up.  I get a white screen and a flashing file icon with a question mark in the middle of the screen

my macbook air will not start up.  I get a white screen and a flashing file icon with a question mark in the middle of the screen

MacBook Air, Mac OS X (10.7.2)

Posted on Oct 31, 2013 2:23 PM

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Q: my macbook air will not start up.  I get a white screen and a flashing file icon with a question mark in the middle of the sc ... more

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  • by Niel,

    Niel Niel Oct 31, 2013 2:24 PM in response to Jason-Crestawood
    Level 10 (313,333 points)
    Mac OS X
    Oct 31, 2013 2:24 PM in response to Jason-Crestawood

    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.

     

    (91991)

  • by Colin Roy ter Braak,

    Colin Roy ter Braak Colin Roy ter Braak Sep 20, 2016 1:12 PM in response to Niel
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Notebooks
    Sep 20, 2016 1:12 PM in response to Niel

    What is an option key?

  • by Colin Roy ter Braak,

    Colin Roy ter Braak Colin Roy ter Braak Sep 20, 2016 1:16 PM in response to Colin Roy ter Braak
    Level 1 (4 points)
    Notebooks
    Sep 20, 2016 1:16 PM in response to Colin Roy ter Braak

    My Macbook pro has been acting up for a while; freezing of the screen, no reaction of working on the keyboard etc. The only way to make it work again was to switch off the macbook and restart. Now that does not work anymore; question mark for a couple of minutes, then the macbook shuts down again