My Mac Turns on But it Wont Load

If your macbook wont startup

What to do if a MacBook won't turn on or start up

Or try some of the methods desribed here to get your macbook starting up.

thanks for the suggestions but I have already tried doing those things

Julie

If you have followed the steps outlined in the knowledge base articles then the next step is to contact apple care.

this happened to me on Dec. 25 after i downloaded an updated for my mother's brand new just set-up macbook. after i installed the update and restarted the computer it showed a folder with a flashing "?" and even though i followed the instructions in the manual, nothing will repair it. It won't even let me reinstall using the dics that came with it. I think there must be a virus? or something associated with the updates. Has anyone else had problems from a recent update??

I think there must be a virus?

This is not likely.

It may be that during the update something glitched and your drive is suffering from directory damage.

What I would suggest is you boot from your leopard disk goto the utilities menu, choose disk utility. Then select your hard drive and choose repair disk.

The flashing folder sign is the Mac's way of telling that a bootable disc cannot be found. Since the computer is new, it is unlikely, but not unheard of, to have a hard disk failure (don't blame Apple, they don't make their own HD's). If you are new to OS10-4/5 you may have needed to repair permissions before installing the update, but regardless the HD is having problems. You should be able to boot the computer by putting in the DVD that came with it, holding down the "c" key while turning on the system ( which tells the computer to boot from the CD/DVD in the machine ). Keep the "c" key held down until the rotating bars show on the screen just below the Apple logo, then you can release it. Navigate to the utilities folder on the DVD and then repair the disk, this should enable you to boot using the HD unless there is a failed HD or other hardware problem. Since it is new, you can call Applecare or take it to an Apple store to have it checked out.