Macbook wont start up FlASHING FOLDER with question mark.

Question

Macbook wont start up FlASHING FOLDER with question mark.

the other night my macbook froze.
then i tried to restart it all it did was give me a grey screen
with a flashing folder with a question mark inside it..
it also made a clicking noise.. for what ive read its a
hard drive problem????? does this mean ive lost all my
information? cause thats pretty messed up that my computer
just lost all its info.. randomly... i tried to put the mac osx cd..
but nothing happens except it tries to reinstall itself..
what should i do?

Posted on May 3, 2008 8:55 PM

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Answer 1

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

May 3, 2008 9:52 PM in response to headymacbookthatsbroke

This article may help: A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac.

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Answer 2

May 3, 2008 10:43 PM in response to headymacbookthatsbroke

gosh.. my computer is depressing..

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Answer 3

?boy

Level 1

0 points

May 4, 2008 9:01 AM in response to headymacbookthatsbroke

Have u fixed ur problem if so how but also try holding down C during start up

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Answer 4

Kappy

Level 10

361,741 points

May 4, 2008 9:16 AM in response to ?boy

That only forces the computer to startup from a CD/DVD. It will not do anything to fix this problem.

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Answer 5

May 19, 2008 9:38 AM in response to Kappy

Booting up from the cd allows you to use disk utility in the top menu to check your mac though. Pretty handy.

Sometimes giving it a good check does the trick.

Or booting up from the hardware test cd (think Tiger has it on the same cd as install cd and hold down d) Then you can really determine whats broken.

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Answer 6

jim cage

Level 1

10 points

May 19, 2008 4:22 PM in response to headymacbookthatsbroke

It means the boot hard drive is broken somehow or corrupt. You will need to reinstall the system. I'd take it to an Apple Store to see if they can fix it. Did you install or change anything important lately?

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