My Macbook will not boot, all that appears is a blinking file icon with a question mark.

Question

I have done some research on the issue and it seems to be quite common, but all of the troubleshooting methods I have taken have failed.

The most common answer seems to be to insert my Mac OS X installation disk.

Well....

I recently bought my Macbook off of amazon, and the seller did not provide me with an installation disk. Go figure!

I have absolutely no idea what to do due to the fact that i have JUST started to become familiar with Mac's.

Help would be greatly appreciated, I live nearly 3 hours away from the nearest Apple store.

MacBook

Posted on Jan 6, 2013 10:08 AM

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Answer 1

Level 10

239,111 points

Hi Amanda,

The question mark means it can't find the ddrive it thinks it's supposed to boot from, most common cause is drive failure.

Hold alt key at bootup, if the Hard Drive doesn't show as a boot choice, then you have big problems.

If you don't know the model, find the Serial# & use it on one of these sites, but don't post the Serial# here...

How to find the serial number of your Apple hardware product...

It's possible it may run 10.6.x & you can get that disc cheap from Apple.

Snow Leopard/10.6.x Requirements...

General requirements

* Mac computer with an Intel processor

* 1GB of memory (I say 4GB at least, more if you can afford it)

* 5GB of available disk space (I say 30GB at least)

* DVD drive for installation

* Some features require a compatible Internet service provider; fees may apply.

* Some features require Apple’s MobileMe service; fees and terms apply.

Which apps work with Mac OS X 10.6?...

Call Apple Sales...in the US: 1-800-MY-APPLE. Or Support... 1-800-275-2273

Other countries...

If it's a core Duo & not a Core2Duo, then it'll only run in 32 bit mode.

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