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Level 1

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Folder w/flashing gray question mark

Hello,

I have tried every and all the suggestions given here for when all that shows is a folder with a flashing gray question mark. I was told that the reason for the flashing question mark is the hard drive is no longer working. I have a lot of things on my computer and would like to make a back up of them, before I have it repaired. Is there anything else I can try to be able to reboot it and get all my files out of there? I'd appreciate any help or suggestions. Thank you very much!

iMac, Mac OS X (10.6.8)

Posted on Jan 30, 2013 6:56 PM

20 replies

Arranques Author

Level 1

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Feb 4, 2013 3:45 PM in response to Arranques

Ok, just one more thing. Has anyone heard of a program called, "SpinRite?" From what I read and see, it repairs the sectors that need repairing on the hard drive, but I'm not sure how I would go about it, because from what I understand it repairs and saves on a PC? That make sense? Thank you for any feedback, again.

BDAqua

Level 10

239,273 points

Feb 4, 2013 4:27 PM in response to Arranques

SpinRite on Mac

As Apple Macs use EFI instead of BIOS, Spinrite will not run on a Mac. However, it can be run in a virtual machine under OSX (and other operating systems) to scan a drive which is not the OS drive^[17] This has been reported to work, but to be unusably slow^[18]. Spinrite can operate on a Mac disk if it is removed and connected temporarily to a PC.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpinRite

Arranques Author

Level 1

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Feb 4, 2013 5:07 PM in response to BDAqua

BDAqua wrote:

SpinRite on Mac

As Apple Macs use EFI instead of BIOS, Spinrite will not run on a Mac. However, it can be run in a virtual machine under OSX (and other operating systems) to scan a drive which is not the OS drive^[17] This has been reported to work, but to be unusably slow^[18]. Spinrite can operate on a Mac disk if it is removed and connected temporarily to a PC.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SpinRite

Ok, thanks for the info......BTW, the link above is exactly were I found that info. Have a great evening!

Feb 14, 2013 6:27 AM in response to Arranques

Whenever this happens, try taking out the battery and then putting it back in. It might be as simpe as that. It's always worked for me when I get the blinking folder of terror. 🙂

Arranques Author

Level 1

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Feb 14, 2013 12:30 PM in response to Mome-Raths-Outgrabe

Mome-Raths-Outgrabe wrote:

Whenever this happens, try taking out the battery and then putting it back in. It might be as simpe as that. It's always worked for me when I get the blinking folder of terror. 🙂

The computer I'm having issues with is a iMac desktop, not a laptop. Beside the fact that I don't even know where the battery is located in an iMac, I wouldn't want to tamper with taking it apart just to try taking the battery out and putting it back in. Thanx for your suggestion anyway.

Folder w/flashing gray question mark