Mac Book (2009) Question Mark Folder ... Help!!

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Level 1

1 points

Mac Book (2009) Question Mark Folder ... Help!!

Hello, I have a mid 2009 Macbook, and i bought it off e-bay i while ago. My school happens to give these computers to students so that they can take them home and they also give these computers away on ebay when a class leaves and i bought it from them . The computer worked fine the first day that i got it, But then the next day the question mark with the folder popped up. I had never seen this before, and i have seen on here the resolutions to fix the computer, but how can i fix it if it wont restart or start up? i have no documents on the computer because i just got it so i dont care about losing any information on the computer. There is a Certain disk that I've heard about the Mac os x, should i purchase that? and if that dosent work, do i go to the mac store and get it fixed? and if i do get it fixed how much would it cost? Please Help Me!!!

P.S. The computer screen stays on the blinking folder with the question mark and then shuts off after 10 mins, i know its prob. the hard drive cause its an old computer but how do i fix this

Thanks

-Erika

MacBook

Posted on Jun 2, 2013 8:27 AM

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Answer 1

BGreg

Level 6

17,552 points

Jun 2, 2013 8:35 AM in response to ESmith94

See thisApple note on dealing with the question mark on the folder.

If you plan to keep this mac for awhile, you should call Apple support to purchase, if still available, an original set of OS X disks that came with the system. The reason for that is that the Apple hardware test is only available on those disks. Also, if for some reason you need to reload any of the original software, it's on those disks. You can purchase TechTool Pro, which can do similar hardware testing, however, it's more expensive that the original OS X disks from Apple.

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Answer 2

Jun 2, 2013 10:04 AM in response to ESmith94

The 10.6 Snow Leopard DVD is in the Apple online store. You can get it for $19.99. You will need to be running 10.6.8 to access the App Store to order Lion or Mountain Lion. http://store.apple.com/us/product/MC573/mac-os-x-106-snow-leopard

That folder with the question mark icon means that the MacBook can't find the boot directory. That can either mean it can't find the hard drive or the Operating System data on the hard drive is somehow corrupted.

Put your install DVD into the optical drive (CD/DVD drive) and reboot. Be sure to either use the disc that came with your Mac, or, if you installed a later Mac OS X version from disc, use the newer disc. As soon as you hear the boot chime, hold down the "c" key on your keyboard (or the Option Key until the Install Disk shows up) until the apple shows up. That will force your MacBook to boot from the install DVD in the optical drive.

Or if you are running 10.7 Lion or 10.8 Mountain Lion, boot from the recovery partition (Command +R on boot) and use Disk Utility to repair your OS 10.7 or 10.8 partition.

When it does start up, you'll see a panel asking you to choose your language. Choose your language and press the Return key on your keyboard once. It will then present you with an Installation window. Completely ignore this window and click on Utilities in the top menu and scroll down to Disk Utility and click it. When it comes up is your Hard Drive in the list on the left?

If it is, then click on the Mac OS partition of your hard drive in the left hand list. Then select the First Aid Tab and run Repair Disk. The Repair Disk button won't be available until you've clicked on the Mac OS partition on your hard drive. If that repairs any problems run it again until the green OK appears and then run Repair Permissions. After repairing use Startup Disk from the same menu to choose your hard drive for restarting from your hard drive.

If your hard drive isn’t recognized in Disk Utility then your hard drive is probably dead.

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