when i boot i get a flashing folder with a question mark. disk utility doesnt work or read my harddrives to boot with. i installed a new SSD and its not reading that either. i have a macbook pro 2011, any help?

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when i boot i get a flashing folder with a question mark. disk utility doesnt work or read my harddrives to boot with. i installed a new SSD and its not reading that either. i have a macbook pro 2011, any help?

So I came to this problem a while ago. M ycomputer basically froze so I was forced to shut down by holding the button down. When I started it up I got the flashing folder with a question mark. I started it up holding down the command and r keys which brought me to disk utility. Although my computer doesn't read that I have a hard drive to start it up. When I click on the disk utility app, I cannot verify or repair anything either. The buttons won't allow me to click on them. It also shows "Mac OSX Base System" which shows I have files and what not saved. I had been told that I need a new hard drive so I bought and manually installed a OWC SSD 240GB drive and when i booted the computer up it booted up yo the operating system fine with all my files and what not on there. After about twenty minutes, it froze again. I forced a shut down, restarted and the same thing happened. I am not able to choose my SSD to boot up, although thats probably because it doesn't have an operating system installed on it??

i have a Macbook Pro 13" 2011

any help would be great, I'm overall confused.

MacBook Pro, OS X Mavericks (10.9.1)

Posted on Apr 8, 2014 9:43 AM

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Answer 1

Melophage

Level 5

7,213 points

Apr 8, 2014 9:50 AM in response to ryansaint11

ryansaint11,

I’m a bit confused by your description of the current situation. Which drive is currently your internal disk: your HDD, or your SSD? Has your SSD been formatted in Disk Utility? Were you previously booting from your SSD? Please clarify what your current setup is.

Also, is your MacBook Pro an Early 2011 model, or a Late 2011 model? If it’s an Early 2011 model, did it originally come with Snow Leopard installed (and two grey installation DVDs), or did it originally come with Lion installed (and no grey installation DVDs)?

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Answer 2

ryansaint11 Author

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Apr 8, 2014 10:12 AM in response to Melophage

melophage,

sorry about that, I'm not the most computer savy and this is the first time im using apple support. I'll try my best to present what my set up is.

I installed my SSD using a kit from OWC and I installed it into my optical bay as an internal harddrive. After I installed that. I booted the computer and I thought I chose to start up using my SSD in disk utility. But my desktop had all my files and apps that I had before on it. If I used a new hard drive to boot up, isn't it not possible for that to happen?

also, it is a early 2011 model and I got it on eBay a while back so I didn't get any start up disks. Although I tried to install using a friends disk to fix the problem before I installed a new SSD internal drive and it wasn't successful.

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Answer 3

Melophage

Level 5

7,213 points

Apr 8, 2014 10:37 AM in response to ryansaint11

ryansaint11,

this isn’t Apple support; this is a user-to-user forum. We’re just fellow users of Apple products here.

If you want to boot from your SSD, then you should put the SSD where your HDD currently is, and put the HDD into the optical bay. (That setup will also get you the best performance.) At the moment, you’re still booting from your HDD. Note that you will need to format your SSD in Disk Utility [with the “Mac OS X Extended (Journaled)” format] so that you can install OS X onto it.

Since you have an Early 2011 model, it might or might not have originally come with grey installation DVDs. You will be able to find out whether it did or not by trying to use OS X Internet Recovery to install OS X onto your SSD. If it does not work, or if the installed OS turns out to be Snow Leopard, then it will have originally come with the DVDs, and you should purchase a replacement pair of DVDs from Apple or iFixit; those discs will have your MacBook Pro’s Apple Hardware Test and its iLife apps. If the installed OS turns out to be Lion, then it will not originally have come with the grey installation DVDs, and your Apple Hardware Test will be installed along with Lion, and your iLife apps will be downloadable from the Mac App Store.

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