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MacBook Pro crashed

Hello everyone, I would appreciate help! I have a MacBook Pro, circa 2009, and installed El Capitan a few months ago. Everything was working fine until I restarted the computer a couple of hours ago. It was slow getting going, then a "do not enter" sign appeared, then the Apple logo, and finally a page titled "Recovery information". This page is suggesting a few options, for example, "repairing the volume"; or "reinstalling OS X". If at all possible, I would like to avoid losing all the information I have/had on my computer. (Unfortunately, I had not set up Time Machine). I have no idea what to do, and am reluctant to try anything until I know if there is some way I can recover my files, my email (in the Mail program), photos, music, etc. I am able to connect to the internet via Wi-Fi and that is what I am doing right now.

Can anyone help?? Thank you so much!

Posted on Jan 15, 2016 8:22 PM

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Posted on Jan 15, 2016 8:26 PM

Mac OS X- Gray screen or prohibitory sign appears during startup


Depending on the situation you may not be able to recover your data if the disk drive has died.


Reinstall El Capitan Without Erasing the Drive


Boot to the Recovery HD: Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears.


Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the main menu. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions as follows.


When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility and press the Continue button. After Disk Utility loads select the indented Macintosh HD entry from the the left side list. Click on the First Aid button in the toolbar. Wait until the operation completes, then quit Disk Utility and return to the main menu.


Reinstall OS X: Select Reinstall OS X and click on the Continue button.


Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless and more reliable.

2 replies
Question marked as Best reply

Jan 15, 2016 8:26 PM in response to swede08

Mac OS X- Gray screen or prohibitory sign appears during startup


Depending on the situation you may not be able to recover your data if the disk drive has died.


Reinstall El Capitan Without Erasing the Drive


Boot to the Recovery HD: Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears.


Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions: Upon startup select Disk Utility from the main menu. Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions as follows.


When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility and press the Continue button. After Disk Utility loads select the indented Macintosh HD entry from the the left side list. Click on the First Aid button in the toolbar. Wait until the operation completes, then quit Disk Utility and return to the main menu.


Reinstall OS X: Select Reinstall OS X and click on the Continue button.


Note: You will need an active Internet connection. I suggest using Ethernet if possible because it is three times faster than wireless and more reliable.

MacBook Pro crashed

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