Q: Flashing question mark on startup
Spring 2011 MBP with EL Capitan. So, was using my MBP last night and it started beachballing and I started force quitting apps, but performance did not improve and the beachballing continued. Was not even able to click on the Apple icon to restart. So, powered off using the power button to restart as I have done numerous times. Power back on and get the gray screen with the folder icon and flashing question mark. Completely baffled, because I have never seen this before. Restart again trying to reset the PRAM thinking that might have some effect, to no avail. So, do a quick search on the old smartphone and find out how to get into recovery mode. Go to Disc Utility and look for my HDD, but it is not there. Only disc 0 and then below it OS X Base System, something like that, can't remember what it says exactly. Soooo, I come to the realization that my HDD is erased, but I am wondering if it is in fact erased or if some kind of virus or something could have caused this and that somewhere my HDD is still intact. I know this is probably a long shot and wishful thinking, but I am trying to explore every possibility before I restore from my backup. I have not backed up in a few months, so I am really hoping this is the case, because I probably have lost some important stuff....
Any help would be MUCH appreciated....
Thanks!!
MacBook Pro, OS X El Capitan (10.11.3), 16gb ram
Posted on Aug 29, 2016 12:10 PM
When the hard drive doesn't appear at all in Disk Utility, it is more likely your hard drive cable than your hard drive. I would say it is a hard drive cable 85% of the time. It's a relatively cheap part. The other benefit - your information would still be on the drive.
Posted on Sep 1, 2016 9:28 AM