MacBook Pro starts in OS X utilities

Question

Level 1

18 points

MacBook Pro starts in OS X utilities

I have an early 2009 MacBook Pro which has been running just fine until today when I started it up and it flashe's between the grey screen apple logo and a folder with a question mark before entering the OS X utilities screen where my options are to restore from a time machine backup, reinstall OS X, get help online , or repair disk. I have run the disk repair and there are no issues detected. I tried to reinstall OS X but I do not have enough space on my Mac. I was informed by Apple customer care that there is no way to delete files in order to free up space to reinstall OS X. They also suggested I reset the system management controller which I did and nothign happened. I tried starting up in safe/recovery mode by holdi down the shift key and I got the same flashing Apple and question mark folder. Of course my computer does not have an up to date time machine backup so that is not an option. What else can I do? I need to back things up if that is even possible? And if I can't delete things how am I going to reinstall OS X?

MacBook Pro (17-inch Early 2009), iOS 7.1.2

Posted on Sep 6, 2016 11:06 PM

Reply

Answer 1

Kappy

Level 10

362,163 points

Sep 6, 2016 11:14 PM in response to Suzie G4

Your option is to erase the drive and reinstall OS X. It's too late to remove files or reinstall. You've let the drive become so overloaded that it can no longer be used.

Reply

Answer 2

Suzie G4 Author

Level 1

18 points

Oct 9, 2016 2:10 PM in response to Suzie G4

Thank you for all the suggestions below. When none of this worked, I visited the genius bar and after about 4 hours the genius was able to retrieve all my files and put them on an external drive. Then I could start over from scratch and download El Capitan and restore everything. He said it had nothing to do with my computer being full but that these things sometimes happen - not sure why.

Reply

Answer 3

lllaass

Level 10

210,619 points

Sep 7, 2016 12:57 AM in response to Suzie G4

- When booted to OSX utilities which is Recovery, you should be able to find and use the Terminal. With Tereminal yo can copy files from the disk to an external disk:

Copying Files to External Hard Drive via Terminal?

- Another way is to install OSX on an external drive and then boot from that external drive and see if yo can copy files from the internal disk

Reply

Answer 4

OGELTHORPE

Level 9

57,339 points

Sep 7, 2016 3:44 AM in response to Suzie G4

You might also try Target Disk Mode to get access to your data:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201462

Ciao.

Reply

Answer 5

Kappy

Level 10

362,163 points

Sep 6, 2016 11:13 PM in response to Suzie G4

Are you able to do the following?

Install El Capitan from Scratch

Restart the computer. Immediately after the chime hold down the Command and Rkeys until the Apple logo appears. When the Utility Menu appears:
Select Disk Utility from the Utility Menu and click on Continue button.
When Disk Utility loads select the volume (indented entry, usually Macintosh HD) from the Device list.
Click on the Erase icon in Disk Utility's main window. A panel will drop down.
Set the Format type to Mac OS Extended (Journaled.)
Click on the Apply button, then wait for the Done button to activate and click on it.
Quit Disk Utility and return to the Utility Menu.
Select Reinstall OS X and click on the Continue button.

Reply