Please help!!! (macbook completely froze)

[scotty56]

So my friends macbook (2.16 leopard, 1gb ram) completely froze on him while he was surfing the net. He tried all the apple tools that are on apples website for macbooks that wont start, and now he is on the startup screen with a picture of a folder with a flashing question mark.

He does have applecare but because he is a student in college he's worried about losing time for repair, and work he's done. Any suggestions??

[r.j.s]

Sounds like the HD decided to quit on him, hopefully he has it backed up somewhere. If that is the case, the good news is, he can get a new one for around $100-$150 at Best Buy and have it back up and running in no time.

[iToaster]

The flashing question mark means that the computer can't find an operating system. If he has his OS X installation disks he can put them in and see if he can reinstall the OS, but from what you describe, it seems more likely that his hard drive is dead along with all of his data.

[okieboyd]

same thing happened to me. anyone know if this is covered by applecare?

[Sky Blue]

same thing happened to me. anyone know if this is covered by applecare?

The problem could be the hard drive, or it could be fixed with a reinstall. Try reinstalling the OS first from the restore media.