Folder/question mark flash on startup?

Discussion in 'Mac Basics and Help' started by asherman13, Oct 23, 2006.

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  1. asherman13, Oct 23, 2006

    asherman13 macrumors 6502a

    asherman13

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    #1
    I'm running a MacBook Pro, and recently when I've been starting up my computer, I get a flash of a folder with what looks like a question mark in it before the usual Apple symbol shows up (this is on the grey screen).

    Any reason why that's happening/how to stop it?
     
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  2. gloss, Oct 23, 2006

    gloss macrumors 601

    gloss

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    #2
    Same thing here. The only change I've made recently is getting rid of my Boot Camp partition.
     
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  3. asherman13, Oct 23, 2006

    asherman13 thread starter macrumors 6502a

    asherman13

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    #3
    I've actually done the same thing recently...

    Just to clarify, the computer starts up and everything (ergo, it finds the startup disk), but the question-mark/folder flashes for juuuust a second beforehand.
     
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  4. 2nyRiggz, Oct 23, 2006

    2nyRiggz macrumors 603

    2nyRiggz

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    #4
    Maybe you might want to run disk repair from the install CD just to be sure.:eek:


    Bless
     
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  5. SmurfBoxMasta, Oct 23, 2006

    SmurfBoxMasta macrumors 65816

    SmurfBoxMasta

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    #5
    go the startup disk pref pane & be certain the right disk is selected as the startup disk. If it is, then clik on the padlock in the lower left corner to be sure it can't be changed by anyone......

    the flashing question mark means the system is having to search for a valid system folder to boot from, which should be automatic if everything else is straight with prefs & such. You may need to trash the sud preferences file, empty the trash, reselect the disk in the pane, and restart the machine.
     
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  6. Jovian9, Oct 23, 2006

    Jovian9 macrumors 68000

    Jovian9

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    #6
    That is exactly what needs to be done.
     
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  7. asherman13, Oct 24, 2006

    asherman13 thread starter macrumors 6502a

    asherman13

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    #7
    And where would the sud preferences file be, should I need to do that?
     
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  8. Jovian9, Oct 24, 2006

    Jovian9 macrumors 68000

    Jovian9

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    #8
    System Preferences is an application so it's by default on your dock but will also be in your applications folder. Run it and then go into start-up disk, select the boot-drive you want and then exit out.
     
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