Ok, so I was using my computer and all of a sudden a blueish white screen popped up with a manilla folder with a question mark in the middle of it. I tried restarting it; taking the battery out, restarting it again and nothing is working. WHAT HAPPENED!?! Someone said they think it was hacked, is this true? What do I do? PLEASE HELP!
Got a tip for us?
Let us know
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.
Help! Folder with ? I think I was hacked.
- Thread starter portuglish08
- Start date
- Sort by reaction score
1) A more descriptive title would help.
2) Try holding Option down when you start up. This should bring up all bootable options.
3) Try booting from the install DVD and then choosing the HD from the list under Startup disk.
EDIT: I think I've miss understood the issue. You were actually using the computer when this happened or were you starting it up?
2) Try holding Option down when you start up. This should bring up all bootable options.
3) Try booting from the install DVD and then choosing the HD from the list under Startup disk.
EDIT: I think I've miss understood the issue. You were actually using the computer when this happened or were you starting it up?
I don't have the disc here, I'm at school. What happened was I was using my computer (after I downloaded something from the internet), and then the computer like froze. I restarted it, and a white screen popped up and in the middle of the screen was a manilla folder with a question mark in it. After I restarted again, I just keep getting a white screen.
Well, never-mind. I called applecare, and it was hacked, everything wiped clean. What programs are good to get prevent this?
Well, never-mind. I called applecare, and it was hacked, everything wiped clean. What programs are good to get prevent this?
Hacker Protection?
Ok, so my mac was hacked and when I get another one, I want to get hacker protection. What program should I use? Norton anti-virus 11.0 only say's internet vulnerabilities but nothing about hacking. The internet one, specifically says hacking, but it isn't for leopard yet. What should I do?
Ok, so my mac was hacked and when I get another one, I want to get hacker protection. What program should I use? Norton anti-virus 11.0 only say's internet vulnerabilities but nothing about hacking. The internet one, specifically says hacking, but it isn't for leopard yet. What should I do?
Follow best practices.
Good, strong username and password.
Don't give username/password out to anyone.
Don't share your computer with others.
Turn off auto-login.
Don't install things that you aren't 100% sure are from legit sources.
Keep your OS up to date.
Don't fall pray to phishing scams.
Avoid warez sites.
Don't use the same username and password that you use for everything.
Avoid any Norton software.
Use your head.
Good, strong username and password.
Don't give username/password out to anyone.
Don't share your computer with others.
Turn off auto-login.
Don't install things that you aren't 100% sure are from legit sources.
Keep your OS up to date.
Don't fall pray to phishing scams.
Avoid warez sites.
Don't use the same username and password that you use for everything.
Avoid any Norton software.
Use your head.
The other thread.
EDIT: Which is now this one as it's been merged by a lovely Mod.
I'm not quite buying that your computer was hacked. That question mark folder thing is pretty common, it means your startup disk is corrupted, so it can't find an OS on the drive.
What were you downloading at the time? Did you have to change any permissions to allow it to run? Was it from a reputable site?
What were you downloading at the time? Did you have to change any permissions to allow it to run? Was it from a reputable site?
I seriously question the part about calling applecare and them telling you it was hacked.
Like another poster asked. What exactly were you downloading?
Like another poster asked. What exactly were you downloading?
Ok, I didn't come here to be questioned, I came here for help. What happened was I was working on a project for school and I downloaded a template off of the internet for Microsoft Excel 2004. After downloading, my computer froze, I restarted, and got the white screen with the folder/question mark. I restarted and I just kept getting a blank screen. I searched google, and it said that it meant it was hacked. I then proceeded to call applecare and they said that my computer had been hacked by someone and I have lost everything on my hard drive and that I need to get to the genius bar as soon as I can. I'm not out to lie to you guys or whatever, I was trying to get help. And why do people say avoid Norton? What should I use then?
EDIT: I'm also currently on my University network using an ethernet, so i don't know if it was through that or when I downloaded the file. But either way it happened.
EDIT: I'm also currently on my University network using an ethernet, so i don't know if it was through that or when I downloaded the file. But either way it happened.
Before anyone else gets uppity, it's not likely that you were hacked. It's more likely that your hard drive failed, or some other catastrophic event cause your HD or OS install to go belly up.. despite what AppleCare might have said.
Do you have the installer discs somewhere handy?
Do you have the installer discs somewhere handy?
People doubt that it's hacked because THERE ARE ZERO CONFIRMED CASES that OS X can be hacked without some kind of user activity.
I wouldn't go that far.. zero is a very small number.
I simply doubt that it's hacked because of "Occam's Razor".
I just repeated what I was told by applecare. As they say, Don't shoot the messenger. All I was doing was looking for help, not everyone to jump down my throat. But anyways, I'm not going to let internet comments bother me, I have bigger problems and bigger things. And about the discs, no, I'm at school right now, and won't be home for awhile. There is an apple store near me, so I am just going to take it there. Thanks for the people who helped me out; its great to see there's still mature people out there!
Google isn't always right. :/
I think it's more likely something is wrong with your hard drive rather than you've been hacked.
All I was doing was looking for help, not everyone to jump down my throat. But anyways, I'm not going to let internet comments bother me, I have bigger problems and bigger things. And about the discs, no, I'm at school right now, and won't be home for awhile. There is an apple store near me, so I am just going to take it there. Thanks for the people who helped me out; its great to see there's still mature people out there!
I'm sorry, but nobody was "jumping down your throat." In order for us to help you, we have to ask questions of our own. And to help you prevent things like this from happening again, we try to explain to you what the more likely scenarios may have been. The chance of you being hacked without your own intervention is very slim. Whatever you downloaded probably had some malicious code built in. In a way, it is your fault, but of course we couldn't have expected you to know that an Office template could damage your system. Like others said, its still possible your hard drive just failed.
I thought the people in this thread were very mature and helpful. You just took it the wrong way unfortunately.
Good luck with your situation.
The question mark/folder could mean any number of things, but I seriously doubt that you were 'hacked'. More than likely a directory in your hard drive is corrupted and either needs to be rebuilt or your hard drive is failing altogether.
That's the only thing which has happened wrong with my now year-old MBP. It happened in November. I took it to the Genius Bar and they could never get it to mount, so swapped the HD out for a new one (thankfully it was backed up).
That's the only thing which has happened wrong with my now year-old MBP. It happened in November. I took it to the Genius Bar and they could never get it to mount, so swapped the HD out for a new one (thankfully it was backed up).