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serpe

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Sep 20, 2008
2
0
hi every my name is matt and my macbook is not turning on. i turned it on today and the screen lit up but it was blank and after like a minute a question mark started blinking. pls helpp i need to use my computer for school thanxx.
 
Flashing question mark can be the hard drive or the operating system.
If you have the original install disk 1 of 2 that came with your macbook and haven't added 10.5 yet, put install disk 1 or the leopard retail disk, restart and hold down "c". When you get to the grey screen with apple/spinning gear, release. It should take you to the installer window. Select utility > disk utility > if you see your hard drive volume, probably named "macintosh hd", select it and run "repair disk".

If it finds errors, it may need to have your software reinstalled.
Hope you have a backup of your data...you might want to look at advanced options for support if that is a concern.

If you don't see your hard drive, the hard drive has probably failed. If it is the hard drive, under warranty, you can have a service provider order it or you can have Apple send you a replacement one.

Either way, with disk utility, close that window, select installer, quit installer and when you get to restart, hold down option or alt key to boot to a screen that shows your install disk, then eject it.

Good luck :apple:
 
Flashing question mark can be the hard drive or the operating system.

If thats the case, it's probably the software chouldnt be read. If the hard drive crashed or something like that then it wouldn't do anything at all, it would stay at a gray screen (it happened to me).
 
thanx

thanx for the help! i ended up going to the apple store and had to get a new hard drive so thanx for the help. i just thought that since it was a common problem it would not be anything serious specially if the computer was just a year old. i mean i have PCs as well and i havent had any problems yet "knocking on wood" :D
 
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