Mac advice?

[danaeris]

Just as I was chatting on Skype with the Wolfie, my computer froze really badly, so I turned it off.

Now, I get a grey screen with a flashing file folder in the middle with a question mark on it.

Anyone have any idea how screwed I am? I have none of the requisite disks with me, sadly, but there is a third party licensed service provider in Bristol that's open tomorrow...

Comments

[secretsoflife.livejournal.com]

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=58042

try resetting the PRAM; aside from that all solutions require the original discs, so i'd head into the shop if the PRAM reset doesn't work.

[caillean.livejournal.com]

Umm. It can't find the boot instructions. that file folder? it means it doesn't see an OS. Sometimes it's easily fixable with the disks, sometimes it's a wipe-clean and try again.

[blueelf13.livejournal.com]

I had this happen... I was out for dinner and when I got back, I had the file with the question mark. I had to get my entire hard drive replaced. I really hope that didn't happen to you. I hadn't been doing backups since November, (for dumb reasons) and so lost 4+ months of data. :(

Good luck!

[awfief.livejournal.com]

the ? isn't as bad as the Mac icon *frowny* face. Everything folks said above is true. Could be a loose connector, could be a corrupt boot sector (fixable, but by the disks), could be the whole disk is fried.

Usually it is *not* the last one, but it could be.