First, let me get to the bottom of why if you turn on your MacBook and all you get is a blinking folder with a question mark on it. Then, I will give the step-by-step method of fixing it (especially if you live in a third world country where there is no apple store and it would probably cost you a month’s worth of wages to get it fixed).
Well, the most common possible reason why you may end up with this error is because either your hard drive is bad, the cable to your hard drive is bad, or your OS (operating system, for the non-technical person) cannot be found.
The somewhat abridged step-by-step troubleshooting version:
- Turn your MacBook on and hold down the Option key.
- If you have an option to choose your startup disk, choose the drive that is in your MacBook. If not, you can try the Internet recovery option.
- If the problem is truly a hardware issue and not a software issue, you will need to shutdown your computer and disassemble…
- For the unibody MacBook, remove the back casing by unscrewing all the screws with a screwdriver. (Slightly obvious…).
- Remove the battery (use screwdriver again).
- From here, disconnect the cable from the motherboard to the hard drive. If it is an issue with the cable, you will have to purchase a new one. If it’s the hard drive, you will need to replace the hard drive.
In the situation I encountered, it was the hard drive and the person I was fixing this for had an external hard drive. I also disassembled the external hard drive and switch it out with the hard drive that was originally in the MacBook. (If you didn’t know, internal and external hard drives are the same. It’s just the casing…) - After replacing the cable and/or the hard drive (which by the way you can put in one that has more storage) reassemble everything… Hard drive, hard drive cable, battery, casing.
- Turn your computer on and repeat steps 1 & 2. And from here, you will be able to download the OS and hopefully if your disk was not too corrupted, you can restore your files.
I know I didn’t go into super details, but if you have any questions or need pictures, feel free to email or leave a comment.
For my regular blog readers, you may be wondering why I would write such a blog. Well, when I first decided to join the World Race, I expected to serve God and the world. What I did not expect as much was that this was also a time for me to keep learning more about myself.
Being around engineers most of my life, I did not know how unique my skills were. When one of the teachers we had worked with had this problem with his computer (which was donated to him by someone else), instead of spending money he did not have to get it fixed, I offered to troubleshoot and fix it. Though there was no guarantee that I could have done it, the curiosity and repair engineering side of me wanted to try. My teammates had mentioned that it was so nice of me to do so and how much of a gifting it is for me to be able to do what I did because they would not know how to fix it themselves.
It started to make me think more about the person God has created me to be. The skills, the talents, the gifts, the experiences… All to be used for God and to serve others. I’m still discovering more of what they are since many times, it just seems normal to me not realizing how unique these things God has given me. (Romans 12:3-8)
What are some of your gifts and skills God has given you? How has God use them for the kingdom and for those around you? I would love to hear your stories!
Til next time,
Lolita
