I Need Help.

[CLUELESS IN NYC]

Hi All

I inherited a Mac computer that was not working. I am truly hoping that someone out there has the patients to help me. OK to the problem when I turn on the computer it goes to a screen that has what looks like a file folder flashing a face and a question mark. I try hitting the F keys but to no avail nothing is fixed or when I get to the different modes I cant do anything that is helpful. I was told this problem could be a sign that the operating system has crashed but needs to be rebooted. Now we get to the second issue I’m not sure how I would figure out where to go with this or trying to find the correct model of Mac I have i know its the ones they came out with the colors (mines the blue "wink") can anyone lend a helping brainwave got half a brain here in NYC.



Thanx in advance


p.s. I’m allergic to big words / tech jargon
Carmen
Miss clueless in NYC 2007 & 8 & 9 you get the point.

 

[eric2006]

hmm.. a folder with a question mark means that there is not bootable system. This can mean multiple things:
1. There is no hard drive / it is damaged
2. The OS is damaged
3. The OS needs to be installed

If you have an install disk, that will make this much easier to troubleshoot. Can you try to find an exact picture of your model, on a site like apple-history.com? This will show us which OS you can load.

 

[Texas Mac Man]

Zapping PRAM will sometimes correct this problem. Also, if the Mac has not been plugged in to AC power for a while, the internal memory battery has discharged & needs replacement. See.
Mac PRAM, NVRAM, CUDA/PMU & Battery Tutorial
http://www.geocities.com/texas_macman/pram.html

Cheers, Tom

 

[Kees Buijs]

If you have a cd with the os 9 (or even x) you can force the mac to start from the cd by pressing c while turning on the mac. This will allow to boot the system and check the integrity of the harddrive.

PRAM reset is done by pressing (i thought) apple-option-p-r siimultanious while turning them the computer on.


Good luck, Kees