A
atalost
Guest
I have an mac ibook that has an flashing question mark, on a folder on a gray screen I tried to put in the software restore disc and it keeps popping out what do i do now
DeltaMac
Tech
The flashing question mark means that your iBook can't find the startup software.
Either the software is corrupted somehow, or some important file is missing or moved out of place, or the hard drive is failing or already failed. A bad hard drive sometimes will prevent booting to any other means until the hard drive is removed or replaced.
Your software restore disk might be bad, or the CD drive could be also bad.
Does the CD that you are using look undamaged, and no smears or smudges on the surface? Are other disks also ejected? Is your iBook a G3, or a G4? G3 will say only the word iBook under the screen, the G4 says iBook G4 under the screen. The G3 also has a tray CD drive, and the G4 has a slot-loading CD drive. The tray type is easy to try to clean the CD lens. The slot-loading type needs a special cleaning disk. You could try to clean the drive to see if that makes a difference.
Either the software is corrupted somehow, or some important file is missing or moved out of place, or the hard drive is failing or already failed. A bad hard drive sometimes will prevent booting to any other means until the hard drive is removed or replaced.
Your software restore disk might be bad, or the CD drive could be also bad.
Does the CD that you are using look undamaged, and no smears or smudges on the surface? Are other disks also ejected? Is your iBook a G3, or a G4? G3 will say only the word iBook under the screen, the G4 says iBook G4 under the screen. The G3 also has a tray CD drive, and the G4 has a slot-loading CD drive. The tray type is easy to try to clean the CD lens. The slot-loading type needs a special cleaning disk. You could try to clean the drive to see if that makes a difference.