[Q80]

I switched it on and i get a grey screen with a folder icon and a question mark ? What gives

[iMacfan]

Sounds like your HD has bitten the dirt.

On a slightly tangential topic: I think Apple didn't think this whole Mac Pro/Macbook Pro thing out. I've seen so many mispostins recently...

David

[SierraDragon]

Originally Posted by Q80 

I switched it on and i get a grey screen with a folder icon and a question mark ? What gives

Call 1-800-SOS-APPL for free Apple tech support.

-Allen Wicks

[Mrjinglesusa]

Put in the OS X install disc and boot from it (Hold down "c" key when starting up). Run Disk Utility from there and see if it finds any problems. Or, just reinstall the OS. The flashing question mark folder means the system did not find an OS to boot into. Reinstalling it may fix the problem. If you keep up-to-date backups and don't mind reinstalling your apps, I'd wipe the drive and reinstall the OS fresh just to be safe.

[Q80]

How the hell does my hard drive just choose to retire itself ? sh!t

[rjt1000]

Originally Posted by Q80 

How the hell does my hard drive just choose to retire itself ? sh!t

The grey screen / folder icon with "?" doesnt necessarily mean your hard drive is dead. It could be that your system was somehow corrupted and is no longer able to boot the computer. That can happen in a variety of ways from installing troublesome software to user error.

Before fretting, you should follow Mrjinglesusa's advice and try to start up with the system restore disk that came with the computer. Run disk utility from that disk and see if it finds your hard drive. If so, try to run First Aid: repair disk. If if finds and repairs errors, re-run it until no errors are found. Then try to start up from the internal disk again.

If it still won't start up from the internal hard drive, but you can start up with the restore disk and see your internal hard drive, you should try to copy any critical data to an external drive.

After retrieving critical data, you can start up with the system restore disk again and try to format the disk and reinstall the system and other software.

If disk utility can't find the disk or repair it, then it may well be hosed. There are other utilities that one could try, or you could bring it to the closest Apple store for help.