booting problems

So I got the blinking folder with a question mark when the macbook tries to boot up. A quick google search said something about missing boot files and booting from a CD.

The macbook wasn't bought new from Apple and I don't have the install CD that came with it. Can I use the install CD from another macbook? If so, is there a stipulation as to which version of OS X install CD I can use?

I can't and don't remember what version of OS X I have on the computer that is having problems. Is there a way to find out?

 

AFAIK, a cd from the same year macbook would work. So say if you had a white late 2007 macbook, only restore cds that were included with the white late 2007 macbook would work for you. CDs from say the lat 2008, or early 2009 white macbooks would not work.

For OS I think as long as it is the same version, (I.E Tiger or Leopard) it wont matter.

 

and the biggest thing to know... when buying a used Mac....

I'd never buy a Mac without having the discs that came with it.. or ones that worked... wouldn't wait for problems to arise.

 

is there a way to find out what year/model the macbook is from like a serial number? that way i can start tracking down the right OS X CD.

if i put in the wrong installation CD, will that totally mess everything up? I have a few friends w/ a macbook and was just going to borrow theirs and hope that one of them is the one that i need.

 

yes...

go to http://www.apple.com/support/serviceassistant/overview.html

use your serial number to check your warranty status.. should tell you info about the laptop on the side even if out of warranty


if you try to repair things with the wrong disc it can cause problems depending on versions...

if you try to re-install the whole OS and it lets you, you should be ok... probably... usually if its a wrong disc it will say you cannot use it.

 

You can use retail Mac OSX Disc's only. Or the one that came with that computer. If you say try to use one of your friends Mac OSX CD that came with his/her computer, you won't be able to use it because there is a 'Bootloader' that will only work on his/her Model only. So unless you can find someone with the Same model as your Macbook then your going to have to buy the OS.

 

P.S you should try this as well. http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1440

 

thanks... tried that and as expected, out of warranty. it did tell me 13-inch Mid 2007, but that all the information i got from it.

what exactly do you mean by model? different macbook model or version?

i got hold of an install disk that allowed me to load from the cd. went to disk utility and did repair disk. it is currently running right now (how long is this suppose to take?) and i'm getting a bunch of "invalid node structure" and "invalid record count". im guessing this mean the HD is toast? is there a way to salvage some files in the meantime?

 

Nah it seems your hd is messed up. Trying to salvage any files onto another hd might run the risk of corrupting that hd to. Your best bet would be to just do a clean reformat.

 

So let disk repair run all night and it looks like the HD is toast.

I have an external HD enclosure that I can use the HD on and see if I can pull a few files. But what about if the files I want/need is secured with FileVault? if i can managed to get those files, is there a way to access them?

theres gotta be something I can try.

 

you asked if you could find out the model... that was to find the model, not if it was under warranty. Apple doesn't use standard model numbers. 13 inch Macbook Mid 2007 is your model.... so you were successful. If you find a install disc to any mid 2007 Macbook, it should work. If you try to repair the disc from a disc that wasn't one of those, it might still work ok... unless it was a different OS version then it could make it even worse. It might not be worth trying to fix. Just try doing an archive and install if possible... but hopefully oyu had anything backed up that might have been on there you needed.

 

Generally speaking the model of any specific computer released by Apple is the year in which it was released. ( Macbook Pro Early 2008 - Macbook Pro Early 2009. ) The computers may look the same and may have similar specs but are in fact different models.

You cannot use an OSX install disk that came with a different model because they are different disks. Also on a consumer level the model of the computer is pretty much the name..Macbook.. Macbook Pro and the year it was released. But on the Apple Side of things the marketing number is what it used to distinguish what model of computer you have. ( Early Macbook Pro has a marketing number of - MB604 ) So in essence the Marketing number is the model number. However it is a lot easier to just say late 2008 or early 2009.

 

that makes sense...didnt know they considered that to be different models.

can you go into a little more detail about doing an archive? is that still possible with the bad HD? there's really just 2-3 files that I want/need. All the others have been backed up.

 

if you want to learn more about an A&I then look at this http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1545

 

Macbook Pro Early 2008 and Macbook Pro Early 2009 are completely different Different enclosure, different chipset.

Maybe you meant early 2007 and 2008.

 

Yes they all would be different models.