MacBook pro won't start up

The flashing question mark means that the computer can't find a valid system. Likely you have damaged the hard drive.

Try booting from the system CD by holding down the C key while booting, then pull down the Disk Utility menu to Disk First Aid and run Repair Disk.

Let us know what happens.

Ok so when I power up, I am holding the 'c' key down, but it still just shows the grey screen with the blinking icon. Do I need to have the mac os X cd inserted for that to work?

Thanks

Yes. His recommendation is to boot off the Mac OS CD to get access to the diagnostic tools.

I would expect that your hard drive has failed!

Let us know if it is the hard drive I have a link how to change it.

You can chose the startup disk by holding down the option key just after the powerbotton is pressed.
Option key is like the alt key on pc .

ok, won't be able to get to my mac os x cd until a little later - is there any way to make a boot util cd from the net instead? If the hard drive has failed, is there any way to try recovering some data off of it by taking the drive out and hooking it up to another machine or smthg?

Thanks

If you have another Mac, you can connect the two using a Firewire cable and try to recover the data using Firewire Target Disk Mode:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661

You can also try to repair the drive using Firewire Target Disk Mode by booting your computer into target disk mode and running Disk Utility from the connected computer.

Ok so I got my os  X installation CD, put it in the cd drive. Power on, hold down the 'c' key. Same grey screen. After some time, the machine just ejects the cd again, then shows the blinking folder.

I can go to a mac store tomorrow - given that I can't even get this disk util to start - is there any chance they'd be able to salvage any of the hard drive contents? I'd like about 1 or 2 files off of it, then I'd consider it an ok accident!

Thanks

Your best shot is to try to recover to another Mac using target disk mode as above.

Ok I'll have to give the target mac thing a try. My primary concern is getting a few files off the dead drive. I took a look at geek squad, they charge $260 for disk recovery (not to mention the initial fee!).

If it the drive is not readable using target disk mode, download the free demo of DataRescue III and run it from target disk mode:

http://prosofteng.com/products/data_rescue.php?PHPSESSID=5b240ea8a33035f6117ef0857a1fab08

Got to be honist if the drive is hardware failer which it sound like it is, your better off sending it away to a specialist.   This will probably cost around £400 UK pound so around 700$ US.

If its not hardware then buy an external USB and do it yourself.

Ok so forthe recovery app:
http://prosofteng.com/products/data_rescue_sysreq.php?PHPSESSID=5b240ea8a33035f6117ef0857a1fab08

I download it, but  how do I make a bootable dvd/cd out of it? (never done this on mac). I guess I just need to boot from the cd somehow - when I download the app, it's a dmg file.

As for sending it to a specialist, I'd like to do that as my last effort - I just have some docs on there that are kind of sensitive - if I can't recover myself, I might just trash the hard drive altogether and start from scratch.

Thanks

Update:

I put in the os X install CD again during boot, and was able to get to Disk Utility. It seems to be listing only my DVD drive in the left column of the app window - probably should be seeing my hard drive there too?

Yep it should

Sorry

There is still the possibility that DataRescue will read the drive, even if Disk Utility won't. Since the demo is free, it is worth a try.

Strung, how do I boot From that utility though? I downloaded the trial whiich is a dmg file. Will the mac recognize this if I just put it on a cd and try to boot from it just like I did with the mac os x cd?

I don't know how the drive is constructed, it has moveable parts though right? I wonder if it's just plain busted. My sadness is infinite.

I brought it to a mac store, they wouldn't take the drive out for me and just replace it. I have sensitive data on the drive, I'm sure they wouldn't read stuff off of it if I did hand it over, but I'd rather be safe about it. They said they need the old drive to send back to the manufacturer in order to get a new one, whatevs.

So I took the macbook apart myself. The hard drive was still plugged in and fastened ok. I removed it, plugged it back in again, tried to boot, same thing, grey screen with flashing disk icon, boot from os x cd -> disk util can't find any hard drives.

The hard drive itself looks ok on the outside, I shook it a bit, doesn't sound like anything is loose. Maybe it just shorted out or something during the fall? Now that I have it removed, I guess I can bring that to a specialist to see if they can recover anything (or I might try doing that myself too because of the fun privacy issue).

Anyway going to try getting a new internal drive and plug it in, and reinstall os X. I hope it's just the hard drive that got fried, so that a new hard drive is all I need, and that none of the other wiring etc was damaged - then I will have a brand new useless hard drive!

Thanks

Just get a new sata 2.5 and then at the same time get a USB caddie.

If it's booting up it will be fine, it's not the wires or anything, but I do expect it's the hard drive is screwed.

Some times when we drop the hdd it will bend the drive arm or somthing simple but it's bot always a noise whenn you shake it lol