Hardware Reference
In-Depth Information
To access Windows RE, boot from the Windows setup DVD. (You may need to change
the boot sequence in BIOS Setup so that it boots from the DVD drive rather than the hard
disk.) The Windows Setup utility runs as if you were installing a new copy of Windows.
When prompted, click the Repair Your Computer option. Follow the prompts until you get
to System Recovery Options, and then click Startup Repair. Follow the advice that Startup
Repair gives to repair your Windows installation.
Mac OS X Won't Load
Macs go through the same basic process for startup as PCs. If there's a disk error, such as
the ones on the black screen that a PC's BIOS may display, you'll see a fl ashing question-
mark icon.
Here's a flowchart that can help you diagnose Mac startup problems:
http://web.whittier.edu/comp/macguide/flowchart.cfm
SOURCE: Whittier College, copyright ©2011
The fl ashing question mark icon means the startup process it can't fi nd a hard disk or
can't fi nd a system folder on the hard disk. The hard disk may be disconnected, its driver
may be bad, or its cable may be loose; or if it's an old enough system to still have a fl oppy
disk drive, there may be a disk in that drive that the OS is trying to boot from instead of
the hard disk.
On a Mac, the hard drive must have a System Folder that contains such items as
accessories, fonts, and system utilities, plus the System fi le and Finder. Without these, the
computer won't boot. The question-mark icon appears if this folder is missing or corrupted
or doesn't contain the needed fi les.
Any other OS problems on a Mac result in a red circle with a diagonal line through it,
called a
prohibition icon
. (Earlier versions of the Mac OS used a “sad Mac” icon in these
cases.) Along with this icon, you'll see an error code that you can look up in an error-code
listing, such as this one:
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1618
.
Operating System Error Messages
Each OS has its own error messages that it displays in various circumstances. In most cases,
you can look up these error messages online at the OS maker's website or third-party sites
to determine what they mean.
To troubleshoot issues with Mac OS X, see the article “Isolating Issues in Mac OS X”
on Apple's support knowledge base:
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1388
.
To troubleshoot issues with Windows 7, see the article “Support for Windows 7
Technical Problems and Troubleshooting” at:
http://support.microsoft.com/ph/14019
.
