![file with question mark on mac new hard drive file with question mark on mac new hard drive](https://imgix-blog.setapp.com/startup-disk-macos-11-2-1.png)
- #FILE WITH QUESTION MARK ON MAC NEW HARD DRIVE INSTALL#
- #FILE WITH QUESTION MARK ON MAC NEW HARD DRIVE DOWNLOAD#
Getting a drive into an aluminum iMac is a big job I'd want to make absolutely sure the new drive was ready to go before doing all that work.ģ) is an issue specific to the installation of new SSDs in older Macs.
#FILE WITH QUESTION MARK ON MAC NEW HARD DRIVE INSTALL#
One way to approach this issue is to format the SSD externally and install an OS on it before installing it inside the computer. If you leave the old external drive attached when the iMac restarts into the new OS, you'll get an opportunity to transfer all your user accounts and applications from your old system.
#FILE WITH QUESTION MARK ON MAC NEW HARD DRIVE DOWNLOAD#
If you have the old hard drive you pulled out when you swapped the SSD in, you can attach that drive to the computer with a USB or FireWire adapter/case, boot from that, then format the SSD, download the OS installer and run it on the internal drive. The installer has a copy of Disk Utility, which you can use to format the internal SSD you can then run the installer and you'll get a plain-vanilla El Capitan system. If you have access to another working Mac, you can download an OS X 10.11.3/El Capitan installer from the App Store and then clone the installer to a thumb drive. In order to set up the new drive, you have to boot from something else to get access to the formatting tool (Disk Utility) and an OS installer.
![file with question mark on mac new hard drive file with question mark on mac new hard drive](https://tipsmake.com/data/thumbs/how-to-fix-a-blinking-question-mark-on-a-mac-on-startup-thumb-yd0vqJv4A.jpg)
The flashing ? is the sign that the iMac can't find a bootable OS if you attach a bootable drive, the iMac will grab onto it and boot from that drive. Did you replace the existing hard drive cable with a shiny new cable?ġ) and 2) If you've installed a brand new, unformatted drive without attaching a drive with a bootable operating system, then the computer has no drive to boot from at all.Do you have some bootable drive (either the internal optical drive or an external) with an appropriate OSX installer ready?.Did you format the SSD as an HFS+ drive with GUID partition table before you installed it?.
![file with question mark on mac new hard drive file with question mark on mac new hard drive](https://imgix-blog.setapp.com/backup-spring-2021.png)
This should be pretty straightforward, but a couple of questions first: