problems with an old Macbook

I was given a 2006 MacBook that used to work fine. All of a sudden, when I turned it on one day, all that came up was a light gray screen, eventually followed by a folder with a question mark.

I have the two original install disks that came with the laptop: MacBook Mac OS X Install Disc 1 and Disc 2 (Mac OS version 10.4.6, AHT version 3A104, Disc version 1.0) The disc says that to start up from Mac OS X, hold down the C key as the computer starts up, and it also says that to use the Apple Hardware test, hold down the D key as the computer starts up.

I have tried doing both. I insert Disc 1, turn off the power, turn it on and press the C key -- screen is completely gray with nothing to click, disc is ejected and the folder with the question mark appears. Same with pressing the D key. The hard drive is a Seagate with the Apple logo on it and 60GB. The date on it is 06476. I welcome any ideas on how to get this to work. Since this was given to me, there is nothing on the hard drive that I need to save. Thanks!

Steve33324 said:

I was given a 2006 MacBook that used to work fine. All of a sudden, when I turned it on one day, all that came up was a light gray screen, eventually followed by a folder with a question mark.

Click to expand...

Hard drive has probably died.

Steve33324 said:

I have the two original install disks that came with the laptop:

I have tried doing both. I insert Disc 1, turn off the power, turn it on and press the C key -- screen is completely gray with nothing to click, disc is ejected and the folder with the question mark appears.

Click to expand...

Probably not the 2 original disks that came with this computer. Probably discs from another computer. If these actually are the original disks that came with this computer...then the optical drive is either dirty or busted as well.

- Nick

Thanks Nick. I got the MacBook from my sister, who is extremely well-organized. She gave me the laptop in the original box with all the accessories and paperwork, so I am quite certain they are the original disks. Based on your response, how can I figure out whether it is the hard drive or the optical reader, aside from buying and installing a new hard drive and then seeing if it works?
-- Steve

You can try cleaning out the optical drive by use a force air canister to dislodge anything in there. See if that will make the discs work again. If it does work, then once loaded, you can use either AHT or Disk Utility to tell you if the hard drive is broken. If so, a replacement would be in order..

Also check the DVD's for smudges and dirt. Clean carefully if so. Agree on the Optical drive and compressed air. It's worked for many.

Also agree, sounds like that Seagate drive is dying. Easy to put in a new drive.

Thanks for the great suggestions, I will try cleaning the optical drive as suggested and let you know what happens.
-- Steve

If none of the above solutions work, you can try creating a bootable USB to install OS X from, but as they said, the hard drive is probably dead.

I recently bought an 06 white Macbook from a friend for 80 dollars and spent another 90 on a new hard drive because the old one was dead.

If you are going to change the hard drive, my recommendation would be a WD Blue Edition. I am using a terabyte of that drive, and it works wonders !