Weird boot issue?

I'm having a problem when I start up my computer or at least I think it's a problem because it's never happened before. When I start up my computer, before the Apple screen, there's a grey screen with a File Folder that has a question mark on it and then it goes to another grey screen with a File Folder that has a grey and black Finder picture on it. These screens only last about a second before the Apple screen pops up and everything loads fine. What could've made this happen? Is it an OSX problem and what do I need to do to correct it? I did the best I could to take a few digital pictures but seeing as they only pop up for one second the pictures are not the best. Oh and for all you wise guys/gals out there, yes I know I need to clean my screen!

Do you have more than one partition on your HDD? If that's the case, go to the System Preferences and select the correct start-up partition. You can also try to reset the PRAM.

novicew said:

Do you have more than one partition on your HDD? If that's the case, go to the System Preferences and select the correct start-up partition. You can also try to reset the PRAM.

Click to expand...

If I have more than one partition on my HDD it is not by design.. I am at work and will try these suggestions tonight when I get home. Thanks so much! anyone else that has any suggestions please feel free to speak/type up!

I second the motion to check your System Preferences --> Startup Disk. Your Mac has just forgotten what to look for at startup.

alright, so novicew and sherman were correct.. here is my next question.

take a look at this picture:




network startup, the picture with the drive with the circle with the question mark. what is it? why is it there? do I need it? How do I get rid of it if I don't need it?

It is a network service, built into the OS, that allows a client Mac to find a "netboot" server to boot from. Common in student labs, it means that the Mac boots up over a network from a server, not from the hard drive. If you had accidentally selected it, it would have taken forever for your Mac to give up and default back to the internal drive. In your case I think that your Mac just got confused. Selecting the internal drive will fix it!
Netboot fun:
http://www.apple.com/server/macosx/netbootnetworkinstall.html
I have no idea if you can get rid of the icon.

Thank you sherman for the info! is it safe to assume all mac's have a network startup option?

Would assume so, mine's had it since I brought it home.