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I need urgent help. My iMac is doing the same thing! I really need help. I have pressed cmd +R and it just does nothing but a flashing folder. I have just got this and was trying to get this system going its password locked to the computer and I had the same problem. When it asked me to update the OS it said it didn’t recognize it and restarted. When it did that was it i just have a flashing folder with a question mark. Ugh this is so frustrating ????
You’ll need to get the original CD/DVD that came with your system (2011 and older models) or you’ll need to find a friend with a Mac to help you create a bootable USB thumb drive with the needed MacOS to boot your system. Here’s how to do that: How to create a bootable macOS Sierra installer drive and heres another method if you just can’t find a friend using Internet recovery: How to start up your Mac in Internet Recovery Mode Reference: Mac startup key combinations
