Strange startup icon?

Question

I updated the security and iTunes yesterday on my Mac. Today when I started up, the first thing that popped up in the middle of the screen was a tiny folder with a question mark in the middle. Then something else flashed on the tiny folder, but it was too fast for me to make it out. Does anyone know what this is? Is someone spying on me?

Answer 1

That is your computer trying to locate the hard drive to boot from. That is not a good sign. That usually means there is a problem. I would start backing up. If it was a one time thing then you might be ok but if it becomes more frequent then you have a problem.