MacBook Pro - will not start

[Teejay]

I have been given a MacBook Pro which refuses to start, I just get a no entry/stop sign. I am new to Mac and have only ever used PCs. I have tried Cmd-R-Option, I used the disk utility and tried the first aid option, it said the operation was successful. I restarted it and ended up with the same screen. I repeated the process and used the Reinstall macOS option. It download for ages and then installed. Once restarted it went back to the white screen with the no entry/stop sign.

I have no disks and can't think of a next step. Is it possible to download the OS to a USB stick and start the laptop this way? The OS is Catalina.

Any help gratefully appreciated.

 

[Cory Cooper]

Hello and welcome.

-Which exact model MacBook Pro?
-The Recovery tried to download and install Catalina, correct?
-Do you have access to another Mac, as you can create a bootable installer with DiskMaker X Pro

The prohibitive symbol you are see is telling you that it cannot find a version of macOS to startup from.

C

 

[Teejay]

A1278
Yes Catalina
No, but I can ask around. Unfortunately, I live in a very remote rural area, so not a great area to cast my net.

 

[Teejay]

When trying that the OS it tries to load is Catalina. I've tried it three times now with no success. Is there a way to reformat the whole drive and then attempt to reload the OS?

 

[Teejay]

Hi Cory,
If I bought a new HDD and put it in the MacBook, would it then let me download the operating system? Are the utilities available this way or are they stored on the original HDD?
I hope this makes some kind of sense?