That folder with a question mark means that it just cannot find a working system on your hard drive. The hard drive itself may still be okay.


When you start up your machine, hold down the option key, and see if it gives you a menu, where then you can show it the hard drive.

If that doesn't work, restart the machine and hold down Command, Option and the letters p and r.

Do you have the original system CD you can start up off of? Then you could at least back up your data if the hard drive appears.

If those don't work, try to find a friend with an external drive that has the Mac operating System on it that could help you out.

Sometimes, if there is an Apple store near you, you can take it in, particularly if you call ahead, and they will fix it for free. I would not, though, buy a new hard drive from the Apple store. Almost everyone can sell you a hard drive for much less money, if you need one.

You should also check the Apple website, to see if there's some known defect that Apple now fixes for free.