Macbook won`t start! a ? is all I see. it clicks

hi

I have a macbook that won`t start.. I have used it for 6 months without problems. today I was using it (checking mails and stuff) when it froze up. I rebooted, and I heard "click-click-click...click...click". the fan goes crazy, and there is a question mark (?) that blinks in the middle of the screen. and nothing happens...

is there anything I can do? and what is wrong?

thanks for any help.

sounds like it could be a bad hard drive.

even if you didn't buy applecare, the standard one year warranty should cover something like this.

hope you had your important stuff backed up...

so I need a new hard drive?

I don`t have backup on all my stuff..

well, if it is the hard drive itself, its a good lesson on how important backups are. it could be something else, but the clicking and question mark lead me to believe that the HD is the culprit.

hmm, okey thanks. I`ll get a new HD then. I`ve found some "fix-it" instructions on how to install a new one.

btw, is there any way I can reset my macbook? I have heard of a "3 button reset", but I don`t know what to do..

also, would this HD be a good option?

Samsung SpinPoint M40S 60GB 5400RPM�SATA 2,5" 9,5mm

it`s the cheapest I can get. I will ask apple if my one year warranty applies, but I guess they might say no.

Again, like he said, it comes with a 1 year warranty. If have only had it six months, you are covered. Bring it to the Apple store or write to them online.
It should be a piece of cake to have it fixed and it will be back to you fixed in a few days.
Bryan

I have talked to apple support, and my warranty covers this. I`m shipping my macbook to the store (as I`m on holliday now) and should recieve it fixed within a week.

so if anyone else have this problem, know that the one year warranty does cover it. thanks to eric and bryphotoguy for helping out

I realised that most of my now lost files were music and videos, which my girlfriend got on her computer. my losses aren`t that big. but still, it sucks

well, hopefully this spurs you on to some sort of backup regimen. even just archiving very important stuff to cd-r can be helpful.

i'm glad you got the warranty stuff sorted with apple.