Folder w/flashing gray question mark

Hello,
I have tried every and all the suggestions given here for when all that shows is a folder with a flashing gray question mark. I was told that the reason for the flashing question mark is the hard drive is no longer working. I have a lot of things on my computer and would like to make a back up of them, before I have it repaired. Is there anything else I can try to be able to reboot it and get all my files out of there? I'd appreciate any help or suggestions. Thank you very much!

Aqua
Re: Folder w/flashing gray question mark
Feb 1, 2013 1:52 AM (in response to Arranques)
Pram Reset shouldn't do that.
How to use FireWire target disk mode...
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1661
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Target_Disk_Mode
Can you or I be more specific?
I know how to set up to get to the T mode. What I'd like to know is, once I'm there, what is it that I'm supposed to do? And can I be more specific about what? I just looked at the disc I inserted to be able to startup, and it is Tiger. So the OS is Tiger and did have the computer partition. I had Tiger on one side and Leopard on the other. I know, it keeps getting more complicated as I go along. Thank you for the links.

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The blinking question mark indicates that the firmware could not find a valid Operating System on your machine.
Your harddrive may have failed. Your filesystem may have be come corrupted.
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http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1812?viewlocale=en_US
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Flashing gray question mark after 10.5.8 update?

This isn't so much a post to ask for help, as it is just trying to see if anyone got the same result and what you had to do to resolve it.
Yesterday I updated to 10.5.8 and it did it's install and then restarted the system. Upon restart, it did the initial start-up charm and then loaded up to a gray screen with a flashing folder icon with a question mark on it.
I called Apple support and we walked through repairing the disk with the disk utility, so on and so forth, and I'm still stuck with the same screen. The support agent says the next step is to fully reinstall the OS X...
So that's my next step. I'm currently waiting for a friend of mine with a MacBook to come over so I can put my iMac into Target Disk Mode and pull some files before deleting everything.
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You may not need to erase your drive. See:
How to Perform an Archive and Install
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How do I reboot my machine when it is flashing a question mark folder?

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1. Insert OS X Installer Disc into the optical drive.
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Startup problem flashing folder icon with a question mark

Hello All,
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1. The computer's PRAM no longer contains a valid startup disk setting when there aren't any problems with the disk itself. This can be checked for by pressing the Option key and seeing if the drive appears.
2. The internal drive's directory structure has become damaged. This requires usage of an alternate bootable system to perform the repair.
3. Critical system files have been deleted. This requires usage of an alternate bootable system to reinstall them.
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Peace
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What do I do when I power up the computer and get a grey screen with a folder icon and a question mark?
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Folder w/flashing gray question mark

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