My i mac is having trouble at Start up and often makes a clicking sound followed eventually by a folder icon on the screeen that shows a file with a questionmark inside,  Is this a sign that my hard drive is failing?

My i mac is having trouble at Start up and often makes a clicking sound followed eventually by a folder icon on the screen that shows a file with a question mark inside,  Is this a sign that my hard drive is failing?

As for the folder with a '?', here is some info that might help:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/5201710
http://support.apple.com/kb/TS2570
Hopefully you are making regular full backups just in case the hard drive is failing?

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