My imac wont turn on anymore. it only shows a picture of a folder and question mark

I cant get my imac to turn on. It will only show a folder with a question mark in it,.

Your Mac can't find any bootable device. That could be because of two things:
1. The PRAM "forgot" the startup disk.
2. The hard disk is damaged.
First, press Option key while your Mac is starting and check if you see the OS X partition. If you see it, choose it and when OS X has booted up, open System Preferences > Startup Disk and select the OS X partition.
If not, the hard disk is damaged. If you have OS X Lion as you indicate, press Command, Option and R keys while your Mac is starting to start into Recovery. Then, open Disk Utility, select Macintosh HD in the sidebar and repair the disk. If it doesn't work, take the Mac to an Apple Store.
If you didn't make a backup, use DiskWarrior to recover your files. It could not work on some ocassions.
Also, there's a problem with the 1 TB Seagate iMacs hard disks sold between October 2009 and July 2011 and they are being replaced for free. Check if you can get replaced the hard disk for free > http://www.apple.com/support/imac-harddrive

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    Any help would be hugely appreciated,
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    Side note: When it says I must choose a community in order to post this, it only gives me a choice of 3 which are Mac OS X v10.4 Tiger, v10.5 Leopard, v10.6 Snow leopard, so apologies if this is posted in the wrong place - is there any way to get it moved to the correct place?

    Yes,easy fix but difficult to buy,think you can get them from the states (off the top of my head about £15).When you go to the apple store,tell yhem what you suspect and they will test if it is the cable or if its the hard drive,dosn't take that long and it's free.If you know what to do you can take the back off and with strong magnifying glass you might be able to see the fray look at the bend of the cable.

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    I have been getting messages about a corrupt index on Mail.  Although I followed the instructions to rebuild nothing seems to have changed.
    I now have a situation whereby on reboot I get a folder with a flashing question mark or just a white screen.
    I have tried to reboot from a snow lion disc I have; it spins up but I just get a white screen.
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  • It wont turn on anymore

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    Take FULL advantage of your warranty.  Posting on a message board should be done as a last resort and if you are out of warranty or Apple Care has expired.  
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    - If still not successful that usually indicates a hardware problem and an appointment at the Genius Bar of an Apple store is in order.
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    Try:
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    How to put iPod touch / iPhone into DFU mode « Karthik's scribblings
    - If not successful and you can't fully turn the iOS device fully off, let the battery fully drain. After charging for an least an hour try the above again.
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  • TS1367 my imac wont turn on.

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    Macbook community is here.
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