Question Mark flashing on top of folder

sure hope someone reads this.
Every once in awhile i get a question mark flashing on top of a folder icon. not every time, just occassionaly. but tonight is different.
I restarted about 4 times before I could get it to come up so i could post on these forums.
I partitioned my HD into 2 parts and updated to Maverick. every since then i have problems starting up. Ive run permissions, disk first aid, etc and all seems to check out fine.
Ive gone to system preferences and selected the correct startup disk several times.
It is an early 2008 tower model. it has ran like a well oiled machine ever since i bought it...... even it goes out today. i can say ive definitely gotten my moneys worth from this machine.
also, the original ram went out after i updated and i replaced it. im running 6 GB memory. it seems to check out ok.
I have all my data on several external HDs. i only have applications loaded on the main computer.
sure hope someone can help me. i love this machine. its been my life saver.

Have you seen this support article and proceeded through all mentioned troubleshoots?
A flashing question mark or globe appears when you start ...
You may need to erase your normal startup disk and reinstall OS X

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