Start up in a White Screen

This morning I tried to use my iMac and it was frozen, I rebooted it and when it was turning on I got a white screen with a flashing folder with a question mark in the middle. Does anyone know what this means? I am freaking out!!!!

Hi! The flashing ? mark means the computer cannot see a valid startup OS and often means that the system is heavily damaged or the hard drive os dead or the logic board is toast. Most likely it is the hard drive that is having problems. Try starting from the install disc, right after the language screen use the drop down menus to locate the disk utility and try repairing the disk from there. If that fails you have more serious problems. Now is a good time to have a bootable backup of your entire system? Tom

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    To restart an unresponsive computer, press and hold the power button for a few seconds until the power shuts off, then release, wait a few more seconds, and press it again briefly.
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