What can i do when i get a get a file with question mark on it during start up?

i was working on my computer when i froze up i had the spinning wheel would not do anything so i turned it off and back on. when it cam back on it was just a grey screen with a flashing file with a question mark on it. What does this mean? is my computer done?

The advice Carolyn points out is sound, and hopefully it will work, but Apple needs to add some caveats to some of their "pointers" to resolving problems. If the system was working, you shut it off, then turned it on some time later and the problems emerged, the odds of it being a PRAM problem are good. For it to crash on you outright implies either an indexing problem or a problem with the hard drive or cables. In step 11, Apple should have added the phrase to zero the drive with Disk Utility prior to re-installing the operating system in the event a bad sector has developed on the drive because that would re-map the bad sectors to good, spare sectors. If it's yet another SATA cable problem, all bets are off. You'll continue to get what appears to be file corruption and problems, and it won't be consistent. If the problem is due to an actual surface failure on the drive then even though it might be fixable, you might want to consider replacing the drive.
The only product on the market that can test for bad cables and bad sectors is Scannerz, and you might not even be able to use that if you can't even boot your system. When they added Phoenix to the Scannerz package I originally thought it was just to make TechTool Pro look bad, but now it makes perfect sense - you could boot off of a so called Phoenix volume and test the system and boot it independently of the internal hard drive and the internal cables, allowing you to isolate the problem.
I would follow the advice in Carolyn's linked article up to step 11. If you get to that point, prior to re-installing the OS, use the Security Options settings in Disk Utility and zero the drive to correct (re-map) bad sectors. With luck this will be a relatively simple fix. With bad luck it will be the cable, which will cause problems down the line that will get worse and worse.

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