What is the problem when I turn on my macbook and all I get is a picture of a file folder with a question mark in it?

First my Macbook is almost 5 yrs old and is probably on it's last leg.  The other day it froze and was making some pretty loud clicking noises.  I turned it off by holding down the power button and tried starting it up again.  At that point the screen was just blue and the noise came back on.  Then a file folder appeared in the middle of the screen with a question mark in it.  Does this mean the hard drive crashed or something?  We blew a hard drive once before (though it didn't happen like this) but I just wanted to check before I go to the store.  If it's something that is bad then I may just be sending this one to the grave and replace it with an iPad.  Any insight into this problem would be appreciated.  Thanks.

That folder with the question mark icon means that the MacBook can't find the boot directory. That can either mean it can't find the hard drive or the Operating System data on the hard drive is somehow corrupted.
Put your install DVD into the optical drive (CD/DVD drive) and reboot. As soon as you hear the boot chime, hold down the "c" key on your keyboard (or the Option key until the Install Disk shows up). That will force your MacBook to boot from the install DVD in the optical drive.
When it does start up, you'll see a panel asking you to choose your language. Choose your language and press the Return key on your keyboard once. It will then present you with an Installation window. Completely ignore this window and click on Utilities in the top menu and scroll down to Disk Utility and click it. When it comes up is your Hard Drive in the list on the left?
If it is then click on the Mac OS partition of your hard drive in the left hand list. Then select the First Aid Tab and run Repair Disk. The Repair Disk button won't be available until you've clicked on the Mac OS partition on your hard drive. If that repairs any problems run it again until the green OK appears and then run Repair Permissions.
If your hard drive isn’t recognized in Disk Utility then your hard drive is probably dead.

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