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iMac Intel 24" 2.8 GHz EMC 2211 Hi, When starting up the iMac it goes to the grey screen with a folder with a question mark. I have replaced the harddrive but its still the same. When I hold any kind of key combination, when its booting nothing happens. When I hold the option key the cursor appears but nothing else. Any idea what is wrong if not the HDD? Any help would be appreciated since this is the first time I deal with Apple hardware failure.

It sounds like your HD was not prepped. Did you install Mac OS-X on the drive yet? The blinking folder is telling you it can’t locate the operating system files. That could be because the disk does not have them on it yet or the drive is not connected up correctly. Lets start with an external disk do you have a bootable OS-X disk which you can connect via FireWire or USB? If not you’ll need to find a friend who has a Mac so he can help you create it. A USB thumb drive will do here.