Q: flashing question mark on startup, plzz plzz help

What Mac do you have, with what version of OS X?

Have a look at this post from ds store:

https://discussions.apple.com/message/18144831#18144831

The blinking question mark indicates that the firmware could not find a valid Operating System on your machine.

Your harddrive may have failed. Your filesystem may have bcome corrupted.

You may want to seek professional help here.  You need to decide how important you data is to you.  Be sure to specify that you want your data back.

In addition to the fix your mac places, there are professional firms the will attempt to recover data from a failed harddrive. Recovery does not come cheap.

diy...

I suspect disk corruptions.

verify & repair your startup drive

To verify & repair you file system on the startup drive, you will need to run disk utility from you installation DVD.

This article  will tell you how to get to disk utility.  Once in a disk utility, you can go and attempt to recover the disk.

http://support.apple.com/kb/TS1417

To repair your startup drive, you will need to run disk utility from your startup DVD.
Mac OS X 10.4: About the utilities available on the Mac OS X 10.4 Install DVD

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2055

How to run disk utility from your startup DVD.

1. Insert your  startup DVD  into your reader.  Power down your machine.  Hold down to the c key.  Power on your machine.  This will bootup your startup DVD.
2. This will bring you to a panel asking you for your language.  Pick your language.



 

3. You you come to the Install Mac OS panel.  Do not install.
4. Click on Utilities menu item.  This will give you a pulldown list of utilities.
5. Click on the disk utility.
   
6. You are now in disk utility.  Pick your disk.  Click on repair it should be on the lower right of the panel.
7. Once the repair completes successfully, you should update your permissions.

We do not know your existing mac. What is it?  We cannot answer your question completely without this info.

Since your running 1.3.9, it an older machine.  Since your talking about 2.5 hdd, it's probably a laptop.

if i remove the original HDD and attach 2.5" HDD

Are you saying your going to replace your existing 2.5" hdd with a new 2.5"hdd?  Be sure to get a compatible 2.5"" hd.  I'd suggest calling OWC and let them pick the drive for you.  I'd give OWC a call. 1-815-338-8685. 

We cannot say.  Could be someother problem with machine.  It will probably will work since the most common reason for this error is a bad hdd.

and install a new MAC??? will it accept??

What is MAC?   Mac is spelled thus. Are you saying you want to install a new copy of Mac OS X?  Depends on what version of Mac OS X you are talking about?  What machine are you talking about? Do you have your original startup cd/dvds?  These will work. 

Restore Tiger 10.4 & Leopard 10.5  DVDs are available from Apple by calling  1(800) 275-2273. Have your serial number ready. Have your credit card ready too.  There may be a small fee.

https://discussions.apple.com/thread/4720126?tstart=0  -- January 20,2013

https://discussions.apple.com/message/24588313#24588313 -- January 22,2014

Robert

Do not post your serial number.

Query by serial number

Apple's warrenty database will identify the type of Mac you have.  Your serial number is securely sent.  Provides more information for newer machines.

https://selfsolve.apple.com/agreementWarrantyDynamic.do

This site provides more information.  Best for older machines.  Note, serial number is sent in the clear.

"A serial number is a unique, identifying number or group of numbers and letters assigned to an individual piece of hardware or software. It's used for various things depending on the product / brand but what is your Mac's serial number for and more importantly... what is it hiding and what can it do for you ?"

http://www.appleserialnumberinfo.com/Desktop/index.php

or

This site provides more information, but lacks security too.

"A serial number is a unique, identifying number or group of numbers and letters assigned to an individual piece of hardware or software. It's used for various things depending on the product / brand but what is your Mac's serial number for and more importantly... what is it hiding and what can it do for you ?"

http://www.appleserialnumberinfo.com/Desktop/index.php

http://www.chipmunk.nl/klantenservice/applemodel.html

    ( hint by K Shaffer  )

You could buy a new machine.

I'm not sure what you are proposing to do once you get  a new machine?

Do you want to try to get the data off of your old machine?  Typically, you would try to pull your harddrive out of the old machine and place the old drive in a external harddrive enclosure and see if you could read the data.  You do not know if you could read the data until you try.  

Extract the harddrive.  Attach the 'bare' harddrive to the adapter. Attach the adapter to a Mac.  Try reading the data. Run a household fan on the harddrive.

examples:

  http://www.cablewholesale.com/products/usb-firewire/usb-2.0-products/product-40u 2-01000.php?utm_source=Nextag&utm_medium=cpc&zmam=54972865&zmas=1&zmac=4&zmap=44   77

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=32765 54&CatId=3770

You could try booting up with your startup dvd.  You could see if you can see the data.  Off the top of my head, you would have to get into terminal and look for the data.  I forget if you can see the data on the startup drive in the normal way.

If you are not comfortable doing this stuff, take it to a repair place and see what they can do.

Robert