Q: I bought MacBook pro at auction that Had been refurbished. It said it did not have manual or disks. Didn't think this would mean operating system is gone. I assume this is what it means when I turn on and get a question mark in center of file?

You will need to purchase install disks for the OS.  You can purchase from any number of online site, or visit an Apple store.

Please post Model number  not S/N.

First you need to determine what version of the OS was installed on the machine when it was originally shipped.

You'll need the model and serial number. What documentation did the system have when you bought it? Shipping labels, invoice, anything that might have that info will help. Also look on the underside there might be a sticker there.

If you can find the model and serial number you should be able to use that at the Apple site to find the original ship date and OS. Once you have that you can decide how to precede.

If you can't find the info I suppose your best bet would be to take it to an Apple Store and see if they can boot it up off an external drive you can get the information you need.

good luck

regards

Refer to this to help identify:

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4132