Hard Drive Fail

So... Today I woke up, turned my computer on, and was greeted by a flashing folder with a "?" inside of it. I proceeded to go on the internet from my blackberry and look for answers as to why. I tried everything possible to fix it! The last step was booting from my disc... that was no good. I finally figured it out! My hard drive took a dump. Luckily I had backed up everything a few months ago, but talk about a hassle...