on boot up I get a folder with question mark

Your expectation of having a means to install a fresh OS via Internet recovery is not possible in this series as this predates it as an option. The 2010/2011 models are the first ones to get it.

OK what to do? You’ll need to find the original grey CD/DVD disks that came with your system to re-install via your optical drive. The other option is using a FireWire drive (HDD or SSD) which has been setup as a bootable drive and holds the OS installer app.

But before we go down this path lets backup a bit… The drive you put in needs to be able to run at the slower SATA II (3.0 Gb/s) data rate. Most drives today have dropped the ability to run at this slower I/O speed, instead they run as SATA III (6.0 Gb/s) which is too fast for your system. Think of it this way you fill a glass of water and drinking it, now lets just put your mouth to the faucet and turn the water on full blast! Of course you didn’t spill a drop did you ;-} Thats what happens when you push too much too fast which your system can’t consume! So find your drives spec sheet and review it as an example here’s one drive Seagate 3.5” FireCuda SSDH or if you are going with a SSD Samsung 860 EVO 2.5” SSD note how both list the SATA II data rate 3.0 Gb/s on the interface line. If the drive you got don’t list it then it won’t work reliably.

OK, we got the right drive how can I get the OS onto the drive? Surprisingly there is one way we can do this leveraging your current drive and this adapter Universal Drive Adapter but instead of placing your old drive on it you need to put your original drive back into your system and then use this adapter to connect your new drive. The reason we need to do it this way is you system won’t boot under USB, but we can install the OS onto the drive and then swap the drive out.

If your drive is dead then we need to find the CD/DVD disks or have already setup a bootable FireWire drive. Sorry ;-{

We still need to get the needed OS installer! OS X 10.11.x El Capitan is the highest version your system can support. Here’s a link to the needed installer file How to upgrade to OS X El Capitan jump down to Step 4 and click on the Blue URL link labeled: Download OS X El Capitan.

The reason you need this file verses anything you currently have is Apple uses a certificate within the OS installer to compare the systems clocks date and the window the installer works. Apple over the years would expire the certificate so you where forced to install a newer OS. Hopefully this installer still works if not we need to trick the installer your system is back in time

Here’s a bit more on the certificates If you've got an old macOS install image, it will probably stop working today

OK, what are the steps to prep and instal the OS?

You first need to format your new drive and then install the OS: How to Clean Install OS X El Capitan on a Mac