Blank Gray Screen at Start Up - Please Help.

Okay, I know that similar threads with this problem have been posted, but I've done a search and it seems like everyone's problems with the blank screen thing is a little bit different from mine, so I hope it's okay to start a new thread!
At least once a week, sometimes more, my computer starts up at the time I have set for it to do so, and it stops at a blank gray screen. I hold the power button to turn it off, and then press the power button again, and it starts up just fine.
I'm hoping someone can recommend some fixes or reasons as to why this is happening, before it happens again and I'm not able to start it up, which would be disastrous for my work flow!
Thanks in advance for any help or advice you can offer.
Ginni

Hi Ginni,
Hopefully you have a good backup of all your data?
Could be many things, we should start with this...
"Try Disk Utility
1. Insert the Mac OS X Install disc, then restart the computer while holding the C key.
2. When your computer finishes starting up from the disc, choose Disk Utility from the Installer menu. (In Mac OS X 10.4 or later, you must select your language first.)
*Important: Do not click Continue in the first screen of the Installer. If you do, you must restart from the disc again to access Disk Utility.*
3. Click the First Aid tab.
4. Select your Mac OS X volume.
5. Click Repair. Disk Utility checks and repairs the disk."
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=106214
Then try a Safe Boot, (holding Shift key down at bootup), run Disk Utility in Applications>Utilities, then highlight your drive, click on Repair Permissions, reboot when it completes.
(Safe boot may stay on the gray radian for a long time, let it go, it's trying to repair the Hard Drive.)
If perchance you can't find your install Disc, at least try it from the Safe Boot part onward.

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