Help Please! Macbook will not boot after MacOffice install

I've never used a mac before until now. I've a 2.2ghz, 2gb ram macbook(late '07, it has an *hitachi HD* which I've had for less than a week and was running fine until I installed mac office 2004 student edition.
During the installation process i was prompted to update macoffice and after a while i couldnt see the microsoft update status bar and i just got to the screen where it said installation complete, I clicked 'finish'and then I waited for 30mins or more where i got a spinning colour wheel, and the fans were spinning a lot and it felt quite warm so I decided to turn it off.
When I booted up again I got a *flashing folder with a question mark* on the white/greyish screen. After resetting the P/VRAM(?) a number of times I eventually got into the desktop. Thinking that microsoft must have corrupted some system files. I decided to do an erase and install but when i tried to do it I got a warning screen with 'install failed'and 'the installer is experiencing errors installing on "macintosh HD" The disk may be damaged. Please try installing on another disk...click restart and try again'.
I then tried to use 'disk utility'using the os x disc. I ran first aid on the macintosh HD. I verified and repaired disk permissions but when i tried running verify/repair disk i get in red 'Invalid b-tree node size, volume check failed..Error:filesystem verify or repair failed.'
The lines for apple care are shut today as well..any light shed on this problem appreciated. Any ideas what i can do...I really hope it isnt hardware failure..but the hard shutdown/restart suggest it may be?
Message was edited by: Anon87
Message was edited by: Anon87
Message was edited by: Anon87

The question mark means that important system files needed for startup are either missing or damaged. The only solution is to boot from your Installer DVD and perform an Archive and Install or an Erase and Install.
How to Perform an Archive and Install
1. Be sure to use Disk Utility first to repair the disk before performing the Archive and Install.
Repairing the Hard Drive and Permissions
Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When the menu bar appears select Disk Utility from the Installer menu (Utilities menu for Tiger.) After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported, then quit DU and return to the installer.
If DU reports errors it cannot fix, then you will need Disk Warrior (4.0 for Tiger) and/or TechTool Pro (4.5.2 for Tiger) to repair the drive. If you don't have either of them or if neither of them can fix the drive, then you will need to reformat the drive and reinstall OS X.
2. Do not proceed with an Archive and Install if DU reports errors it cannot fix. In that case use Disk Warrior and/or TechTool Pro to repair the hard drive. If neither can repair the drive, then you will have to erase the drive and reinstall from scratch.
3. Boot from your OS X Installer disc. After the installer loads select your language and click on the Continue button. When you reach the screen to select a destination drive click once on the destination drive then click on the Option button. Select the Archive and Install option. You have an option to preserve users and network preferences. Only select this option if you are sure you have no corrupted files in your user accounts. Otherwise leave this option unchecked. Click on the OK button and continue with the OS X Installation.
4. Upon completion of the Archive and Install you will have a Previous System Folder in the root directory. You should retain the PSF until you are sure you do not need to manually transfer any items from the PSF to your newly installed system.
5. After moving any items you want to keep from the PSF you should delete it. You can back it up if you prefer, but you must delete it from the hard drive.
6. You can now download a Combo Updater directly from Apple's download site to update your new system to the desired version as well as install any security or other updates. You can also do this using Software Update.

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