Macbook pro os wont start

hi
i have a macbook pro running leopard and i cannot get my os to start up. it goes to the grey apple screen wtih the wheel at the bottom then to the dark grey restart screen. ive never had this problem before. any ideas?!...

Welcome to Apple Discussions!
This is usually a kernel panic issue*:
http://www.macmaps.com/kernelpanic.html
I suggest first off telling us the state of your backup, and if there is none, look into data recovery options*:
http://www.macmaps.com/backup.html#RECOVER
Once your data is safe, we can discuss further options.
- * Links to my pages may give me compensation.

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    My old macbook pro will not start up. Worked fine yesterday, today all I gat is the startup sound and a blank blue screen. After a while the screen shows a file folder icon with a question mark in it. Any ideas

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    These are related but not identical issues. Their causes are outlined in Intel-based Mac- Startup sequence and error codes, symbols. Solutions may be found in:
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    If the drive is OK then quit DU and return to the installer.  Proceed with reinstalling OS X.  Note that the Snow Leopard installer will not erase your drive or disturb your files.  After installing a fresh copy of OS X the installer will move your Home folder, third-party applications, support items, and network preferences into the newly installed system.
    Download and install Mac OS X 10.6.8 Update Combo v1.1.
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    Please make a Genius Appointment and take it in for service.

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