My MacBook Pro gets a gray screen followed by a message that I will have to shut down.  This has happened five times in the last 8 days.

This started happening around the beginning of this year.  I contacted Apple Support and they worked with me on-line and over the phone.  It happened again the next day.  After it happened about 20 more times, I took it into the Apple Store and they decided to reinstall the OS.  Since then, it has happened about 10 more times. 
This has happened with and without attached devices or flash drives.  It has happened on different wi-fi networks.  It generally happens when I am navigating with the track pad or with a mouse.  I don't recall ever leaving the room and returning to find the gray screen.  In other words, it happens shortly after I have moved the cursor.  I've noticed the pinwheel usually appears before the gray screen.
Any suggestions?

Talbott Jones wrote:
I've noticed the pinwheel usually appears before the gray screen.
Bad sectors on the hard drive or failing drive, pinwheels usually means there is a delay of some sort from either the network or the storage drive, but not exclusive.
If you reboot to gray screen, hold the shift key down while rebooting, that may get you back in
Run through 1-16 here and get back to me if this is assisting you
mention your results and what you did
Step by Step to fix your Mac

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