URGENT Help: Mac mini starts up, then just "died down" (power down...)

Hello all. This is my sis's Mac mini Intel.
Was actually booting from Leopard OS X thinking of an upgrade OS, ran Disk Utility and it reported some error cannot be repaired:
Invalid sibling link
Volume check failed
Error: Filesystem verify or repair failed
So I gave up the idea, quit the installer and restart, and press "Eject" to get the disc out.
*But now, it seems like when the Mac mini starts up, with the grey Apple logo and the spinning wheel, after a while, it just "stops", "fades away" and power off. Like a "sudden shut down" or "sudden sleep"*
So far I have *tried reset PRam* and also and SMU or something (plugging every cord out etc) but to no avail.
*HELP!! At least I want to be able to do a boot up to retrieve all the data before any hard re-format or something*
Thanks and cheers

It is possible, with the errors Disk Utility reported, that some (possibly even all) of the files on the drive will be damaged or inaccessible, so it is best to proceed with some caution.
There are several possibilities for recovering the files, all dependent on the situation. You could, for example, remove the hard drive from the mini, fit it in an external drive case and connect it to another system. That would, in my view, be the best option. Alternatively, you might be able to get the mini into firewire target disk mode (hold the T key down during bootup) and connected (via firewire) to another Mac, rescue files that way, or boot the system from an external drive which has a valid MacOS install for that system, and then rescue files from the internal drive.
You may find, if the drive's data structure is corrupt, that even if you can access the hard drive via any of the methods above, you'll need a utility such as Data Rescue II (http://www.prosofteng.com/products/data_rescue.php) to locate and retrieve what you need. You might also consider use of a utility such as DiskWarrior (http://www.alsoft.com/DiskWarrior/index.html) as a means to attempt a repair of the disk so that it can be returned to use - though this is by no means certain to succeed, and may not resolve potential data loss.

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    The alternating finder and question mark during attempted startup is an indicator that the system can't find the MacOS install on the hard drive, or that the hard drive is failing. The fact that when you started up with the Option key down you did not see the internal drive as a startup option also points to that issue.
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