Just like most laptops, they can age or need repair. The links on the screen are a bad sign. It could be mainboard or other.. The new OS X disk is a good first try but after that you need to get repair estimates if that doesn't clear it up.
I have a MacBook pro that is having a ton of problems on startup. I just inherited it from an uncle who passed away and unfortunately I am a complete newb when it comes to apple. When I first power it on the screen is white with a grey apple logo with the spinning thing and the progress bar along the bottom. From there it goes to either a screen with blue horizontal lines across the whole screen or dark grey and white lines across the entire screen. Both strange situations have occurred when powering it on. I am able to start it in safe mode with no problems. Any info anyone could give me would be greatly appreciated. I have ordered a new osx 10.6.4 disk as that's what it originally came with. I have no idea if that will solve this problem or if there's another route. Again, any help is appreciated. Thanks

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