Only Grey screen and ?

I was viewing a legit online site when I got
"the beachball of death", which wouldn´t go away.
Everything froze so I tried to shut my MacBook 10.4.11
off. The screen went black instantly without the usual message
asking if I want to restart or shutdown.

Now when I push the start button, the screen just goes
instantly grey. Nothing comes up except sometimes a question
mark.

Usually my toolbar and desktop pic icons come up
but now there´s just grey with nothing appearing that would
let me do something.

I tried disconnecting the current and battery for a few hours but
it didn´t help.

I would be most grateful for suggestions.

bobtomay said:

A flashing question mark appears when you start your Mac

Click to expand...

...which is also a Sticky Thread at the top of the forum.... http://www.mac-forums.com/forums/apple-notebooks/162428-flashing-question-mark-start-up.html

Thanks !

Yes, that´s it : the flashing question mark.

Thanks for steering me to the right thread !

Reselect StartUp Disk in Preferences ?

On one forum it said I probably need to "reselect the Start Up
disk in preferences."

Can some one tell me how to do this please, as my
screen remains grey with only a question mark ?

One friend said
I need to hold the option key down while turning the
computer on, until the Hard Drive icon appears. I tried
this but no icon or anything except a screech occurred.

I appreciate any ideas as from here in Mexico it is a bit
difficult to get info.

Follow the two links provided in the above posts. The answer has not changed.