I get the grey screen after startup on 2006 macbook pro. no keys work. Just a few days ago ( I have actually been using another computer for a while ) I started up my 2006  macbook pro and and after a few minutes I got the white diagonal lines, although I could still see the desktop pic with the top menu and dock but hitting keys did nothing.

Well after a few more startups in the last few days, that desktop disappeared with just the white lines across a grey screen, then the next start up the apple logo had diagonal lines and then black lines and just now I fired it up again and I got the black lines and then right to the grey screen.

I've seen this issue posted about before and I cannot remember what it means and I hope it is fixable.

It's a 2006 15" MacBook Pro. I had the video chip replaced a few years back.

So, cuz it's 9 years old and otherwise works perfectly - except that I am maxed out at OSX 10.6.8 - I wonder if it is worth fixing - depending on what needs to be done.

If it's the hard drive, I am wondering if it is worth removing it and replacing with a solid state?

Any thoughts? O and previous to this the start up sound was like a car battery that was almost dead when you start it up. really slow.
Sounds very much like the graphics chip is on the blink again, it's pretty common to see these units fail again and again...

Unfortunately you won't be able to get it serviced any more as it's classified as obsolete by Apple now so no parts are available, although maybe eBay etc...

There is a chance you could do an OS reinstall to verify it's a hardware fault and not software, but the diagonal lines is symptomatic of a hardware graphics chip issue like you would see on this range of machine.

I would be looking to replace the machine at this point sadly. It might be worth going to the manager in an Apple Store and indicating that it's failed for a known fault again and asking if they would give a discount on a new machine as they may well do this as a gesture of good will.