I have the gray screen problem with the white apple and spinning wheel

I have the gray screen problem when it boots to the white apple and spinning wheel, but when I tried safe booting and doing the fsck thing I think I only made it worse, because it now starts, the safe mode progress bar comes on, (no matter if I press any keys or not) and after a minute shuts down again by itself. I also tried the command option, p, r thing and that did not work either, only brought me to the gray screen with the white apple, spinning wheel, and bar, and it promptly shut down. I am thinking more and more that I need the disk, but im not sure I have it. is it possible to order a new one online or is there another thing I can try? there is not an apple store nearby, and ereasing my data is not an option.

Also Im not sure what my exact opporating system is, but I did buy and download mountainlion in August so It is pretty new