forced to reset the pram after every restart / shutdown

ever since the latest osx software update, i have had to reset the pram on my macbook everytime i restart or shut down and turn back on, whether it be after updating other software or if i do it by myself.

first, is this bad for the macbook? i don't really know exactly what resetting the pram means, i just know how to do it.
second, do you think i should send it in? i hesitate doing this because i am a college student who takes notes on this thing for every class. i can't afford to be without my computer at all.

can i afford to wait until october or november to take it to the apple store at home? should i take it now? better yet, is there a way to fix this problem at all???? heeellpppp

oops sorry ... i meant to put that when it begins to reboot again, the grey screen appears, but then different colored vertical lines appear very slowly. i know that many people have had this problem, but normally resetting the pram once fixes it for them.

help?

has anyone else had this problem?

WOW it worked. i have been living with this problem for like a month now, and before that i had random shutdowns (i fixed that too by posting on here). thank you so much everyone for all your help!!