dv1000; xp won't boot, only quickplay will

[euromandeluxe]

hey guys,

i'm running a dv1000 notebook on windows xp home edition. Two days ago, the machine stopped booton into xp. Whenever i press the power button, it will boot straight into quickplay, and there seems to be no way to exit quickplay to get back into windows (the 'media key' doesn't seem to do anything).

Upon inserting the xp home cd to access the recovery console, i get a message saying that the HDD cannot be detected.

Additionally, when I run the phoenixBIOS hard drive self test (that i access by pressing f10 during the first few moments of bootup), i get the test status"#1 - 07 Fail"

I'm hoping this doesn't indicate a dead hard drive. 

Typical as it is, I haven't backed up the information on my hard drive. There is a folder of documents i need to recover (or at least try to!)

Do you have any advice on how i can do this? this machine's been good to me for so long, and suddenly it's riddled with problems.

appreciate it.

[frprinterwiz]

Yes the error code from the disk test does indicate that your hard drive is dying/dead.  See if you can get your hands on a copy of SpinRite, it might help you to recover your data.  You could try slaving the drive to another computer to see if you can copy your information off as well.  If not, and the data is worth it, you could send it to a data recovery center but that can get pricey.