Crash can't boot

[dadadh6]

Older Pavilion h8-1360t went started random reboot but would not complete, just kept cycling through the attempt. I did hard shut down by holding on button down until it shut down then unplugged  and pressed on button again. Repluggeg and tried to boot again. It automatically went into a self repair utility (stages 1,2, etc showing number of files and eta completion countdown in minutes and seconds) but was unable to complete. Message appeared with option to retry or select advanced options. I selected retry but instantly got message that it could not boot and offered advanced options again. I am now looking at a pale blue screen offering the following options: 1. Startup Repair, Fix problems that keep Windows from loading; 2. Startup Settings, Change Windows Startup behavior; 3. Command Prompt, Use the Command Prompt for advanced troubleshooting; 4. Uninstaller Updates, Remove recently installed quality or feature updates from Windows; 5. System Restore, Use a restore point recorded on your PC to restore Windows; 6. System Image Recovery, Recover Windows using a specific system image file.

I have no idea where to go from here.

[WAWood · Accepted solution]

@dadadh6 

From your comments, it looks like all those options are withing Windows -- and none of them are going to work because the drive itself is probably failing.

So, let's check that first, because if it is failing, it would need to be replaced and there is no point then in doing anything else until we confirm that.

To check the drive you have to follow these steps:
1) Press Esc key repeatedly, several times a second, while rebooting the laptop. Do NOT hold the key down, just press it over and over.
2) Eventually, you will see an HP Startup Menu
3) Press the Function key for testing the hard drive (usually F2) and let it run.
If the drive checks out OK, then report that and I can provide you options for reinstalling Windows on your PC.

[dadadh6]

WAWood

Thanks for the quick reply. I ran the disk tests with the following results:

Hard disk short DST: passed

Hard disk optimized DST: passed

Hard disk long DST: passed

I will wait for your assistance to move on to the next phase to recover my computer.