Computer Does Not Boot Past First Screen

I have a 2007 Gateway Laptop Model MT3423. I recently installed windows xp on it. It worked fine for a couple days. One day it just turned off and when i went to turn it on again it would boot to the first screen (Gateway Screen) then to a blank screen with a white dash flashing in the corner. The display is lit, the lights on the computer are on and the fan is running. I can go to the BIOS Menu but thats it. When I put a cd in it will say press any key to boot from cd and then after you press that the screen goes the same again. HELP, I need to fix my computer. When you try to type stuff into the blank screen the computer just makes beep noises

Hi gatewaymt3423.

The first step I'd go about is checking the hard drive as this can often cause this frustrating problem.

The instructions on how to make a bootable disk and running seatools can be found here

Let me know how you get on