Gateway NV7915u startup problems

Hey all....new to this site and hopefully will be able to get some answers. My gateway laptop computer has been acting up and I think it has to do with my harddrive. It will not do a gateway start up repair nor a gateway recovery repair where I can recover my computer to factory settings. It just sits there frozen at the same screen for hours. I called gateway and was not surrogate that they were no help whatsoever. I decided to take my harddrive out of the computer and inserted my recovery disk that I had. I hit alt f10 to get into my gateway recovery screen and it booted it right up to the menu. I couldnt restore my laptop because I didn't have my harddrive in but I am guessing since this worked I have a bad harddrive? Any help will be appreciated. I apologize for any grammar or spelling mistakes on here I am forced to write this on my iPod touch since I do not have access to. Second computer. Thanks for any help.
 
have you tried putting the hdd and recovery disc together? before that you need to change the boot priority so the CD load first.

Go to F2 and boot settings priority, move the DVD drive up to the first one. Alternatively you can press F12 and choose to boot from CD which is your recovery disc.
 
Can you get to to Windows desktop at all? If you can, try chkdsk /r from a DOS window. As mentioned above, your recovery disc should 'repair' or reset back to factory settings, but it will likely only work if you force the pc to boot from the recovery disc, rather than the Hard drive. So change the boot sequence to 1) CD/DVD, 2)HDD SATA. *This all assumes your problem is software, and in the 'worst case senario' you can install the whole OS again, with a Windows disc of the same type as it was from new, and use the Product key on the sticker of your pc's case, (if you know it works, and have activated it before.) Before you wipe your existing windows OS, run 'Speccy' by Piriform, click on the Operating system heading, Serial number, and write down the REAL product key, it may not be the same as on your MS sticker.
**If your problem is a failing hard drive, no recovery will work. You will have to buy a new hard drive, and install Windows again from a MS CD/DVD, using the product key to activate it again with MS. You then will need to go to pc maker's site and download the 'third party' drivers for your particular machine type/model.
 
I tried all of your suggestions....and none have worked. I cannot get to the windows desktop so I cannot run those tests that you said. I am under warranty so I will be able to get a new harddrive for free so that is good news. Only thing I am worried about is reinstalling the new harddrive because I bought my laptop from best buy and the geek squad set it up for me. I don't have a windows disc but they gave me 3 recovery discs and 1 apps and drivers disc. Should that work? Thanks for your help..I am pretty sure that the problem is that harddrive now.
 
Assuming it is a hard drive problem, (not faulty RAM board etc), and you do get a replacement hard drive, you will need a Windows disc, but it's ok to borrow one, must be of the same type as your product key is for though. (home, pro, whatever).
As long as you have a valid product key, (25 digits, 5 blocks of 5) usually on a Microsoft sticker, on top of pc case, you can start again with a new Windows O/S.
As they have given you a drivers disc, that's saved you some work. The recovery discs won't be much use though. Got to say there may be a problem with the fact that your original Windows was probably OEM, and the new install won't be, but only your manufacturer could supply that version. Also, assuming you have a SATA HDD, and Windows XP, you will need the SATA drivers during installation. If you have Vista/7, you should be ok.
*It would be best, and tell you more, if you could fit your faulty HDD into another PC as a secondary, ( eg. 'D' ) drive, and see if it is faulty, or data files can be accessed or not.
** Have you tried booting into Safe Mode, and selecting; 'Use last known good configuration' ? (Power on, F8 straight away). From what you have written, it won't work, but it's worth the 3 minutes it would take to try.
*** If you have data on the faulty hard drive, you could try running a Linux 'live' disc in DVD rom drive, try to explore the hard drive and save off any files you value to a flash memory stick.
 
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