Can't get laptop to load (black screen with cursor)

[HungryWolf]

HP G62-455DX Notebook

My daughter have a laptop that she was trying to connect her son Leapfrog to it. She it connected overnight. The next day the laptop wouldn't load up but just shows a black screen with blinking cursor. Someone told her that it might be a virus. When I turn laptop on I can hit the [ESC] and it will take me to the black screen "Startup Menu." It won't let me do anything else but go to the black screen with the cursor. I tried to reformat the laptop but can't seem to get pass the black screen.

 

[Marnomancer]

Hello sir,
Could you give us some more details such as the OS, the exact process/incident after which the problem arose, and all the activities on the laptop since the Leapfrog connection?

For one, it could be plain hardware failure.
Assuming you have Windows 7 installed, have you tried performing a Startup Repair using the Windows 7 disk?
Once you power on the laptop, keep pressing 'F8' till you reach the "Advanced Boot Menu". Select Safe Mode, and see if you can boot into Windows. If you can get to the desktop, perform a malware scan.

If it doesn't help, contact your vendor's or HP's customer support/technical assistance.

Hope this helps.
Regards, Marnomancer.