Windows 7: How can I recover a laptop that crashed when booting up

I have a Toshiba laptop with Windows 7 and I am using Kaspersky for protection. Last night it gave me an error (I can't remember what it said) and then when I went to reboot the computer it got as far as showing the toolbar at the bottom with the start button. Once it reached that state it stopped and just showed the hourglass. Does anyone have any suggestions or ideas? Or, is the computer dead and I need to try to find someplace that can fix the hard drive?

Work through these Troubleshooting Steps for Windows 7

I was just about to post the exact same thing...

Just remember, when you use the recovery partition to restore the laptop, it wipes the c drive clean, so you'll lose all of your personal data.

To keep your data, you will have to remove the drive from the laptop, attach it to another pc, copy everything you need to save, put the drive back into the laptop and then perform the restore.

In the tutorial it shows how to rescue your files from unbootable Windows 7 using the Installation DVD, Repair CD, or Paragon Rescue CD.

Ok, I'll look into that.
I had a win 7 laptop last week with no pointer control, couldn't get it to function so I copied the 40gb if data off of it, restored it, then copied it all back.

Using a windows machine with no mouse is a pain the butt.

I can't get the computer to boot-up at all. I have tried doing it in all the different modes and nothing is working. Is there another way that I can get this to boot up or even take me to the command prompt (I think this is what I mean).

Test your hardware first then to eliminate that.

Is the HD detected in BIOS setup? If so test it. If not reinstall it or replace it.

Try resetting the BIOS to defaults: Clear CMOS - 3 Ways to Clear the CMOS - Reset BIOS

Is the disk you're trying to boot known to work? If not try it in another machine. There are several disks needed in the tutorial so also try another one. What happens with Windows Defender? You can also write it to stick.

Try unplugging the HD to see if disk will boot. If this fails, try flash stick boot. If it fails try unplugging the DVD drive. The tool to write the installer to flash stick is in tutorial.

It is finally letting me in to try doing a system restore. I will update as soon as it is done ..

It went through the system restore pretty fast and now it is at the screen that appears right after you log into the system (the laptop requires a password) after that it is now stuck at the screen that shows "Windows 7 Home Premium" screen and "Welcome" with the circle that revolves. Should I try going in and doing it again?