Windows 7: Windows 7 crash on boot up and System Image recovery

I've had Windows 7 crash twice on booting up in the last 3 months.

The Windows logo appears out of the black screen just above where it says "Starting Windows" and then freezes before flashing a blue screen (too quickly for me to see what it says) and then starts a system repair.



Both times the repair has failed, and I've had to resort to a System Image Recovery, which solves the immediate issue, but it seems there's an underlying issue somewhere.

I have a Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ SATA2 internal drive, and I'm worried that it's on its way out even though it's only 18 months old. The CPU is an Intel i7 2600, and the motherboard is an ASUS P8P67-M B3.

If it is Windows that has the problem, how do I stop it from doing this? And if it's the HHD, is it a problem with how the drives are, or is mine dying; and what are the options for a computer hardware novice?

Thanks in advance

Windows, once again, had a problem booting up today. Instead of the usual black screen with Starting Windows and the logo coming out of the dark, I had the black screen with a green segmented loading bar at the bottom which I've learnt means trouble.

Luckily, Startup Repair worked this time, but I could still do with a jot of help please...