Hard disk error help

I was using my laptop last night and it started becomin slow. I decided to restart thinking maybe that would help. It started fine until a black screen with a text came up. It said " hard disk error, press any keys to restart" I pressed random keys by it didn't work and the message kept repeating. I ten pressed CTRL + ALT + delete . It then restarted but the same thing happened. What should I do? I have a hp pavvilion entertainer pc . It's about 4-6 years old . Originally vista but is currently windows 7. Not sure but think its 32 bit . I'm only 13 and dont understand much of tech talk so please make it simple for me to understand . Please help me.

Check the hard drive with the manufacturer's diagnostic tools.
Hard Drive Diagnostics Tools and Utilities (Storage) - TACKtech Corp.
HD Diagnostic

Ask your Dad/Mum to download the tool & run.

Welcome to Windows Seven Forums.

Have a look at this tutorial, which explains how to check your hard drive using chkdsk.

Disk Check

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but it does sound as though your hard drive is on its last legs, so you need to backup anything important if you can then invest in a new drive.

It's worth making sure your BIOS has SMART disk error reporting turned on so that any poor sectors are logged and data is not written to them... and there is a standalone facility called Spinpoint that can be found here and there on the internet which can help revamp failing platters on hard drives... :)

I will try what all of you had suggested. But i was wondering whether or not this problem was my fault?

It's more likely to be a problem with the hard drive, especially as the laptop is getting on in years.

My wife's HP DV6700 hard drive lasted less than three years so you've done well to get what may be six years.