So this just happened out of the blue. My computer was working fine yesterday, I even shut it down and started it a couple times during the day. Then I tried starting it one more time and it got to the visa loading screen with the green bar going across. Then it gets stuck on a black screen with the cursor, which is fully fucntioning. It just wont go to the start screen of vista where I log in. I haven't been able to find anything online directly related to fix it, and the startup recovery tool isn't able to fix it. Ive done a couple system restores and nothing helps. Also, the hard drive light is constantly lit.

I'm thinking the hard drive has kicked the bucket, but it hasnt even been a year since I got the laptop.  

Help?  

Edit:

There has been no new hardware added. And the last thing done to the computer was a system update the day before.

Sorry I meant system restore,


I didn't install anything, and it wont start windows in safe mode either.