If you have an XP install disc or backup disc you could try using the repair feature to fix the issue. That's all I can think of at the moment.
Sadly, this is an HP laptop. They don't include the disks when you buy (and I believe they may have stopped "selling" the disks at all). They did include their own "recovery" program that you can get to through f11 at startup....BUT.....it wipes all your data! (Nice "recovery" huh?).
I'm trying to get some type of "startup" disk from the net, but not having much luck........ any other thoughts anyone?