Computer_Commando suggests getting a recovery CD from HP.
That is an excellent idea. If under $70, a good investment
Here are some addition ideas that might help some.
If another PC is available, maybe a desktop, you can try to analyze that sick hard drive without destroying anything. But If that is not practical, have a friend burn a diagnostic CD for testing the laptop.
Also, Many laptops can have two hard drives on the motherboard, but the documentation does not make this crystal clear. There is not room inside the laptop for the second drive, but a technician can do two drives for testing purposes with the case open. But that has real element of risk.
For many of us hobbyists, the most effective tool is a
'Linux Live' CD that can boot and run Linux without any need for a working hard drive. But the 'Live CD' has to be build using a good PC. Likewise for many other tools available. You have ton have a working desktop or laptop.
Hiren's BootCD 15.1 - All in one Bootable CD The
Hiren's CD is a dubious choice because of possible copyright issues. But look at the link anyway. It has a list of what tools are available to run off a CD.
Earlier I mentioned getting a cheap drive to get the laptop up and running. If you can get that far, the laptop can burn either CDs or USB sticks to be used later to diagnose the sick drive.
Maybe thins is what you want:
Bootable USB with Windows 7 Recovery Console - MajorGeeks But that is something they want to sell you.
Not recommended.There is a lot of free stuff out there. There are partition recovery tools that can be put on a CD. Some free. Again, you need a working machine to download and prepare the USB flash. T
hat is why I recommended getting a spare drive.My personal choice, but some risk involved.Might wipe out the drive anyway.
http://www.minitool-partitionrecovery.com/Hope you get a resolution soon.