Hard disk refusing to start

This laptop is super old, so if you have the original hard drive the odds are it likely failed. Listen near the palmrest for a persistent "click", or even check to see if the drive shows as a bootable device - on these, you press ESC and select Boot Menu - if you do not see your hard drive, it died.

You can replace it with an SSD, but given the age of the laptop as a precaution look for a drive with SATA II/III support, on the off chance it is too old to use SATA III. This should be new enough, but some of the ultra budget HPs held onto SATA II speeds as a cost reducer for a little too long - this is one of those which might have that issue. Your best bet will be a Samsung SSD, as most other drives are now Fixed III.