A Startup Repair Doozy

I received a laptop from a friend who claims the device may have been infected with malware. The problem is i can't boot into windows to begin cleaning up the problems, so I'm not sure if this is the correct thread, but any suggestions would help.

All i know about this device is from the bios:
Gateway Laptop NV55S
4GB RAM
500gb WD HDD
Windows 7 (possibly pro)

Here's the problem:
1. Laptop starts and "startup repair" automatically begins searching for problems. This takes at least 3 minutes and then appears to freeze for almost 2 minutes.

2. Receive "A Hard disk problem is preventing Windows from starting, contact your sytem administrator or computer manufacture to determine if you need to repair or replace the disk. Click Finish to exit and shut down your computer."

I'm also given options, "View diagnostic and repair details", "view advanced options for system recovery and support", "Finish", and "Cancel".

if i click on "view advanced options for a system recovery and support" i receive "System recovery options with "select language and select a keyboard input method. > I choose English and US > click next.

I can move the cursor but the screen has no icons, no tool bars, just a default wallpaper. From here after about 10 minutes goes by the system restarts and is back to #1. Rinse wash repeat

Can this be caused by malware or is this an entirely different issue such as hardware related, like a failing HDD?

Any advice, suggestions, or help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you in advance.

 

****edit

I can move the cursor but the screen has no icons, no tool bars, just a default wallpaper. From here after about 10 minutes goes by the system restarts and is back to #1. Rinse wash repeat

 

update: if clicking on "view diagnostic and repair details" i see one section that reads:

Name: Disk Failure Diagnosis
Result: Completed successfully. Error code = 0x0
Time taken = 187 ms

Root cause found:
Bad Hard Disk:

Does this indicate that the HDD is failing or failed? Or is it something entirely different?

 

i was able to get into the command prompt. I've never used fixmbr, fixboot, scanos, rebuildbcd.

Should these options be used?

 

i've downloaded the tools, but when i start the laptop i receive:

Disk I/O error
Replace the disk, and then press any key

Broadcom UNDI PXE-2.1 v14.4.5
Copyright (c) 2000-2010 Broadcom Corporation
Copyright (c) 1997-2000 Intel Corporation
All rights Reserverd
PXE-E61: Media Test failure, check cable
PXE-M0F: Exiting Broadcom PXE ROM.
no bootable device -- insert boot disk and press any key