My HP pavilion dv1100 laptop will not boot up. When I turn it on, the HP logo shows and it freezes there. The HD makes clicky noises, and after about a minute it goes to a blank screen. Sometimes if i push the space bar during the blank screen, the message comes up "Operating System Not Found" I have tried reseating the hard drive and the ram. It will not boot from a CD, and it freezes before I can get into the BIOS. Is this a mother board problem, or can I solve it by getting a new hard drive?

I cannot say 100% but it sounds like a hard drive problem. I am 90% sure of that. The operating system not found error means that no data is detected on the hard drive. This happens when you format and when it "formats" itself. When you say it doesn't boot from a cd, do you mean it just won't install to the hard drive? Or do you mean it doesn't boot at all? Make sure you try a variety of cds that are boot-ready. If a variety of cds do not work, you at least have two problems (the HD and the cdrom). For more complicated issues, feel free to email me at shane@driventechnology.com. I check it frequently.