ok...
I tried booting from .iso file mentioned by DavidPK in http://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Notebook-Operating-Systems-e-g-Windows-8-and-Software/Windows-7-wont-boot-up-quot-launch-startup-repair-quot-just/m-p/643181/highlight/true#M61826
still get the absolute same thing - 'bootmgr image is corrupt'. I even thought that perhaps the original system was not 64-bit and tried the 32-bit .iso file - same thing
what else can i boot into in order to partition the hd? i guess at this point the only thing left to do it to 1) find a program that would let me format the drive (has to be bootable disc), or 2) get a new harddrive
in both cases, will I have to buy a new version of Windows7 to install? or can HP somehow find the windows licence key that was shipped with this product? ( i think I can find the configuration ID in the notebook start-up options)