cannot access safe mode windows 7 lenovo

[illusions]

my computer turned black couple of days ago while using it and it is no longer functioning properly. it will no longer boot the OS when i turn it on, just goes to a black screen with a
white ( - ) on the top left corner. pressing any keys at that point does absolutely nothing.

I cannot load safe mode or advanced boot options.
upon startup I am able to load F2 ( setup utility ) and F12 ( boot Manager).
but i am not able to reach safe mode with F8 or Shift+F8.
when the computer is turned on, after the manufacturers info the screen goes black and stays there and the ONLY way to get out of it is to do a Hard Reset.

computer info:
Lenovo IdeaPad Z565 4311 - 15.6" - Turion II P520 - Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit Edition

 

[zink1701]

Sounds like the Hard drive has failed, remove the case side and make sure all the connections to the drive are sound. If you can remove the drive and test it in another machine (a friends PC or family member).

 

[illusions]

@zink1701 that was my first assumption but was not sure, while in the boot manager, everytime i select the SATA HDD to run, it bypasses everything and goes straight to the black screen. i will check the connections.