Can't 'Launch Startup Repair' when Vista boots on...

Question

When I try to startup my Evesham Explorer 2007 laptop, Vista gives a "Windows Failed to Start" message and offers either "Start Windows Normally" (which does't work) or "Launch Startup Repair" options. When I select the 'Launch Startup Repair' option, several messages appear on screen but always finish with "Startup repair cannot repair this computer automatically". There appears to be a separate small partition on the hard disk (in addition to the Vista OS partition) which may be a recovery partition. Is there anyway that I can run a system recovery from boot up since the laptop wasn't provided with any recovery CD? Thanks - John Downes