MacBook Pro doesn't boot

Hi everyone!
I am new Mac user. I have MacBook Pro 15" (old one). I took it from my brother-in-law hoping to reanimate it. It doesn't boot up. When you turn it on, it starts loading, but doesn't go further than loading screen.
It is no longer covered by warranty, so I can't take it to the store.
Can anyone help me here?
Should I boot it from external drive or CD? If so, where do I get it from.
Thank you all in advance.

Booting it from a CD/DVD or an external drive is what I would suggest. The laptops hard drive could be going bad, or the OS may need to be reinstalled.

As far as the disks...since it's an Intel based Mac, you can purchase Mac OS 10.6 ("Snow Leopard") from the Apple Store.

The downside to this solutions is...if the hard drive is not bad (and the computer won't boot from the DVD)...then the DVD won't help initially...but if you really want to get this computer working, you will need the OS install disk eventually.

Hope this helps,

- Nick

I also agree with pigoo3. Go grab a copy of OS X (either Leopard or SL) and pop in the disc to see if you can boot from it. If so, then I would run some diagnostics on the hard drive to see if it's the hardware that is preventing it from booting, or the install of OS X.

If it's just the install, then it will be an easy fix. If it's the actual hard drive, you'll probably have to buy a new one and swap it out. If it comes to that, go to iFixit and grab a walkthrough guide for your specific model. I believe I have the same MBP as you, and it's not too hard to swap out the hard drives if you know your way around a computer.

Thank you guys a lot. I believe he still has original disc. If not, he just bought new MacBook pro and may be I will be able to use that disc.

The disc that came with his new Macbook Pro may not work in the computer your trying to fix. I believe the new disc is designed to work specifically with his current computer, but you can always try.

Well.. I just put Mac OS X disc (came with MacBook no pro) and computer behaves the same way. I guess this will not work. Where do I get correct disc?
I am sorry if I ask stupid questions, but this is my first Mac and I have no clue how it works.

Well, it booted up, but said that Mac OS X cannot be installed on this computer. Any suggestions? I feel little retarded because it is 2009 and I don't know how to work with MAC LOL