Boot Failure

I've had a laptop I haven't used in a while. When I start it up, it reads:

"Boot Failure
Reboot and Select proper Boot device
or Insert Boot Media in selected Boot device
Press any key when ready"

If I press any key, it stalls for awhile, then just refreshes the message.
Any idea how to fix this since I am a dumbass when it comes to tech support?

Sounds like your laptop has no OS.  I think it needs a system recovery disk or a linux bootdisk.  You could also use one of those microsoft XP disks that you buy at office max for $200 dollars, but I think this really belongs in computers.