After running the disk utlity app, a message appears saying "Error: This disk needs to be repaired using the Recovery HD. Restart your computer, holding down the Command key and the R key until you see the Apple logo. I cannot restart the MacBook that way

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Before restarting the MacBook Pro, make a backup of your files with Time Machine or Disk Utility's Restore feature onto an external drive > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1427

Recovery HD is a partition created by OS X Lion and Mountain Lion to reinstall Mac OS X in case something gets damaged or to do maintenance tasks. See > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4718

If you can't start into Recovery HD, try starting up in Internet Recovery by holding Command, Option (Alt) and R keys while your Mac is starting, open Disk Utility and repair your drive. Another option is to use the Recovery Disk Assistant to make a Recovery HD copy onto a USB drive > http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4848?viewlocale=en_US&locale=en_US

Do this:

Repair the Hard Drive and Permissions - Lion/Mountain Lion

Boot to the Recovery HD:

Restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the COMMAND and R keys until the menu screen appears. Alternatively, restart the computer and after the chime press and hold down the OPTION key until the boot manager screen appears. Select the Recovery HD and click on the downward pointing arrow button.

Repair

When the recovery menu appears select Disk Utility. After DU loads select your hard drive entry (mfgr.'s ID and drive size) from the the left side list. In the DU status area you will see an entry for the S.M.A.R.T. status of the hard drive. If it does not say "Verified" then the hard drive is failing or failed. (SMART status is not reported on external Firewire or USB drives.) If the drive is "Verified" then select your OS X volume from the list on the left (sub-entry below the drive entry,) click on the First Aid tab, then click on the Repair Disk button. If DU reports any errors that have been fixed, then re-run Repair Disk until no errors are reported. If no errors are reported then click on the Repair Permissions button. When the process is completed, then quit DU and return to the main menu. Select Restart from the Apple menu.