Random Restarts after Startup

This issue started last night, when I attempted to reinstall my copy of Morrowind. Several minutes after install, my Laptop decided to reboot itself, and went straight to this:

Checking file system on C:
The type of file system is NTFS

One of your disks needs to be checked for consistency, etc.

Then it goes into a CHKDSK check, takes about 10 minutes to finish, and starts up Vista. After logging in, the computer barely has enough time to finish loading startup programs before rebooting itself and repeating the process.

I ran it in Safe Mode and tried multiple Restore Points, all unsuccessful. I haven't changed anything on my computer in about 10 days, and have not been connected to any networks, so my guess is either my Hard Drive is failing, or something in messed up in the registry. The problem is, since it reboots so quickly, I don't have the time to download anything to clean my computer, or update my now out of date AVG (which seems to be finding lots of random files that it claims to shut down AVG's core scan engine, even though most of those files have been on the computer longer than AVG itself.)


Thanks in advance

 

can get into safe mode long enough to uninstall morrwind?
because that game was not designed to be on vista (not to say you can't do it I play oblivion on vista64 all the time but was a slight pain in the ars to get it to run correctly)
but if all the probs are after morriwind i say take it off to see if it still does it and when ever restore to a back uped point in windows my anti virus does not like it and i have too update the antivirus to get it back to normal

 

Yes, I uninstalled the game shortly after the problem started, and it persists. I have had the game installed on the computer before, and there was no issue. Also, I installed it onto my external drive ( F: ) but the computer still freaks out even when the drive is not plugged in.

 

Well, I cleaned out all my temporary files and disabled all startup programs but the computer still shuts down after less than a minute of being logged in. Safe Mode is my only option, so is there any programs that would allow me to use my external HD while in Safe Mode? I really need to at least get my documents/pictures/music moved over before resorting to a full system recovery, but obviously the USB HD isn't available in Safe Mode. Any way to get around that? My USB mouse seems to work in Safe Mode, which is a start...

 

Well, the problem seems to be temporarily solved, at least. My laptop was attempting to run CHKDSK on my C and F drives constantly upon rebooting itself, so I went to the extreme and backed up the system and did a full system recovery. It hasn't been restarting, but I still had several process errors while reinstalling Vista (Host Process for Windows Services, Windows Explorer, etc kept crashing).


I still don't know exactly what to think, but my dad and I were wondering if the Hard Drive was failing due to the constant auto CHKDSK. I don't have a lot of time to figure out if the problem is buried in the hard drive or in the hardware, because if the hardware IS the problem, I've only got another week or so to send it in for repairs before the warranty expires.

Any suggestions at all would be fantastic.
Thanks