Dell with Windows Vista wont boot up without errors

when i started my Dell Inspiron computer with Windows Vista premium this morning, It gave me errors about checking the disc. It eventually came up but was very slow and then I got the blue screen of death. Something about crash dump errors. When I start up in Safe Mode, it will come up, but also will crash. Sometimes in Safe Mode, it will just come up at the log in with a flashing screen.
I did a System repair, and it said it could not be automatically fixed.

I brought it up with F8 and selected- Use last good start up ( or whatever it says). The system came up, and everything looked like it was going to be good. I wanted to do a system restore. I click on Restore files and now it is just hanging. It will probabably crash soon.
Luckily i brought my computer home from work or I wouldnt be able to ask my question right now.

Is it a virus? Hardware? Software?

thanks

 

Since it crashes in Safe Mode, my feeling is the hard drive is the most likely culprit.

If you can get the PC to boot in Safe Mode (from "F8", choose Safe Mode with Networking), do the following:

* Copy (backup) all files, photos, music, etc. to an external USB drive if you haven't already done so.

* Go to CONTROL PANEL>SYSTEM>DEVICE MANAGER and click on the Hard Drive listing to determine what brand of drive is installed.

* Go to the drive mfr's web support site and download their testing software. If the drive mfr. doesn't offer testing software, download SeaTools at www.seagate.com. It will do a read only test on all brands.

* Using the software, do a long/deep test of the drive ("chkdsk" often misses all but the most glaring issues). Be warned: If the drive is already on its last legs the stress of a long test may finish it off.

If the drive is bad and the "system restore" is a partition on it, you will likely have to order a restore DVD from the PC mfr. A possible alternative to this is asking your IT person at work if they have a Microsoft "OEM" CD/DVD for the exact version of Windows your license code is for (example: If it's "Vista Premium 32-bit", "Vista Premium 64-bit" or "Vista Pro" won't work). If you go this route, you'll likely have to download the drivers (Wi-Fi, video, etc.) from the mfr's website and install them manually after installing Windows on the new hard drive.

Hope this helps.