reinstall crash and burn

alright i have a studio 1537 with vista i tried to use that ad aware or whatever it is called virus scanner and i didn't like it. so when i went to take it off it started to crash everything piece by piece. while i was transferring images and data to cds it wouldn't allow me to do music i kept getting the Microsoft windows explorer error 0x0000007e. so i gave up and went to do the system restore wouldn't let me cause no back up date was created tried to do the factory restore and told me the whole backup location was in valid. so i restarted and tried to just repair from the windows CD. it said i had no drivers yet i can't install the drivers from the CD. did the hard drive diagnostic test everything was fine except for the sata data or anything involving that a screen would pop saying this test failed code or something needed for dell tech support but everything else passed. tried to reinstall windows the first time it stopped at 24% saying it failed due to files missing. someone told me to go in and switch the achi to ide or whatever the option is and it got to 85% and just sits for a hour before saying it failed due to files missing. went ahead and just tried to reformat the whole thing it got to 1% restarted and someone lost the btmngr and now upon turning it on or restarting it says a smart predict fail happened to my hard drive and to backup data and replace the hard drive. can someone tell me what to do next. prefer easy to follow instructions tired of being ran in circles with confusing things. if i knew what i was fully doing i wouldn't ask for help but people seem to think i know all bout this and i don't. only how to fix it when its actually working lol

 

sounds like the hard drive failed, or is corrupt. if there isnt' anything on there needing to be saved (which it sounds like, cause you already formatted). then you will need to purchase a new drive.

here's a link to dell's page for that model, on how to remove the old drive and install a new one
http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/studio1537/en/sm/hdd.htm#wp1180023
unfortunately, i cant look to see what is the exact spec for your current drive, in order to recommend a good replacement. on the dell support page, http://support.dell.com/support/top...s&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs&~ck=mn&SystemID=studio1537 theres a selection to view the factory configuration, but you need to input your service tag # prolly located on a sticker on the bottom of the computer. once you do, it will give you the technical info on your current drive. post here if you need more help.

 

the format operation never completed it only got to 1% then restarted it self like nothing happen. i need a new drive already?!! i just bought this laptop in may! this bites! i guess i shouldn't have tried to remove that stupid ad aware then huh.

 

well, i've heard of the smart failure prediction before and people have used their drives for a long time after, but i don't know if I would temp it. The only real way to figure it out, is to put the drive into another computer and try scanning with the hard drive tool for that particular manufacturer (not dell, but something like maxtor, seagate, hitachi, etc) . Or even try that program in the current computer.