PLEASE HELP: M1530 crashed, now very weird behavior

I need some serious help from whoever can give me advice or shed light on my situation!

I have a Dell XPS M1530 (Intel Core2 Duo T7500 @ 2.2GHz, 3GB RAM, 200GB HD @ 7200rpm, Vista Ultimate)

which I have not experienced any problems with until now. I experienced a freeze up while running the 'Recover Memory' option in Mz RAM Booster Version 2.4, used to free up memory.

I waited for the system to try to recover but after a while when it did not I pulled the battery so that it would restart. When I tried turning it back on I got an error screen and the computer automatically went into a Startup Repair program. I let this run on the laptop for about 24 hours until I restarted again and it restarted normally.

I thought I was in the clear until I attempted to open the folder I keep my downloaded music and movies in (about 32GB in size), the windows explorer window opened but I got the loading cursor and an empty window that just kept loading, it also slowed everything down and started freezing up other programs.

Because of this I went into Control Panel>Admin. Tools and tried to run the Memory Diagnostic Tool which just seems to turn the laptop off or just stop when it gets to about 21% of the first pass. I have not attempted a System Restore yet but will after this post, but I fear that wont help me either.

Does anyone have any advice Im dying here!?!?!

 

Update: when I tried performing a System Restore I got an error message that read:

The disk OS (C: ) has errors.
Windows has detected file system corruption on OS (C: ). You must check the disk for errors before it can be restored.

Going to run Check Disk now

 

Your hdd might be going bad, also don't use RAM optimizers. They are useless. Also RAM is cheap nowadays. You can get 4 gigs for $40.

 

I have not had the computer that long, I think the optimizer crashing corrupted whatever file or folder, etc it was working on. I went thru and was finally able to run chkdsk which was taking awhile so I let it run. Will post results shortly

 

You know, i always hate posts saying "OMG YOUR COMPUTER IS BROKEN", because a broken hard drive seems like a big problem, then the poor fella goes out and spends money on repairs, while the problems could be a simple file corruption which could be fixed at no cost, and of course the repair technician will charge a large amount of money for his services.

It most likely is a file corruption. If whatever you did corrupted the windows operating system, the chkdsk should have fixed it. If it didnt fix it, try reinstalling windows. If that doesnt work, then maybe its your hard drive. Hard drives tend to make noise when they break, if you didnt notice any strange noises recently, its most likely not a problem with ur hard drive.

 

I definately think that its a file corruption. when i do run chkdsk it freezes up like 80% of the way thru, even after i let it run for hours, same thing that the memory diagnostic tool did, so I am guessing that one these tests hit that corrupted file they just get stuck. The HD hasnt made any noises out of the ordinary and i have been avoiding taking it to a technician and getting raped. my next step will def be trying to re install the OS. I still have all of the discs that came with the laptop so what tips do u have for me for re installing the OS, ill look the basic steps up somewhere. it wont jeopardize my saved files and folders will it?

.........................

just as a precursor I hit the Dell support page and remembered that I have Dell Support Center installed so I opened it up and found 'Dell PC Checkup' and i am running a custom scan including a ton of tests on the memory and CPU, ill be back with the results bcuz im not sure how long they are going to take.

........................

let a limited scan run, all tests passed
ran it again, full scan, all tests passed but when i came back to see the test results computer was frozen. couldnt move the cursor, no ctrl+alt+del response

 

It is a misconception that a broken hard drive makes noises.

Back up your data. If the machine is still under warranty, get Dell to replace the hard drive. Its on them.

 

The RAM Booster program probably messed up the data that were in memory and the OS couldn't complete it's function. Forget such program.. Vista does a good job with memory management by itself.

 

I said they tend to make noises when broken. Cause i figure, the hard drive being a moving part and all, if its broken, well do i even have to explain myself?

If its under warranty, and if dell will come to ur place and fix it ,and if u wont lose a day at work because of it, go ahead and do it, otherwise, theres no point cause its probably not a broken hard drive.

 

hmm, after running all of those tests most of the symptoms have disappeared. the only thing I am still noticing is that my system is running just a tad slower than I am used to. i deleted that program, are there any steps I can take like running the Defrag or Disk Cleanup to get the performance back