2)Toshiba will send you the reinstall disk, or you might find them on craigslist for a few bucks.
3)If your machine can run XP or Vista, it can run 7.
4)You would be surprised how many people don't run their disk utillities on a laptop because they are scheduled to do so automatically....BUT THE LAPTOP MUST BE ON AT THE SCHEDULED TIME!!
Chances are you could use a bootable floppy, a USB cable, or an adapter to a desktop, then run chkdsk and then defrag and get your drive to boot again.
5)Ditch the Geek Squad. Didn't you see the big bust a few months ago?(Major theft ring using them to case houses.)Plus, their advice isn't very good.
If I can get the OEM key, that’s pretty much it, right? All I’d need is any kind of copy of the OS after that right?