the hard drive is about the easiest thing on a laptop to replace - you can do it yorself AND you wont even need directions- its pretty obvious
get it to reformat and install a new operating system will be harder, if you are not at least a little tech savvy.
Salvaging your data on your old drive is possible- with some (not free) diagnostic tools for hard disk recovery- I just spent over $100 for some software to recover data from my my failed drive and I got 99% of it.
so.. if you’re sure it is the hard drive- yank it out and buy one from best buy or online
But... if it is NOT the hard drive and there is a problem with the motherboard then it is almost easier to replace it (especially if it is more than a couple of years old) - they are almost like throwaways now.
Stil with a good nam like Dell and you will have fewer problems. I had had less luck with a toshiba i bought and i refuse to buy anything from HP anymore
ASUS is good n beefy but power hogs
I consider myself lucky if my daughters lasts for over a year before they break somethign or another
I bought a Samsung laptop last year. It lasted one month after the warranty. Then it shut off and would not turn on. Diagnostic tech said it was the motherboard and they could not get in info from Samsung on the cost of a replacement. It would probably cost more to try to fix it than it would be worth.
Samsung is on my list of companies to bypass for any future purchases. I had one of their DVR’s that only lasted a couple of years.
lol You could not give me a Dell. And, my HPs have been fantastic. I buy mine from Costco, so have a 2 year warranty and it is so easy to use. Yes, I had one problem with a laptop; sent it in and was back in less than a week, no cost at all on my part, they had it picked up from me. Oh, and when I called in to tech support, they spoke English! I was a happy camper. Dell, on the other hand, I am not even going to go into how horrible their (non)customer service is. Of course, your mileage may vary.
To the OP, if it is the hard drive, all should be well, as others have stated. Always back stuff up; have a schedule.