Hard reset - will it kill off my new harddisk?

My advice is to (as previously stated) back up your stuff either with 1.) DVD's or 2.) an external hard drive.

Yes, continually powering on and off your hard drive WILL shorten it's lifespan after a significant period of time. However, it takes quite a while, and hard drives today are more durable than the yesteryears.

And yes, you should wait to a count of ten I have heard. I am GUESSING that the electronics inside need to lose their charge. Probably when you first turn it on, there is little to no charge inside. It then is fully charged for a second when it gets a sudden rush of power (the initial turn on), but then subsides to 'normal' levels after it gets a continual source of power. However, if you turn it off, and then right back on, it has not gotten rid of the power it originally had AND has to deal with a full rush of power, possibly leading to 'overflow'. Now, this is just a GUESS of what is going on inside, someone with a better understanding of this can probably describe it better.

I would try to etiher 1.) reinstall Windows, 2.) check the RAm (as previously stated) and/or 3.) run some diagnosic tools to find out what is causing it to Blue Screen.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

*Cough* 3000 errors? Ouch. I think it's about time to replace the memory inside.

If you are feeling REALLY antsy, mayhaps you can:

1.) Bring it to a computer repair shop, tell them what you found, and tell them what you want them to do. YOu might also ask your local computer guru's at your high school/college/etc

2.) If they are unable to find the ram you need...buy it, and then bring to the shop following step 1.)

In truth, you may be in luck. If you can pull together about 500 U.S.D., you should be able to grab another laptop (holidays are coming up, and prices for laptops are falling). It won't be anything special, but it will get you by mostly with what you need to do.

There's nowhere I can't reach.