Ridiculous Vista Freezing

[GalinKinlin]

I just did a clean install of Vista Home Premium (which had this problem before, though not nearly as severely).
I have no clue what I'm running, since this was a gift. I know I'm SP2 64 bit, fully updated.

So, I'm going about my business, installing Zune software, when Vista freezes. This freeze means my computer stops doing things, but I can still move the mouse, and it even changes things as I hover over them with the mouse. But, should I click anything, it will freeze that too. ctrl+alt+delete does nothing, nor does any other command. I held the power button and forced a shutdown. (This has happened many, many, many times before, usually while doing an install, though not always)

I turn on the computer, and it asks what I want to boot in. I choose boot normally, and it asks if I want to do a disk check. I say no, since the time I did do a disk check did nothing. I get to the login, click on my username... And it freezes. The same way. Angrily, I restart. Four times. Each time I get caught at roughly the same area. (Once I managed to log in, but never get past the welcome screen.) I restart it again and let it run the disk check... Except, as soon as it says "Windows will now check your disk" it stops. And freezes. In a fit of rage I restart, and try again. Same thing. I boot up in safe mode. It works, but I'm really not sure what to do, so I restart. I get my install disks out, and try to go for a system restore. It says it can't restore the system until I do a disk check. So I let it schedule one, hoping that a normal restart might help things. It gets stuck again. I restart, and decide to give it one more try. It does the diskcheck. I cry happily for a few seconds, and then get back down to business. It recovers some orphaned files and fixes a few things, and begins booting. It comes to the login screen. It loaded with my username already clicked, so I cautiously type in my password, and hit enter. It freezes. I restart. Try again. It starts to log me in (welcome screen) and freezes.

I would really appreciate a few ideas to help here, and I'll try to find out what the laptop is running.

EDIT:
HP pavilion dv5-1000
dual core intel
nvidia graphics card
4 gb ram (if I remember right)

[BC_Programmer]

Hard Drive is failing.

[GalinKinlin]

How is that possible if this computer came with the problem? Was it just a faulty harddrive?

[BC_Programmer]

How is that possible if this computer came with the problem? Was it just a faulty harddrive?

Possibly. If it's still under warranty I'd invoke that warranty.

[GalinKinlin]

Swear word.

I'm a bit desperate, so I gotta ask. Are there any other potential causes for this besides a faulty hard drive?

[GalinKinlin]

HOLY BALLS.

Okay, I managed to do a system restore (god knows how).

I logged in.. I let it sit, and three minutes later, it LOGGED ON. So holy balls I'm excited.

Okay, okay. So does this mean the problem is not my HD? If so, could you tell me any other potential problems?

[patio]

To check the HDD dload the Free diagnostics from the drive manuf. site and follow the info on creating a bootable CD...
Run the Long test.

[Allan]

I choose boot normally, and it asks if I want to do a disk check. I say no, since the time I did do a disk check did nothing.

Then you are not using the repair switch. You need to run chkdsk /r (just running "chkdsk" serves absolutely no purpose). When properly run, checkdisk will ALWAYS report that it found and repaired one or more errors.

[dahlarbear]

Okay, okay. So does this mean the problem is not my HD? If so, could you tell me any other potential problems?

Possibly this...

I held the power button and forced a shutdown. (This has happened many, many, many times before, usually while doing an install, though not always)

[drivenbywhat]

I would follow Allan's advice. Your hd may not be failing but rather have some corrupt system files. The easiest way to check it is by opening MY COMPUTER > RIGHT CLICK THE C:\ DRIVE > SELECT PROPERTIES > CLICK ON THE TOOLS TAB > CLICK CHECK NOW UNDER ERROR CHECKING > CLICK CONTINUE > CHECK BOTH BOXES THAT COME UP. Restart your pc and let it do the check disk.

[Allan]

I would follow Allan's advice. Your hd may not be failing but rather have some corrupt system files. The easiest way to check it is by opening MY COMPUTER > RIGHT CLICK THE C:\ DRIVE > SELECT PROPERTIES > CLICK ON THE TOOLS TAB > CLICK CHECK NOW UNDER ERROR CHECKING > CLICK CONTINUE > CHECK BOTH BOXES THAT COME UP. Restart your pc and let it do the check disk.

Well, actually the easiest way is to go to START - RUN and type: chkdsk c: /r then press enter. You'll be asked if you want to run it on the next boot - say yes, then reboot.

[killerb255]

The "Run" command is not on the Vista (or 7) Start Menu by default.  Also if User Account Control is on, then it has to be run from an elevated command prompt.

So in this case, Start -> All Programs -> Accessories -> right-click "Command Prompt" -> left-click "Run as Administrator" -> beep -> click Accept -> type chkdsk c: /r

I forget about this a lot as well.

[BC_Programmer]

my favourite way to get to an elevated command prompt is faster- just use the search bar-

Windows Key, type "cmd" press the Application key, and then press "a".

Just thought I'd mention that, since I start it that way a lot.