...Will that (reinstalling) wipe everything off my HD? ...
Most things I've looked at like this (http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage.jsp?skuId=7633894&type=product&id=1134698319231) say it requires Windows.... Will the SLAX Windows emulator do the trick?
Yeah, I know, I will need to replace the HD.
Slax can indeed format the drive and seek errors, but so can Windows.Right. My suspicion is that the sectors are bad because of physical trauma. So if I can:
That's my plan. [highlight]I know it's flawed[/highlight], but I hope it's at least workable.