Gateway desktop HD/BOOT issue, replacing HD question

Hi all!

I tried searching the forum here but I'm a little confused by the different advice so I decided to start my own thread (I hope that is ok).

For starters, I am no computer genius but can read & follow directions so no problem providing whatever info you may need.

I have a Gateway DX4870-UB20P, purchased in Sept 2012, all oem, no upgrades or anything different than what came installed, with a Seagate ST1000DM003-9YN162 HD; 64-bit with Windows 7 Home Premium, Intel Core i3-2120 CPU

It's been working ok, no major problems until yesterday when it refused to boot into windows. After many hours of messing around with it, I finally got back into Windows. But for a recap, the basic problem was this:

Turn on PC at power button, get the usual "beep"

Gateway screen comes up that says press del for bios F12 for advanced (or something like that)

Windows screen comes up: black background with the 4-color pattern and that little bar running across the bottom that says starting windows

After about 10-15 seconds, the screen goes black, and a little message at the top says "reboot and select proper device" (not 100% certain what it says because it only lasts for a second)

Then it restarts with the "beep" goes back to the gateway screen with the del/F12 options and another screen pops up that gives me two options:
Start windows normally
Start windows repair (recommended)

Neither option was getting me anywhere so after searching online with a different pc, followed some advice & I used my Win 7 repair disc to get into repair console & open the command prompt.

Once in the command prompt I did the notepad trick to see if my stuff was still on the HD (it was).

I ran chkdsk, after 3 hours, it said it removed/replaced a file but at the very end it said Failed to transfer logged messages to the event log with status 50?

After many hours trying to figure it out, I used the DOS microsoft defender program to run a scan (just in case, didn't think there was a virus but never hurts to check). When the scan was complete and I selected exit, it unexpectedly booted into Windows!

First thing I did was run SeaTools and SMART passed but short failed with code AF66D6E2

I checked SMART using speedfan and got this page which shows some problems (I ran SMART about a week ago & everything was in the green)

Since the SMART indicates a HD problem, I assume I need a new hard drive, it's not something else that needs to be replaced? I figured if the HD is almost 4 years old, it's probably time for a new one

Since all my important information is on the drive, I am using our older desktop until the new HD is here to transfer all my files.

My questions are:

1. Will a HD like this WD at Amazon work with my desktop? I know it is blank but since the features are similar to my current Seagate, I am wondering if it will work with my Gateway?
2. Reinstalling Windows......can I install my current operating system onto a new hard drive? I've read a dozen threads about it and can't seem to figure out exactly what I need to do. Do I create a system image, save to my external HD and use that with the system repair disc on a new WD HD? Or do I have to buy a retail version of Windows 7?

Sorry for all the noob type questions, with a limited budget and no experience replacing a hard drive, I want to be sure I am going everything correctly.


I appreciate any help you can provide!!

:)

Thanks for the reply (and info re: SSD).

Is Macrium free easy to use? Anything special I should be aware of if I use it to clone my old hd & win7 to a new blank hard drive? I've never done this before, and I'm a little bit

I do appreciate your help!