Computer Freezing then Reboot CHCKDSK

I have a 6 month old Gateway M-6866 - Windows Vista 32bit. Everything was fine until last week my computer started freezing within 5 minutes of normal activity. The only way I could shut it down was to press the off button. Then I'd get the whole CHCKDSK thing and it would be up and running again, and then the cycle would repeat itself. I tried to restore to a previous good setup. I also tried to run a backup on a separate drive, but everything freezes before I can run the backup. I attempted to deleted all games and believe I accidentally deleted a registry file. Then I started getting error messages. Now I'm afraid to even turn it on, as this wouldn't be the first computer that I've lost ENTIRELY!

Before calling a Techie in and paying huge amounts of money - I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions of something I could try. I know a little, but am completely a novice at anything to do with hardware (I do have a warranty if the hard drive is shot - but am hoping it's something I can fix). I have a copy of RegCure I could use, but am worried about even trying that.

Any suggestions would be great! Thanks!

Try booting to safe mode (press F8 during startup) and running the machine that way long enough to see whether the same lockup occurs. The outcome is significant, so if you update this thread with the result someone may be able to help you further.