I just ran Windows memory diagnostics and the Western Digital full diagnostics scan and both came back with no errors.
Looking around, seems like the crcdsk issue is common and caused by Microsoft recommended update that was issued recently.
Vista won't boot after windows update..help ! - Microsoft Windows Vista Community Forums - Vistaheads
can't find mention of which one it is.
I downloaded about 4 of them (broadcom netlink, richoh memory stick, creative tech/webcam, intel mobile chipset, richo picture card).
I could just remove all of them but when I go to the installed updates list the only ones that appear there are the Microsoft software related updates.
The hardware updates appear in the update history list though. Frustrating.
For some reason SP1 did not get installed as an update until just now. And now it seems like the hot boot is working.
In fact, everything seems to be fixed?
Not sure what it was, or how long this will work but it seems okay now.
The question will be, if it continues to work, do I still install the new hard drive from Dell when it arrives.
Then I'll have to reinstall everything all over again, and how do I know it will work?
I wonder if they ship refurbished drives as replacements, or if I am guaranteed to get a new one.
I am tempted to just go with this one, and if I have to spend $100 to get a new one down the road, so be it. It's not as if my time is not somewhat valuable.
I'll let you know how it works.
Thanks much everyone for your help and suggestions, I really appreciate it.
so in summary, the fix (if there was one) was just to finish reinstalling all the vista updates (including SP1) and reinstalling all the available drivers from Dell.