Problems with my Toshiba Satellite A105

I got this laptop maybe like a year or two ago, and it's starting to give me some serious problems. I think I left azureus on on it for too long once and maybe damaged the harddrive. Now, it makes a lot of noise when it spins and I can't really copy or move large amounts of data at once. I have to space it out to make sure the hard disk doesn't give me a disk cyclical error or redundancy error or something like that. Also, later, the sound has started stuttering, and I'm not sure what went wrong. So, judging from the symptoms, would it be wise to replace my laptop's harddrive? Is it hard to find the drivers for the components again? Also, is replacing the hard drive easy? I don't want to waste 90 bucks on a slow 2.5 hard drive and then just end up **** up the process

thanks guys

if you are still in warranty, might as well bring it to a toshiba authorize service provider for it to be checked and if you are in warranty the hard drive can be replaced. did you try calling the toshiba tech support? try calling this number 1-800-457-7777. they can help you on this.