Laptop Boot up Issue

Hey!

I current own a ASUS M51SN-AP003G

Specs for it are;

CPU: Inter Core 2 Duo T9500 2.6GHz
RAM: 3GB
HDD: 250GB
Screen: 15.4"
Optics: HD DVD player
OS: Vista Ultimate
Graphics: 512MB Dedicated Geforce 9500M
Additional Features: Intel Santa Rosa Platform (Centrino),Hybrid tv tuner, Express Card, Carry Bag, Mouse and Router.
Warranty: 2 Years
Hybrid tv tuner

I boot up the laptop and it gets passed POST, and when it try's to boot into Vista it just blanks out and after about 10 minute resets. I tried safe-mode and it froze up on disk.sys. I managed to get it to load the Vista recovery DVD ASUS supplies, (took about half an hour to load up, is this normal?).

My question is, do you think my windows has corrupted itself or maybe the HDD? Should I try and take out the HDD and plug it in my comp (or put it in a 3.5" bay for external) to try and access it (not too sure on this as will it void the warranty, + can you put laptop HDD's in comps without anything special?). A lot of university stuff is on there, not needed but would like to try and save so yeah =P.

thank you if you can answer any of my questions!