PLEASE HELP .... Tosiba hard drive problem or dead ???

Hi ... I never had a hard drive die before.  So I am not sure how this would occur.  Not sure if I purchase a new Toshiba hard drive would solved the problems I am coming across.
I am using a Toshiba MX4019GAX 40GB h/d for my notebook for about 5 1/2 years.
Error Message#1: 
 Intel(R) Boot Agent FE v4.1.09
   (c) 1997-2002, Intel Corporation
   Intel Base-Code, PXE-2.1 (build083)
   (c) 1997-2002, Intel Corporation
   PXE-E61: Media test failure, check cable
   PXE-M0F: Existing Intel Boot Agent
   Operating System Not Found
This is partially solved.  But comes back after a couple of crashes and sometime when I turn on the notebook. 
After selecting F10 for BIOS boot setup, hard drive is listed as first selection.  The "Primary Master" shows "none" every now and then.  Sometimes it will pick up and list the Toshiba hard drive.  I did see the Toshiba drive listed with garbage (!!!! after Toshiba MX4019GAX) a couple of times.  Already opened the HDD drive bay and checked connections/tighten cable.  Looks okay to me.
Problem #2:  Notebook crashes while I'm on the internet.
Error:  States a serious error has occurred and the system will shutdown
to prevent serious damage (the dreaded blue screen).
After restarting the notebook.  I get ..... Cannot find file .... c:/windows/system32/config ....
So I reinstalled the prepackaged windows xp os through setup along with drivers and application programs.  It worked for a while and then crashes again.  I reinstalled again, then I get the error ....
Problem#3:
Error:  Faulty driver discovered by plug and play.
Blue Screen tech info: Setup: 0x000000CA (0x00000001, 0x812c5B10, 0x812c5E30, 0,x000000000)
Now I cannot even get to windows.  I also disable plug and play through the BIOS
setup.  I still cannot get to windows.
Problem#4  While going through Windows setup ........
Error:  Windows XP require a hard drive volume with at least 492 megabytes of free space ....... Setup was unable to locate such a drive with the required amount of free space.
I just get a blinking cursor on a black screen now.
IS THE PROBLEM THE HARD DRIVE?
I did not hear any rattling or loud noises like most users do. 
Question #1:  How do users usually know a hard drive is dead?
Question #2:  What occurances tells a user that a hard drive needs to be replaced (what do the see happen on the screen)?
Question #3:  Are users coming across the same problems I am having (are these the signs)?
Question #4:  Checking the C:\ with DOS .... why don't the full 40GB show.  Only see a 100,000+ bytes listed.
Please advise.  Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Everything you are seeing is indicative of a failing hard drive.  Ensure that you have backups of any critical data immediately before it fails completely.  Then replace the drive.

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