Cannot Upgrade to Mountain Lion - SMART Errors (Failing)

Hey everyone,
I received a 17" MB Pro as a gift in April 2011, until then I was a Windows user.  I always kept the software up to date (currently running 10.6.8) and tried to minimize the amount of "junk" on the computer. The MB has been working incredibly until about a month or so ago.  Programs would freeze which would lead to the whole computer freezing up and needing to get restarted.  Then the next issue was that the computer would take almost 20 minutes to boot up, sometimes taking several attempts.  I talked to a friend, who said that the OS probably needed to be upgraded.  So, figuring it needs to get upgraded regardless, I purchased and downloaded Mountain Lion.  I went to install it and got an error saying that it cannot be installed because of S.M.A.R.T. errors.  Opened up Disk Utility, clicked on the HDD (TOSHIBA MK7559GSXF 750.16 GB) and the S.M.A.R.T. status reads "Failing".  So, from what I've read, there is nothing else I can do to fix it and the HD needs to get replaced.  I believe my computer is out of the warranty period and I do not believe there is Applecare for it.
Can someone confirm this true?  What is the best replacement for my HD, the same Toshiba drive or something different?  Does anyone have any step by step instructions for backing up and replacing the HD?  I've read threads on getting a USB adapter for the new drive and doing a  "Carbon Copy", but I just want to be sure.
I've backed up and reformatted PC's and laptops with Windows, so I'm not a complete moron when it comes to understanding technical stuff and performing detailed tasks.  However, because this is uncharted territory for me, I just want to make sure all of my bases are covered.
Please let me know if you need any more info from my end.
Thanks everyone!

Melvin Richards wrote:
Thanks for all of the replies everyone.  I had to put the HD replacement on hold for a bit and now I have a new problem.  It seems like the HD took a turn work the worse and now when the computer starts up (usually takes 10 minutes), Finder doesn't work and comes up in the force quit menu as "Not Responding" and will not "Relaunch".  So my question is, when I upgrade to a new HD, are there any special steps I'll have to take to get all the info off the HD that is dying?  Or just hook up and drag & drop?  Any other advice?
Ouch!
Since you have experience backing up PC's, you have or have access to external drives. I'd advise backing up your drive to one ASAP. Since your MBP came with Snow Leopard (that 17" monitor is pretty cool, isn't it?), you should have the installation DVD. If you boot from the DVD, one of the utilities you'll have accessible is Disk Utility and you can use it to format the external for Mac with a GUID partition table. Then, you select your failing drive in the left panel and click the Restore button in the right panel. That drive will appear in the "Source" field and you can then drag you external to the Destination field. Click Restore and let it run. If the internal cooperates, you'll have a complete backup on the external, with whatever damaged parts, as dmdimon points out.
Once you have the new drive installed, install Snow Leopard from the DVD, and when Setup Assistant starts, you can choose what, if anything you want to transfer from the backup you've just made. This article goes into some detail on that http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4413#3 The advantage here is that the operating system will be a fresh install, not what may be scrambled on your current drive.

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