Milo:
Thanks for the info: I feared as much. Actually, I was under the impression that Acer systems - desktops, netbooks and laptops - were very reliable. I'm beginning to rethink that. The laptop in question was bought in April 2010. Thus it's out of warranty as I did not buy an extended one.
Perhaps I'll just take the hard drive out of it and install it in my Dell laptop. Both laptops use 2.5" 5400rpm SATA drives so compatibility shouldn't be an issue.
Thanks again.