Can't say if its the hard drive or not,can you access bios and see what the temps are?Its impossible to say if yoru data can be recovered until you know for sure the extent of the problem
Does the laptop get into windows or freezes up before?If its getting into windows and freezing up intermitantly it could well be a temperature issue
If it is and its not dying\dead fans something like this may help
http://www.expansys.com/product.asp?code=115162
Changing the hdd on a laptop should not be to difficult its just a matter of finding it
It may be simple and be on the side ,a draw will pull out and hard drive is there,ive also known then to be under cd rom,its just a matter of looking
loads of laptop hdds here
http://www.ebuyer.com/customer/produ...&subcat_uid=19