Hard Drive Failed - Lost EVERYTHING!

I have, a few times. I'm surprised that your laptop hard drive lasted as long as it did. I use mine A LOT, so I replace the hard drive once a year or so. I know that's kind of extreme, but it's cheaper than the down time. Besides, hard drives are pretty inexpensive now. I also do regular backups of my important files, but you still have to re-install everything when the drive goes belly up, so avoiding it is worth it.