Hey Mama,

Don't gateway have a system recovery disc that brings it back to a state like it was just delivered?

Also, it really sounds like your internal burner is dead or dying but I really would do a clean install of Windo$e to confirm that, including a full reformat of the hard disk.

Naughty, naughty though... You SHOULD be backing up "Those precious files" on a regular basis anyway.

What would happen if the hard disk died?