what does it mean if a HDD has bad sectors?

[Wildside]

i think mine does, i cant reinstall Vista Ultimate right, same error comes up:

http://www.techist.com/forums/f9/cant-reinstall-os-error-showing-up-169494/

when i put the disc in, restart, n then wait for the installation to load, it keeps on going black n if i press F8 where it says Windows Enabled n like try to restart to the last time of having a successful boot, this error shows up, which i have linked.

right now, the computer i used to use doesnt work because i was using a pirated Window XP Pro my dad had. The computer was really messed up, no drives or USB devices would work, OS was missing some modules. I need to get an OEM or Retail version of Windows XP Pro to fix it, then i can move my HDD to that computer, delete everything on it, move it back to my computer, n then the installation process works until............well it says the rest in the like i provided.

i was asked to use GParted LiveCD to take care of my problem but now i got no computer to use except my brother who wont let me even touch his because he is afraid of me giving him viruses (wuss).

now my question is, if it is after all my HDD that is causing the problem, what program/software/or freeware should i use to check for bad sectors of my HDD?Oonce i get a computer to use again that is.

 

[networkgeek]

i think mine does, i cant reinstall Vista Ultimate right, same error comes up:

http://www.techist.com/forums/f9/cant-reinstall-os-error-showing-up-169494/

when i put the disc in, restart, n then wait for the installation to load, it keeps on going black n if i press F8 where it says Windows Enabled n like try to restart to the last time of having a successful boot, this error shows up, which i have linked.

right now, the computer i used to use doesnt work because i was using a pirated Window XP Pro my dad had. The computer was really messed up, no drives or USB devices would work, OS was missing some modules. I need to get an OEM or Retail version of Windows XP Pro to fix it, then i can move my HDD to that computer, delete everything on it, move it back to my computer, n then the installation process works until............well it says the rest in the like i provided.

i was asked to use GParted LiveCD to take care of my problem but now i got no computer to use except my brother who wont let me even touch his because he is afraid of me giving him viruses (wuss).

now my question is, if it is after all my HDD that is causing the problem, what program/software/or freeware should i use to check for bad sectors of my HDD?Oonce i get a computer to use again that is.

Drivefitness Test

Download IBM - Hitachi Drive Fitness Test 4.12 - Quick, reliable method to test SCSI and IDE hard disk drives - Softpedia

burn to a bootable cd and bootinto it. let it run. It will tell you if the drive is failing.