Can the SATA disk on G2S B1 be upgraded to a SSD?

Hi!

I had my G2S B1 since 2008, and I have been very happy with it, until lately when it started frequently hanging on boot. Initially, it would eventually boot after a few repeated attempts [w/ no clues found in the system events, since the boot would not complete, no boot log for the same reason]. But now, the problem got worse: I can boot only in safemode, and even so, sometimes it would hang after it loaded crcdisk.sys.

The 'hanging' OS is a Vista Home Premium 32b that came with the system (patched with SP2 and all up-to-date critical Windows Updates).

I also have a parallel install of Vista Ultimate installed on the secondary partition ( D: ), which still boots w/o any problems, but I cannot use this OS, since I already have it installed and activated on another machine, so I could not do a 2nd activation.

However, when booted into this parallel install, what used to be "C:" (the partition of the original install, which now hangs) is now seen as "D:". This "D:" drive is fully accessible by Explorer, but what shows now as "C:" (the partition with the Vista Ultimate from which I am booting) is only showing the Users folder, and if you try to browse to any other directory, I get some kind of error of access denied. Also if you check C:'s properties, it shows 0 bytes, and if you try to start anything on it [e.g. msconfig, or regedt32, or cmd, or any other executable, you get an error that the parameter is incorrect]. I would say this is a sign that the partition table is messed up, but it that were so, it would not be able to "sometimes" still boot in safemode.

I was able to start a cmd session on the D: partition (from the Windows install that does not boot), and in that session [run as admin] I was able access the C: files (which I was glad, because I have data files there!!), and I also ran a full checkdisk and a defrag of the D: partition. Chkdsk found only tree indexing problems, defrag was fine as well, but I still cannot boot.

So I have to conclude that it must be some damage to the disk affecting some OS or drivers files.... Therefore, I think it's time to buy a new hard disk, install a "Clean OS" [as opposed to using the Asus recovery CD], and also buy some SATA drive enclosure to connect the old drive and copy back what ever data files I want to keep. (I wrote the entire long description above, just in case somebody else might have other suggestions.)

Anyway, my current disk is the one that came with the system [Hitachi HTS722020K9SA00, 2.5" SATA, 1.5GB/s]. So I called ASUS tech support asking what SSD disks might be compatible with this system. To my surprise, the guy said that they they are not trained to make such recommendations, and I should get my laptop to some computer shop or store!!! I knew I could do that, but I also know that the prices online are usually significantly less than what I would pay in a local BestBuy store or some local computer shop.

So could anybody tell me if I can install an SSD to replace my current SATA, and if yes, then is(are) there any particular model(s) you recommend?. Also would anybody recommend a good SATA enclosure to buy for accessing my old drive via the usb/esata combo-port? (I found an older thread in this forum, recommending "HE-2521B", but I could not find any for sale right now, and I hope maybe somebody can recommend some other model).

Thanks in advance!