dell 9400 hdd or hdd controller

[space_cadet]

ok my bro gave me his old fubar dell inspiron 9400.. im not used to trying to fix laptops. but after countless bluescreens of death and figuring out how update bios from cd.. i'm still getting vista/xp hanging during set up(bluescreens). or the "no boot sector on disk"

ok think my laptop hdd controller has gone.. so instead of binning £1k laptop im wondering if i stick the hardisk in an encloser can i get it working from usb.. will it be slower

any help, advice, ideas would be tasty

[space_cadet]

hmmmmmm did i post this in the wrong place