M14X BSOD/HDD Issues

This fall I purchased a used M14X (early 2011). It has been fine until the last few weeks. It started BSOD randomly. Kernal_data_InPage_Error. It boots fine, though a bit slow. 

I did install a Bluetooth dongle and had issues getting those drivers to install properly and the BSOD started around that time.

ePSA shows a 2000-0142 error/HDD failed both times I ran it.

Windows Defender scans will trigger BSOD

Dell online Diagnostics tool will trigger BSOD

After BSOD reboots, computer will sometimes not see the dedicated GPU and will require a shut down and reboot.

Analyzing the dump files with WhoCrashed says that it may be an 'unknown driver', though one BSOD yesterday says it was aswmonflt.sys (which is part of Avast!)

I opened it up and 2/3 screws holding the HDD are stripped. I think it may be from factory as the flap that holds the captive screw is bent and the friend I purchased from had never cracked it open. I did give the connector a nudge to make sure it was fully connected. 

I am a bit overwhelmed with all the info I've read online concerning this. Even though there is nothing irreplaceable on the drive, I'd prefer to 'fix' it if possible rather than replace. I have not run checkdisk yet as I read it can kill an iffy drive and I wanted to try to create a backup before I possibly kill it. AlienRespawn will not burn the disks (gives an error at almost 100% burn on 1st disk). I also don't know if I have all the disks that came with it to enable me to do a clean install of Win7. It only came with a Resource DVD.  

Any and all help would be appreciated.