Boot problems with Windows Vista Ultimate

Okay guys this one has me stumped. I recently inherited a laptop from a friend that is fairly new and in decent shape. The laptop, a Toshiba Tecra A9, has Windows Vista Ultimate installed. The problem that I seem to be having with the laptop is that it will boot into Windows in normal mode but gets to a certain point and then hangs up. I can hear the hard drive trying to spool and keeps making a faint but noticable clicking noise, similar to that of a record that is skipping. The funny thing is that I can turn the machine off and reboot in safe mode w/ networking without any problems whatsoever. I tried a fresh hard drive thinking the problem might be a faulty drive, however, the new drive does the same thing. I installed Vista through the Toshiba recovery CD, and upon starting for the first time Windows froze, the new hard drive making the same noise as the old. Anyone out there have any ideas why this is happening? Installing a brand new hard drive and having the same problem leads me to believe it's either Windows related or I am having another hardware issue elsewhere on the machine. Thanks!!

OK
Probably a program or a driver
Try clean boot. If it boots correctly follow instructions to determine what program causes the problem
How to troubleshoot a problem by performing a clean boot in Windows Vista or in Windows 7

If it does not work with clean boot, repost.

Thanks for the advice Rich! I've ran a clean boot on the system and it looks like the Toshiba HDD protection service is definitely the culprit. I'd like to use the new drive that I got and so far have not been able to get into Windows since installing the software from the Toshiba recovery discs. Seeing as the HDD protection service is installed as part of the recovery package, is there a way to either install a clean version of Vista without the HDD protection service? Setup has not completed on the new drive due to the fact that the problematic service is running while setup is completing.

I hope that you can boot in safe mode, and follow these instructions.
This will be the best way if it works.
How to Remove Toshiba HDD Protection Removal

Seeing as the initial setup did not complete in normal mode, will Windows allow me to finish installation of Vista in Safe mode? That seems to be the problem now - finishing the installation so that I can get in and stop the HDD protection service from running on startup.

If you are using the install DVD, you can boot from the DVD.
Set BIOS to boot from DVD and not HD.
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/205005-boot-priority-change.html

Thanks so much for your help Rich! I was able to get into Windows and stop/remove the service from the laptop and all seems to be running well. Thanks again for the help!