Sorry to hear about your situation, MD. 45 minutes away? Might as well come to Charlotte and talk to Hendrick BMW. Their service departmetn is wonderful! Let me know if I can help you there.
As far as your hard drive. Unless you dunked it in a lake, a data retrieval company should be able to recover your stuff. It may cost you a couple of hundred bucks, though.
Dell, huh?
Good luck, and let me know if I can be of any help.
Juan