HP customer support

If I send my laptop in, should I take my hard drive out before I do?

I'm having problems with my screen, I suspect the connector between the screen and the motherboard. whenever I adjust the position of the screen, I'll get crazy multi-coloured horizontal lines, and sometimes if I just wiggle the table it is on, I'll get "static".

Also, if I do need to include my hard drive for them to repair the screen, will they refuse to repair it if it has Windows 7 on it (came with vista)

I've seen recommendations to take it out because there's a good chance you won't get your laptop back for months, and I've seen people who've said that HP refused repair on a broken screen hinge because the hard drive wasn't in the computer.

My laptop is under warranty for about a month... If they take too long to fix it or fail to fix it the first time, will they continue to honor the warranty for this specific issue until the problem is resolved?

Are there any HP reps on the board that can give me some special service so that I don't lose faith in this company?

DON'T EVER OPEN UP AN HP LAPTOP FOR ANY REASON IF YOU WANT A WARRENTY.

My buddy put extra ram inside of his laptop, and he started having issues with it (non-RAM related). After sending it in, HP said they wouldn't repar it, and he had to basically threaten suing them before they would replace the motherboard.

So then should I take the time to image my drive and reinstall vista?

Yes. Save valuable files, wipe it, reinstall stock OS to make hard drive factory condition. That way you won't lose files, and they are less likely to find slightly altered hard drive as an excuse for not fixing your laptop.