Bad Blocks certainly wouldn't help anything.
Are there any other odd symptoms with your machine?
We've had discussions here where Bad Block were serious and trivial.
If yours is the former, a Reformat would probably be a good idea.
Drive Setup: Checking For Bad Blocks
"Reallocation (sparing) of bad blocks that the ATA drive tracks will occur when the block is subsequently written to. Thus the best way to force the drive to reallocate bad blocks is to initialize using the write zeros feature. Use Test Disk to verify surface integrity only. Given this strategy, there on occasion may be a need to initialize using write zeros, verify using Test Disk and if any errors occur, attempt to reinitialize using write zeros again."
http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=24764After you installed the new stuff did you press the Cuda or Reset Button?
Have you done a thorough PRAM Zap on the machine?