Mate, if the hard disk is making weird noises :buy a new drive and back up the data. You’re saying your parents are open minded, but it sounds a lot like you’re more afraid than they are. Buy a drive to backup the data and another to replace the existing one. While replacing, just install Debian with KDE Plasma desktop. It looks most similar to windows and even has windows themes. If you’re technical support, just make the decision and do it.