I’m pretty sure there is something wrong with the hardware in my computer but have no knowledge of computer hardware so I thought someone here might be able to help me work out what might be wrong with it. Before I explain what has happened/is happening, I just want to say that the computer has been scanned thoroughly with Avast (boot time and full scan) and Malwarebytes Pro weekly and Windows has been clean installed several times after deleting partitions so I find it highly unlikely that the system is infected.
I bought this laptop just over two years ago and a few months later problems started to develop. First of all, the hard drive light would flash constantly and I could hear the hard drive sort of ‘overworking’ intermittently when the system was idle. I thought there might be a problem but it wasn’t causing any major disruption so I scanned the system, found no infections and just ignored this minor problem. This has continued since then and is happening as I am typing this message.
A few months later (about a year ago) flash stopped loading in web browsers (mainly Firefox) and the system ‘froze’ occasionally usually when it had to load a significant amount of data. There were also problems with the Avast sandbox. After searching the internet for help, nothing I found or could think of would solve these problems. I then upgraded the system from Windows 7 to Windows 8, thinking (foolishly) that it might solve these problems. Well, the problems with flash and Avast sandbox disappeared but all the other problems remained. Shortly after upgrading, maybe a month or so after, every time I switched the laptop on it would make a very loud beeping noise and other weird noises before Windows started to load and occasionally Windows did not load at all and I had to switch off the laptop by holding down the power button. After a few days, this seemed to sort itself out and hasn’t happened again since.
The more minor problems, the occasional freezing requiring the system to be switched off manually via the power button and the hard drive light flashing constantly have persisted and a couple of weeks ago I did a boot time scan and found two CRC data errors which I sorted out with the help of this forum. Then today, the system froze and a very loud noise came from inside the computer and didn’t stop until it was switched off.
I think there is something seriously wrong with this computer and I don’t why most of the time it operates as if there is absolutely nothing wrong with it other than the hard drive light flashing constantly. Any help from anyone here to work out what is wrong would be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your time and help.
Thank you Pondus and bob3160 for your replies. I have attached the logs to this post. I didn’t try running the scan from aswMBR.exe as it says on the other thread that it’s not compatible with Windows 8.
Can i just confirm that it’s safe to post the information from the logs online?
OK, thanks. Can someone please answer: is it safe to have posted those logs from OTL publicly on this forum? I mean could someone use the information maliciously to hack into my computer or something?
OK now it is more complex as it will entail looking inside the computer and reseating all the components and clearing out any dust bunnies
While you are thinking about that we will power drain the computer
1.Disconnect all peripheral devices and remove all USB devices and media cards. You want to test the computer not the accessories!
2.Disconnect the AC power adapter, remove the battery, and then press and hold the power button for at least 15 seconds .
3.Reconnect the AC power adapter (but do not connect the battery), Press the Power button, Look for glowing LEDs near caps lock and num lock keys, and Listen for sounds of a disk drive and fan turning.
4.If that looks good then insert the battery and try a normal boot
I will try this. However, now that you mentioned media cards, I just remembered that the last time I clean installed Windows 8, the problem with the hard drive light flashing constantly stopped until I installed the memory card reader drivers (which were the only drivers not to be automatically installed) and then the problem seemed to instantly reappear. I don’t know if this is of any significance.
Just one question about the process: On number 3, do I switch on the AC power adapter at the mains before pressing the power button?
The laptop booted up as normal as if the battery was still connected (didn’t know it could do that ;D), I didn’t see any glowing LEDs near caps lock or num lock but the sounds of the disk drive and fan seemed to be normal. The hard drive light still continued to flash non stop and is still doing so now with everything reconnected.
