Is my laptop on the way out?

[abbarich]

Hi, over the last couple of days I've noticed that the time on the display is not fully there.It just says 18: at the moment instead of 18:58. Also on windows media all the writing has disappeared. The music is still there but all the written info has disappeared. This came back yesterday but has now gone again today. Can anyone help? Do I need another laptop? How much longer have I got before this one packs up? It's a lenovo ideapad 100 and is about 5 years old. Thanks.

 

[Eximo]

Sounds like OS corruption. May just be a matter of re-installing Windows.

Download CrystalDisk Info, verify your drive is still healthy.

As always, monitor temperatures with something like Hardware Monitor.

Another basic thing to check is the health of the CMOS battery, it is responsible for maintaining the system clock. If it has gone flat, it may explain your clock issue, and even your information viewing issues. Without proper time, systems can do odd things.

 

[Lutfij]

What OS are you working with? Is it possible to parse the SKU for your laptop? You can use the serial number for your laptop on Lenovo's support site and see if you have any BIOS updates pending. On that note, if my search is right, you should be on a 5th gen Intel processor, and to me that seems relevant in 2021 as a daily driver with web browsing and typing tasks alongside YT, but it's not going to be chasing any benchmarks anytime soon.

 

[abbarich]

Thanks for the replies. I've just checked my video files and they are all there but all the identifying writing has disappeared there too. Something has happened here. I'll try your suggestions which may take me some time. I'm not much of a techy! I'll report back. Thanks.

 

[abbarich]

I've just downloaded CrystalDisk Info but I can't access it. The icon is on the toolbar at bottom of screen but when I click on it a tiny square appears on the screen with everything greyed out. Nothing is readable. Not sure what to do now.

 

[Eximo]

If you can manage to copy your files up to the cloud or to another external drive, you should do that.

Do you have another system? Now would be the time to take the drive out and back up anything you want to keep.

 

[abbarich]

If I buy another laptop will they be able to transfer my files from this laptop? How much longer do you think I've got before this laptop packs up? This problem started about 2 days ago.Thanks.

 

[Eximo]

You can try it. I don' t particularly trust the skills of most repair shops myself, and they will charge you for the privilege. Whereas if the only thing wrong is the OS, then you don't actually need new hardware.

Can you get to a website to copy your files to OneDrive, CarbonCopy, DropBox etc...That wouldn't require much but a small subscription fee or for most places an e-mail address/creditcard and a free trial.

 

[geofelt]

What might have changed two days ago?
I might guess a corrupted windows update.
See if you can't use system restore to reset back to a time when all was well.
I really doubt this is failing hardware.

If you value your data, make plans for some sort of EXTERNAL backup to protect it.

 

[abbarich]

Thanks for all your advice. I simply did a restart and all seems OK again, but I suspect this is only temporary. If the OS is corrupted this will happen again. Is doing a restore to say a week ago advisable? I've never had to do a restore on this laptop before but would this correct corrupted OS? Thanks.

 

[geofelt]

I am talking about a windows system restore.
Search for create a restore point.
There will be an app that allows you to undo system changes.
Under available drives, you want to see that protection is on.
It may not be since windows does not like you second guessing it and often turns system restore off.
If not on, I would turn it on.
Under system restore, you will see the last checkpoint.
If that is not sufficiently old, there is an option to list more restore points.
Whenever I do some sort of a system change, I take a user checkpoint before.

If not comfortable with this, google more about the process.
Here is one hit:
https://www.theverge.com/21266665/w...o-security-pc-software-registry-configuration

 

[abbarich]

Yes I did do system restores on my last 2 computers but this laptop has never played up before. Everything is still ok after I did a simple restart yesterday, but I will do a system restore as something did go wrong here 2 days ago. I'll let you know how I get on when I've had time to do this. Thanks for all the advice.

 

[abbarich]

It looks like my laptop is on borrowed time after all. I did a system restore back to a date before the problem started and all was OK for a while but the old problem is back whereby all the writing has disappeared on documents and windows media player etc. If I simply restart the laptop all is OK again, but only for a couple of days. I'll have to save stuff to cloud. Does anyone know how long a laptop lasts when it starts behaving like this? thanks.

 

[abbarich]

UPDATE. I did a system restore a couple of weeks ago and all seems well so far. A dodgy windows update does seem likely. Last night windows did the first update since the restore. Hopefully this is not the same update that may have caused the problem.