computer_dummy
New Member
Hey, all. I want to be as specific as I can with my problem. I know it's a long read, but for the love of God, I'd appreciate it if anyone could tell me what's going on or offer some insight.
I have an IBM Thinkpad R40.
On Thursday, all of a sudden I saw 'wavy' lines going diagonally on the screen before the screen froze. Having no other option, I had to use the power button to turn the laptop off and on again. Things were fine for a very short while (one hour?) but the wavy lines came again and the screen froze. After repeating the process a few times, eventually, I couldn't even open any documents and everything was moving really, really slowly. I couldn't open My Documents, Internet Explorer, or even my Recycle Bin.
I took the laptop to my school repair shop and the guy said it seemed to be a virus or some sort of spyware. He explained he'd restore it (wiping everything out and starting over again) but he did manage to save a couple of documents I wanted to save.
Everything's moving fast again, but the screen has frozen four times already today. I wouldn't even mind if it would unfreeze a few seconds later, but it seems to stick and I have to resort to turning the power button off and on. I hate that because I feel it could mess the system up and it sometimes I have to wait a long while before Windows will actually boot up again.
So basically:
Anyone think the freezing and the inability to access any documents was related? I mean, since it's still freezing should I anticipate that I won't be able to get into my folders again?
Could it be a battery problem? Hard drive? I notice there is something that looks like a fan on the bottom and it sure is dusty, but would that affect freezing the screen?
Once my screen freezes, if I turn the laptop a certain way, the screen becomes wavy and if I move it another way, it's still frozen, but no more waves. I can't detect which part of the laptop is doing it though.
Any help is appreciated.
I have an IBM Thinkpad R40.
On Thursday, all of a sudden I saw 'wavy' lines going diagonally on the screen before the screen froze. Having no other option, I had to use the power button to turn the laptop off and on again. Things were fine for a very short while (one hour?) but the wavy lines came again and the screen froze. After repeating the process a few times, eventually, I couldn't even open any documents and everything was moving really, really slowly. I couldn't open My Documents, Internet Explorer, or even my Recycle Bin.
I took the laptop to my school repair shop and the guy said it seemed to be a virus or some sort of spyware. He explained he'd restore it (wiping everything out and starting over again) but he did manage to save a couple of documents I wanted to save.
Everything's moving fast again, but the screen has frozen four times already today. I wouldn't even mind if it would unfreeze a few seconds later, but it seems to stick and I have to resort to turning the power button off and on. I hate that because I feel it could mess the system up and it sometimes I have to wait a long while before Windows will actually boot up again.
So basically:
Anyone think the freezing and the inability to access any documents was related? I mean, since it's still freezing should I anticipate that I won't be able to get into my folders again?
Could it be a battery problem? Hard drive? I notice there is something that looks like a fan on the bottom and it sure is dusty, but would that affect freezing the screen?
Once my screen freezes, if I turn the laptop a certain way, the screen becomes wavy and if I move it another way, it's still frozen, but no more waves. I can't detect which part of the laptop is doing it though.
Any help is appreciated.
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