Originally Posted by eroticsexxx

It does sound a bit like a hard drive failure or a bad cluster that isn't being read.

First things first...Get into safe mode and try to back up all the files you can on a thumb drive or usb hard drive.

Next...Some brands of laptops have built-in system diagnostics which can be selected from the boot menu (pressing f12 or some other designated function key). This feature will allow you to check the hardware in the laptop before windows is even booted. Run that diagnostic to get a conclusive result.

If it is the hard drive, bear in mind that all hard drives will inevitably go bad. Anything from power fluctuations to physical jolting can speed up this impending failure, but in the tech world it can often be the luck of the draw with particular brands - especially with manufacturers who are intent on maximizing their profits while minimizing inventory costs.

My philosophy: Backup, backup, backup.