I fear my laptop might give out on me so may not be able to get back into respond, but although everything is seemingly working ok most of the time, when I switch on , the pc bleeps to itself which it never used to. Once on , the on off button flicks on off on off repeatedly. I thought I had a loose connection, so pushed home the 'plug' into the machine firmly , and promtly it closed down . It restarted in the same new way, bleeping to itself intermittently and then flashing the start button again. Also Ive noticed that from time to time, the task bar at the bottom disappears and I can see the desktop showing behind/underneath the webpage Im looking at. Looking at the front of the pc where the lights flash, all three lights are flashing in sync with the on off. The netgear lights though , are acting in their normal way.
Do you reckon my lappy is about to die? Its been doing it on and off for a week, but Ive ignored it as performance is the same , but last 24hrs the flashing has been permanent

Thinking it's gremlins, Venice. Mine has been playing silly games too. The screen has been fast flashing when on a web page, also things seem to move about and change, without me doing anything. It's ok at the moment, but I wonder if it's when these damned automatic updates are put into action, and if you don't give the OK then it plays havoc with you until you agree.

That seems to happen in normal everyday life too!

You could try going into BIOS settings on start up and from there into PC health check. It might indicate the problem.
To get into BIOS , start up and look for the key to enter BIOS,could be FI or ESc depending on make and model. You don't have much time to see this but if you miss it try again.

You say laptop--Does it run on battery power ok or only when plugged into mains power. Might help identify problem if ok on battery power. My desktop gets the gremlins when batteries in keyboard or wireless mouse are running low

I usually use it plugged in fish, so Ill try it without. Right now , its behaving and not flashing! sods law! granny I keep ignoring the the plea to agree to windows 10, (which I click off) maybe youre right and its trying to force my hand lol.
Salmon, Ill try that and see what happens.
Thanks to all of you .

Have you dropped or banged it lately .it could be a loose hard drive or ram, look up beep codes for your type of laptop that will Gove you an idea

No I havent dropped it , but I do pick it up by its 'lid' to move it sometimes which probably I shouldnt . Ive looked up the BIOS codes ,and its looking like possibly its flagging up a minor problem . Its behaving totally normally today with and without being plugged in , so Im looking first at the AC adaptor, need to do a few tests when it starts playing up again. Thanks.

Could be a battery fault, remove battery and boot up with just main power if that's ok
then you need to disable battery (remove terminals) or buy a new one

Thanks tommy, Ill be trying all this stuff.

Thanks everyone, Im pretty sure now its the AC adapter ,as it behaves perfectly without it , and now Ive plugged back in, its misbehaving , so Ill get that sorted out soon. Its fine as long as I sit still and take it out before I move , but that can only be short term.

Make sure it's not the DC connection (the part where the AC adapter connects into the laptop).

I've seen lots of laptops where the customer (I'm no longer in this industry, so no advertising from me!) has purchased a new adapter, only to find that the laptop's DC connection is the sole cause.

Thanks , Ill look into testing that bit with someone elses.

Plug the AC adaptor into the laptop, then put the adapter to your ear. If you can hear it making a soft click or tick in sync with the flashing light on the lappy, the adapter has failed and needs to be replaced.

. Currys are out of stock of the adapters, and the ones on Ebay are through Argos which also takes nearly a week by the time someone has got it to their branch of Argos, and Argos to the branch near me, so Im hopping along charging it just for about 10 seconds at a time by wiggling the wire! Its getting worse by the minute . Ive had the battery in and aout again but makes no difference . The plug into the laptop is really wobbly , but even holding it firmly in pone position , I still lose connectivity .
Could it possibly be the bit inside the laptop, which receives the jack plug (or whatever its called) that is faulty ?Is that something that happens/can happen?

Mike , thanks for your suggestion.I put it to my ear as you said, and during the seconds the power is flowing through , theres no noise, and whenthe power supply fails, theres a high pitched continuous singing noise, but no ticking.

Try having a look on Amazon Venice.By any luck you might get next day delivery.
Just to add that you will probably have to pay extra.
Good luck x

Tandy or Staples maybe?

<quote>Mike , thanks for your suggestion.I put it to my ear as you said, and during the seconds the power is flowing through , theres no noise, and whenthe power supply fails, theres a high pitched continuous singing noise, but no ticking</quote>

Sorry, ignore last post. Edit time expired before I could fix it. Grr.

The adapter itself is probably ok, but the cable from it to the laptop, or the socket on the laptop itself, is faulty. It may have broken at the point where it exits the adapter or where it enters the laptop plug. From the sound of your description it's the latter. It's usually caused by people winding the cable around the adapter for storage and this breaks the inner cable at stress points (where it exits the adaptor or at the point where it enters the laptop plug), or the socket in the laptop has become loose and needs re-soldering (this is the most likely problem.)

You mustn't use any old adaptor as a replacement or you risk wrecking the laptop. The adapters are made in bulk by a few manufacturers and supplied to various laptop builders who put their own brand on. But it's important to get the right one - voltage and polarity are both critical, and some have a special ID chip to prevent cheap third party ones from being used.

There are still gremlins ! This morning I have two different images on Google......how ?