our taxes are due back next week and dh always gives me some to spend on whatever I want.....this time I was planning on a Singer 201. I've been looking and looking. Wouldn't you know it....something else has to come up? My computer is on its last leg. Its a laptop and only 3 years old but the hard drive is on the fritz. Yesterday it saw my external drive, read parts of it, wouldn't print, wouldn't do anything with my word program, and just generally went bonkers for a few hours. Then by last night it was fine. So I guess when taxes come in I get to go buy a new computer. It will be a desktop as I can work on those! I'm just grateful we'll have the money to replace it! Now just pray this one holds out another week!

Back up your hard drive TODAY. Or at least copy your really important files.

Consider it a warning sign - like before a massive, fatal heart attack.

You can work on your laptop, too! It isn't generally too hard to replace a laptop hard drive. Google the model of your laptop and "repair manual" or "replace hard drive" or something along those lines. There is probably a manual or guide somewhere on the internet that can walk you through it step by step.

This website is a great place to start: http://www.ifixit.com/

A new hard drive is much cheaper than a new computer!

As soon as you back up everything to an external hard drive or cd run a systems check via whatever virus program you have one it. It may be a virus.

BACK UP YOUR HARD DRIVE, NOW.

Then if you can, get a desktop. And perhaps you can get the bugs out of your laptop, thus have two working computers.

It is definitely the laptop....I'm on Linux so I'm sure its not a virus. I also have run the system software to check everything and its telling me hard drive is failing. I already have everything backed up and store most things on an external drive anyway. It wouldn't read the external drive but the kids computer would...I am going to look into replacing the hardrive but I really miss my desktop! Its harder to edit pictures on this laptop as the color is never quite right and calibrating it is impossible like I could on a desktop. I luckily still have my desktop monitor so will just have to get a tower. I've been running linux for about 6 years now and have never had issues like these either.

Don't be so sure its not a virus! I had to have my laptop repaired twice!!! in the past 2 months for a similar problem. Cost over a hundred dollars each time and the repair people said it was the same virus both times. Now I back everything I need up on an external hard drive. I have had McAfee for several years without any problems before this happened!