SkiAdcock

Murphy (as in Murphy's Law) is a freekin' optimist. If he were in front of me I'd run down the s-o-b.

Anyway, need your help!

Let me start by saying yes I know I need a new laptop & I plan on getting one, but I'm in the midst of moving homes & I have a major trade show in Amsterdam next week. Having major problems w/ mine & need input on how to get it solved/what I might have done wrong.

Let me repeat - I know I need a new laptop. Responses saying you should get one with no other input will not be helpful (although I realize they'll give you great glee). So please responses on what to do.

I've got an older HP w/ Vista running Chrome (yes I know I need a new laptop). It's old but it's worked basically. I normally run it plugged into a/c.

Sat aft I used it no problem. Put it in hibernate mode. Go to turn it on the next morning, and the power light & wireless light light up briefly/it makes a soft whirring noise for the split second the light is lit but doesn't start. Try multiple times. Nada. I had left the window open overnight & it was cooler/pretty humid, so it occurred to me moisture might have affected it. Close windows & run fan over it for 8 hours. It comes back on. Phew - or so I thought. That's Sunday.

Yest movers are coming, but I've still got wifi going at home w/ Uverse because I figure I'll check biz emails inbetween, etc. Yest morning seems to be working ok.

Yest aft the computer sounded as though it was running hard/hot & I can't get it to start. Finally dawns on me that I had unplugged stuff when we were moving the desk, so perhaps the battery's worn down to zip & it's in total shut down mode. Plug it in & it quiets down. I leave it alone for a while & just use my Kindle Fire HD.

When I arrive back this morning before packing up the wifi router etc, I go to check email & computer starts strange, but I finally get online. In between as I'm cleaning/transporting some more household items I'm putting it into sleep or hibernate mode. I have no idea if I pushed a wrong button or something but the lights at top of laptop remain lit. When I go into hibernate & then unplug it to take it down to the kitchen to access there, it starts making noise as though it's going to complete battery power & lights at top of laptop remain lit even though as far as I know it's in hibernate mode.

Since I haven't managed to get to Charter yet - and because I have a major trade show in Amsterdam next week for which I'm still prepping - I head to the library to get #s of dif utilities, return journalist emails etc. Turn computer on (plugged in) & found that it was still running (although blank screen) while I was driving so down to 7%. So if it's supposedly in hibernate mode why did it run down the battery? Plug it in & it starts charging quickly. Log on to library's network. And while it says I'm connected, I can't access any website, email, nada. Disconnect, reconnect, doesn't work. I really need to be online! Restart the computer, connect again - still says connected but can't access internet. Shut down the computer vs just restart. Still not able to connect to internet.

Something about not able to connect to DNS server. I try some of the troubleshooting it suggests. Nada. Then I get a message saying plug in via Ethernet to local connection - uh, I'm at the library w/ wireless.

So I click on shut down the computer. It seems to shut down - except the lights are lit at the top (they normally aren't when shut down) & I'm pretty sure if I unplug it even though it's alledgely shut down, it's going to think it's on & will wear down the battery again.

Did I push a wrong button? Why is it acting back-asswards? Yes I know I need a new laptop, but I need to get this one to work for another 2 weeks.

Any help gratefully appreciated. And when we hopefully can this thing working again for a brief time you all can laugh at me then. Right now I just need advice on how to get it to work properly & not backwards.

Cheers.