Thanks guys but I took it to a PC repair shop and they couldn't identify the problem, other than it is a hardware fault - apparently would cost £400 to fix (replacing entire mainboard)!!!
Luckily, it's covered on my dad's home insurance and it's being collected for repairs/replacement tomorrow.
I had tried the above solutions and more before taking it there.
Good to see the insurance option. Let us know whether a new laptop or new parts resolves it. :)
Yes that insurance has saved my life! (figuratively :P)
I'm kinda cheekily hoping for the chance to get a brand new laptop but obviously would be happy either way! I'd predict they'd go for the cheapest option but if it really does need entire new innards like the 1st repair shop said (which sounds like quite a big job, sourcing the replacement parts, getting the mainboard out and putting a new one in - when it's a laptop so all soldered in etc...) then maybe they might just think it's easier to get a new one!
One of the things I've learned via some laptop technicians don't set your laptop up to sleep as with many mainboards can fail to wake up or have other issues. Get in the habit of shutting down fully and booting normally any time you save using sleep will be wasted when the mobo burns up.
Never had a problem with laptops sleeping (at least, not since I stopped using 3rd party "optimization" tools). My girlfriend leaves hers on for weeks at a time without a shut down or reboot, and it runs flawlessly. Obviously, some laptops are better than others and there are going to be some lemons. Of course, it is not always just lemons that have issues. Sometimes the laptop just is not thoroughly tested and users essentially beta test them until the companies update drivers/software/utilities to resolve such problems.
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