Issues make comp unuseable - Overheating/ Validation&Error 0xD0000006

[PocketTrumpeter]

Issues make comp unuseable - Overheating/ Validation&Error 0xD0000006

Hello all, unsure where this thread is best placed so have put it in general.

I've owned an Acer Aspire 5755G with Win 7 Home 64 bit for around 2 years now. I've had to replace the keyboard and battery in it during these two years, but otherwise the machine has performed very well with everything I've tried to do with it (inc. modern video games, graphic manipulation, audio recording, internet browsing). Yesterday, however, it began to have a variety of problems and is now practically unuseable.

Firstly, the machine suddenly became very sluggish, struggling to simply navigate Windows Explorer, even simple tasks like opening Firefox caused it to hang. At the same time, the machine began to overheat, feeling as hot as it would do when I was playing a contemporary video game despite my not trying to do anything beyond browsing the files and folders.

I went into a madcap attempt to backup some key data onto an external HDD, and while I was doing this performance slowed even more, with hanging becoming very frequent. Part-way through this, I noticed a message appear in the bottom right hand corner of the desktop, which said 'Error 7601 - Installation of Windows not Genuine'. I'm 100% sure it is, it came preinstalled from the manufacturer, and it hasn't ever been away for repairs or anything where the installation could have changed.

After this, the desktop wallpaper vanished/deleted itself, and a dialog box flashed up telling me something had changed with my installation and Windows should be reinstalled. It was not long after this that my files finished copying, and I powered down and went to bed.

Today I turned the machine on and logged in to my usual non-admin user, but the 'logging in' display lasted considerably longer than usual, and ultimately no desktop/toolbar loaded. Just the cursor, the 7601 error message, and a black screen. Pressing CTRL-ALT-DEL brought up another error message that stated that the copy of Windows was not genuine, and quoted the code 0xD0000006. All the while the laptop was running with a temperature you would expect from high-end video gaming, as opposed to having no applications running.

Safe mode, meanwhile, does bring up the desktop and Windows Explorer and everything, at least when logged in as administrator, and currently functions at the very slow speeds I experienced yesterday, though it was still fundamentally useable. Again though, the laptop was very hot throughout.


I'm wondering if this is a hardware failure, possibly to do with the HDD, Motherboard or Fan (Which has been working only intermittently)? Whatever the case, what should my next steps be? I'm very wary of using the machine too much when it is this hot, in case it damages other components.

Thanks

 

[Boozad]

Try running chkdsk, it sounds like your hard drive is about to die. http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/433-disk-check.html

 

[gregrocker]

In addition work through the Troubleshooting Steps for Windows 7
to deal with the overheating, possible other infection and/or OS corruption, etc.

You'll know the exact problem(s) and possibly resolve them by the time you work through all of the steps.

 

[PocketTrumpeter]

It's been trying to run chkdsk for over a day and hasn't at all made it past 10% of the check.

 

[gregrocker]

Boot the hard drive diagnostics CD for your hard drive model to run extended scan. This will tell you the exact condition of the hard drive. If it fails replace it and do the clean reinstall from link below.