Accuracy/meaning of HP's Systems Diagnostics Tests When The Results Show Failure

[loanwoof]

A week ago this 5 year old notebook black-screened in the course of a normal usage session.  Safe mode reboot informed me of overheat.  I shut down.  Hours later, with the machine now cooled, I navigated to HP's Systems Diags.  Result of the Hard Drive Short DST test was failure.  Result of the Processor test was failure.  I shut down.

To see what would happen, I rebooted.  The machine ran as normal for an hour or so but then black-screened again in the middle of a Youtube How-to video -- this time providing an on-screen overheat warning.

I disassembled the notebook and cleaned the cooling system.  (The fan exhaust slots had been 95% clogged in the least). 

On reassembly, and for three or four days now, I have used the machine just as I've normally used it in the past.   It may be my imagination but the machine doesn't seem quite as quick as in the past; otherwise all seems to be okay.

Questions:  In the aftermath, I've rerun the System Diags again and received the same results.  Failures of the Hard Drive DST and of the Processor.

What am I looking at here?  A slow motion meltdown?  Do I need to start shopping -- like tomorrow?  Finally, what is the most efficient way of backing up the entire content of this machine's storage, (I mean my personal stuff),  in anticipation of need to transfer it to a new machine in the event of a blowup?

Thank you in advance for any advice.  (Also, please understand that my technical knowledge is limited).

[MKazi]

@loanwoof

A very warm welcome to the HP community. A very good day to you. 

I understand that you have an HP Pavilion g7-1310us Notebook PC. I understand that the laptop overheats and is slow. You have run the hardware test before and after cleaning the laptop and have got the same results. The Hard Drive Short DST test has failed and the processor test failed. Fabulous analysis. Spectacular diagnosis of the issue before posting. Kudos to you for that. You've done a remarkable job performing the steps. 

I would like to mention that the hard drive and the processor tests have actually failed and the laptop may stop working at any point in time. I suggest you to backup your important data to an external USB flash drive. You cannot save your programs. But you can save your files, images, documents and videos (if any). The more the data the higher. You may also refer to this HP document as it explains about data back.

You may refer to this HP article too which explains how to prevent the overheating of your laptop.

I suggest you to reach out to our HP phone support to explore the hardware service options for your laptop.

I hope this information helps. Please do not hesitate to reach out for any questions. Good luck! 🙂