Was your old laptop running Windows XP? My desktop is seven years old, was running XP, and had started to slow down significantly and crash on occasion. Recently reformatted the hard drive and loaded Win7 Pro. It is like a new machine, zipping merrily along. Will soon reformat the laptop too. It is running Vista, which I detest greatly.
Regarding the blacked out screen, as suggested connect it to a desktop monitor. Then you'll see what you need to transfer. Even if you temporarily use someone else's monitor.
The "motor inside" is just a cooling fan or two. Fans can wear out. Fans might need replacing. These keep the computer cool enough for it to do its job. If it gets too warm, the computer might slow down. Be sure your new laptop can breathe, don't use it on a soft surface. Make sure the air vents (usually sides or back) can draw in cooler air and expel the warm air.
CD or DVD player...both of the ones in my 7-year-old desktop continue to work. They can be affected by a dusty environment. Unlike a vinyl record being played by a needle, CD/DVD players user an optical reader. Did your player stop spinning or reading the disk inside? Sometimes these drives need "cleaning". Sometimes they need re-aligning. If the optical reader gets misaligned it may not read the CD well.
Sleep mode doesn't wear anything out.
Your new HP likely has a 750GB hard drive. A hard drive is sort of similar to a CD/DVD in a hard shell case. Sort of. Files are physically saved on the drive.
How much RAM (memory) does your new HP have? When you run a program, memory might be used to make the program function efficiently. It's a temporary storage place. Sort of like your brain. When you shut your computer off, the memory doesn't retain too much. If you run numerous memory-intensive programs at once, then things might slow down a bit. For most folks, 4GB memory is enough. Gamers might want four or eight times that much to run their programs well.
Also, set yourself up with a back-up system. Hard drives fail. If you value what is on your hard drive, then back it up. Include your favourites in the backup. An external back-up drive can be purchased for much less than $100.
Hope I explained this simply enough.
