Sounds like a hardware problem and your solution may well be the best one.
For your info.. I'm typing on a Toshiba C55D-A5381. THis is a 1.4 Gig AMD, 4 GIG ram 500 GIG HD 15.6 Display full 101K plus KB (105 I think) Windows 8.1 box.
Deal of the week last month at Staples 250 bucks. (I think it's 400 now)
The HD alone is 350.
I had one program I tried that did not work... Did not try in compatiility mode. and Free Cell, Solitair and the other games I play are much different now.
But I'm starting to really like this box.