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Would this mean a little problem or a bigger one? An insurance job or a tweak?
There's probably no way to tell, until you have a tech inspect it. And even then, they could easily miss an intermittent problem. Sounds to me like a broken trace, rubbing parts/wires/broken connectors. Definitely a hardware problem. Software is not damaged by physical damage. Hardware is rarely damaged by virtual damage.

Take it to a reputable tech who can run it as long as it takes to malfunction (hours, days, startup, shutdown, restart, etc.). If you wait long enough, it will probably die and take most of your data with it.
