Laptop problem

[The Last MeMe]

Basically my girlfriends laptop ha been running very slowly the laptop is only a year old and is not running like it should be, opening applications and running simple games like mine craft at med/high settings were no problem when she first got the laptop but now mine craft will barley run at 20 fps with the lowest settings. I've tested the system temperatures and based on what I've seen on the Internet it stays around temps that a laptop should be (40-45c) I also factory restored the computer and did an entire system scan with norton (hate all you want :p). Something else to note is that occasionally upon powering down the computer will make an odd grinding noise I took the back off and inspected the HD thinking it was that but couldn't really tell if much was wrong with it other than it was a shitty hitachi HD I also believed it could be the heat sink fan but after monitoring temps that doesn't seem to be the problem so now I'm thinking the HD might just need replacing. Any suggestions?

Also sorry for bad grammar etc.. Typed on my phone.

EDIT: Forgot specs

750gb 3gbs HD

6gb RaM

I5 2450mn

Integrated intel graphics (not sure which series)

Laptop was made by asus so it's not some piece of shit

[Snapy1]

Try installing the latest drivers, whats your CPU, I'll even do as much as find them for you. 

[pcman2000]

Run CPU-Z, is the CPU throttling?

[Warcony]

Like pcman2000 said, run cpu-z and check for throttling.  This might indicate thermal issues that are not being shown by temperature readings. Also would explain the grinding noise.

 

The hard drive could be dying which can slow performance and also cause the grinding.

 

Try running another virus/malware scan using something other than Norton just to double check. Make sure all drivers are updated to the most recent.

[bartekxx12]

Could be a virus but it sounds just like what happens to every computer with a hard drive after some time, I would replace the hard drive with an SSD if you can. 

[AirFie]

Could be a virus but it sounds just like what happens to every computer with a hard drive after some time, I would replace the hard drive with an SSD if you can. 

I'm with this guy