Laptop problems

Testmann · October 29, 2013

So i was unsure about where to post this since i don't know for sure what is causing the problems. Feel free to redirect me to the proper forum if needed.

I bought a Sony Vaio Pro 13 (i5, 8gb ram, 128gb ssd, Windows 8) 1½ months ago and generally i'm happy with it, but sometimes i experience weird things with it. Sometimes the screen bightness control feature inside windows 8 stops working. Restarting the computer will fix this issue and it differs how long it will take for it to come back. I haven't been able to connect it to any app. Also the screen brightness will jump up and down during video playback in VLC sometimes dropping way too love. I've tried both deleting the sony programs which are designed to "optimise the experience" and tinkering with their options. Both things have yielded no solution though.

Another more problematic issue is it's sleep function. Sometimes when plugged in, it will go to sleep for a brief moment, when i close the lid but then after a while turn on again automatically and the fan will get really hot while doing this. Also sometimes when i open the lid it seems to turn on (Buttons light up, the fan starts spinning) but the screen won't turn on. This is solved either by trying to close it down and let it go to sleep and try again or sometimes only by force-shutting down the computer (holding down the power-button). This issue has especially been a problem since i updated to windows 8.1, and this leads me to my final problem.
I thought reinstalling the OS would fix everything, and it may do that, but i have problems figuring out how i am going to do this. I tried using the recovery function in windows 8, but it says that install media is missing and asks me to put in a disc or thumb drive. Problem is that i didn't get a disc with my new laptop. That's ok. I tried to use my serial-code to download the OS from microsofts website to a thumb drive, but oh wait. Turns out they use a new method and hardwire the code into the bios instead of including a sticker with it now. Anybody have fixes for atleast one of these problems?