Sony VAIO VGN-SZ460N with VISTA

I have a Sony Vaio VGN-SZ460N. It is beautiful and was bought brand new a couple months ago however, recently I begin having some problems with it.

I have the computer docked most of the time. When I undock the computer, the screen turns off and while the computer is still ON, it does not respond to anything that I do except holding the power button down to turn it off. I keep it off for at least a few minutes and then turn it back on with the power button again. It starts in DOS mode and I always chose for it to 'start windows normally.' This has happened more than a few times and I cannot seem to fix it.

The computer is very sluggish at times and although I have downloaded and installed all available updates that were strongly suggested or required, it doesn't seem to do much to help.

My other problem is that while I look at thumbnails of photos I have taken in the windows photo gallery viewer, i use the arrows to go from picture to picture but for some reason it is never in order. I have tired to rearrange the photos but nothing works. i now just open and close each photo while looking at them. this happens also with the slide show function as well.

Please correct me if I am wrong. While in outlook, I believe it is possible to have a default button choice for your spellcheck as in either 'ignore' or 'change.' This stays on CHANGE.

I appreciate any help or tips. Thank you in advance.

C