Faulty camera

i've had my camera for around 3 years, and it's never given me a problem until now.

when i turn it on, the LCD screen stays black for a longer period than usual. once it loads, it emits a rapid beep for a short amount of time. While this beep is happening, the caption 'E:61:00' is also flashing in small test towards the top right hand corner. this flashing continues after the beep has stopped, and can still be viewed when perusing pictures that have already been taken. it is also the case that whereas before i was able to take up to 100 pictures or so, i am now only able to take roughly 17, even on 'standard' settings. it is that the rechargable batteries need to be replaced? any help would be appreciated.

on another note, all the pictures i try to take are out of focus, unless the object is quite close (10cm max).
I've had my camera for 2 months and i've always had small problems. But now when i turn it on it does a small buzz and it won't focus. It's always blurry. And whenever i turn it off, it buzzes again and won't close all the way.