ASUS model X540LA randomly shuts down.

Hello, before I go into detail with whats going on with my laptop I want to point out that most solutions I found on this forum talk about an overheating problem, which is not the case because the laptop always feel cool; however I could be wrong and it could be some internal component overheating that i'm unable to feel by touching the bottom.

With that being said, I've had this laptop for about a month now and for the past 2 weeks it's been randomly shutting down abruptly. When I turn it back on an ugly grinding sound is heard and it takes 3-5 minutes for windows to start up again. I suspect that the grinding sound is coming from the internal hard-drive, and while I'm using the laptop it sounds like it's constantly loading something (soft clicking noises). I'm convinced that it's a hardware issue and that i'm one of the unlucky ones that got a faulty computer. Planning on using my warranty, but wanted to make sure if there is anything i can do to fix it myself without using the warranty so early after purchase.

Any help will be very much appreciated, and let me know if anymore details is required.
Thank you, and may you be one with life, the universe, and everything.