Help on a nikon coolpix S230 camera?

on the left side of the screen where you can select smile, auto, or scenes, i want to select auto.. and i can select auto, but then it wont let me take pictures.. It lets me take pictures on smile and other scenes, but those arent very good quality.. Also when i try to take a picture on auto, a red light flashes in the bottom right corner of the camera.. Please help me, im clueless! (: