Laptop Turns Off

[Belzebub]

I have a Dell Vostro 1000 laptop. Since a few weeks ago the following started happening: once in a while the computer juts shuts off. Not gracefully, but akin as if it was running on battery and someone pulls the battery. One second is working, the next is off. When I turn it back on it starts normally, as if I had shut it off using "Turn Of" functionality. No blue screen of death, nothing. Just off.

This usually happens, but not always, while one of my kids is playing a game on a some kid's website. It does not matter if they are using IE, or Chrome. It has also happened while no-one is using it. We turn it on, use, and after a few minutes of use it turns off. No rime or reason.

I have Windows XP3. I have not upgraded RAM in a while, that is I have not messed with the hardware. I have an AMD processor Turion64.

Any help would be appreciated.

Thank you.

[-pops-]

Sudden shutdowns like you describe are often linked to overheating. Can you check the temperatures of the machine over a period of idling and then hard work. Most modern machines have inbuilt temperature checkers.

[Belzebub]

I thought it might be something like that. As I did not see a utility in my system I downloaded SpeedFan. I had this running while I ran a full scan using Malwarebyte's Anty-Malware. The hard drive hit a high temperature of 55C, while the CPU hit 65C. The computer did not crash. What I'll do is play one of the games and see how hot it gets. I hear, and feel the fan blowing, so I know is working. Assuming that is overheating, any advice? Maybe I could put the laptop on top of a baking sheet, so as to dissipate the heat.

Thank you.

[Boris]

Make sure that the cooling fan vents are not blocked by dust/fluff.

[Belzebub]

The computer, more specifically the CPU, is definitely overheating. Piriform Speccy (www.speccy.com) tells me that the CPU arrives to a temperature of 91+ and the it shuts down. But why is it overheating? I've had the computer for 3-4 years and without any problems. My kids have been playing flash games for years now with no problems. I cleaned the fan vents, but they were fairly clean anyways. And the fan is working.

The only event I can associate with the overheating with is that recently I installed the demo version of "Age of Mythology". I believe it is since then that the symptoms started. Could it be that as the game is so old that it installed some kind of dll/other that replaced a new one and has a hardware conflict? I have since then removed the game, but the symptoms persist.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[-pops-]

I'm doubtful it is software that's doing this.

If you've been using the machine for 3-4 years, it may be advisable to delve deeper to the insides(if you are brave enough). It is astonishing sometimes to see the amount of dust and fluff that gets trapped inside a computer and laptops tend to suffer more than desktops because of the very restricted space inside them - thus making blockages that much easier.

If you don't feel confident to do this yourself, I'm sure a local computer shop or enthusiast will do it for you for a modest fee.

[Belzebub]

I'll take the bottom out and clean it out.

Thanks.