Why does my computer suddenly shut down?

Tullullah

It's not run by battery so there's no reason for it to suddenly shut down on me. Why is it doing this? Any advice appreciated:)

backinpgh

Could be many things...virus, overheating, system errors, hardware problems...

MerRhosyn

Yes, could be any number of things.  My top guess would be overheating.  Can you hear the fan working consistently?  If something is shot with the bearing, the machine will turn off after getting too hot.  This happened all the time for me before I replaced my laptop cooling fan.

Tullullah

I absolutely think you're on to something....I too think it's overheating and that I somehow have to change the fan. I will now look into that:) Thanks nesties!

MerRhosyn

It's a super cheap part on eBay (< $5, if I remember).  It's not rocket science, but if you're not familiar with taking a computer apart, a friend would probably know how to do the repair.

KathyGee

Also,before replacing the fan -- try vacuuming it! It could just be clogged.  A friend just went through this a week or so ago and it's running like new now.

SugarScoot0529

If you think it is overheating, be careful about continuing to turn it on until it's fixed. It's shutting down to avoid damage to the hard drive and other pieces of hardware so if it is turned back on and it overheats, it can permanently damage the computer leading to loss of information and a much more expensive repair. (This happened to my parents' computer once. It really sucked.)

bisem0i

My laptop use to do this when it would overheat. We purchased one of those laptop fan boards that you place underneath and it works like new.