Laptop Shutting Down Spontaneously

i take it it's not under warranty, right? otherwise, you'd take it in for service. so, is there something in the power management that lets you turn down clock speed, or the screen illumination, anything like that to reduce power consumption? if you put into a power-saving mode all the time, it *may* help. otherwise, it might need a visit to a repair shop.

Yes, probably something wrong with the heatpipes. If it's a result of overheating, it should happen mostly when the computer is working intensely.

Might help to clean out your startup folder; lotsa stuff can start with Windows, unnecessarilly taking up resources. Apart from Explorer, Systray, your antivirus, and, on some laptops, your touchpad software, doesn't need to be running in the background. Applications can always be launched as necessary from Start>Programs, or from desktop icons, and shut down when no longer needed. Attached USB and/or FireWire devices, and/or external drives, particularly those without their own power supplies, can seriously impact power load; if you have stuff like that hooked up, you might wanna disconnect it when not actually in use. You might also want to look to the surface on which your laptop sits - providing more airspace under it can help. There are commercially available laptop surfaces which incorporate fans of there own to boost airflow, and similar devices aren't hard to fabricate on your own, at very little cost. Another possibility is dust/dirt restricting airflow through the laptop's vents; you might try vacuuming them (NEVER blow anything INTO a laptop - always apply GENTLE suction from outside).

I have actually had a laptop fan for a while now, it seems to have made quite a difference, and my laptop has only randomly shutdown on two occasions since. Thank you all for your contributions. I vacuumed my laptop the other day timberlandko it seems to have helped, their are no longer any dusty surfaces.