My computer is always shutting down.

[megadethgurl21]

Hello everyone. I have a bit of a problem with my laptop at the
moment. It has had problems in the past, but this time it is starting
to bug me a lot. If I run more than three big programs (such as MSN,
an internet browser, and a drawing program) the computer will lag and
shut itself off. Just to let you know, I had an XP computer, but
recently installed XP Pro.

One of my friends had told me that it could be one of two possible
problems:
1. Loss of memory on my laptop. Or
2. Faulty memory.

Do you think this sounds reasonable? I think it does, but I have no
idea on how to fix this kind of problem. I would really like to get
this fixed up, because I hate talking to someone and automatically
losing the conversation log. Same goes for the drawing program.
Everytime I add something to it, I have to save it right away.

 

[Mark L. Ferguson]

Slowing down is one thing, and shutting down quite another. High activity
should only slow down the system. I think it much more probable that your
system is overheating. If you have a CPU way too hot to touch, you have a
heat problem. Sometimes this is a failed fan, sometimes a lack of heat
paste, or a loose fan/cpu connection. I would take a look at that, in any
case. There are utilities that will detect cpu temperature, but often they
are built into the BIOS utility