Thanks to Thayne and Lisa for the tips! However, it is not good news to know that something else in the house needs dusting. :-) Judy ----- Original Message ----- From: "Judy Burns" <Jburns407@cox.net> To: <GEN-COMP-TIPS-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Sunday, July 27, 2008 10:47 PM Subject: [GEN-COMP-TIPS] Computer shutting down its own I have a 2 ? year old Acer laptop computer running XP home. The computer is on from 6am to 10pm as I use it from home for work. It has a Chill Pad that provides ventilation. In the past few weeks, the computer has shut down on its own after I leave it alone for a very short time. The computer is always plugged in via the ac cord. The battery isn't used very often but it will work for a couple of hours at a time. When I turn the computer back on, it comes on normally with no error messages.