Well, I did get inside and found a bunch of fluff chocking the heat sinks. I removed the fans, cleaned them, vacumned out the compartments and reassembled. All done and computer appears to be operating normally. I guess overheating was the root cause of my computer shutting down. I appreciate all the help this forum offered me. Thanks again.

As I posted here: http://forum.mtu.com/showthread.php?t=11236

Roy

Laptops are notorious for this, in fact I heard that Dell laptops (I have 2) lower their ram usage as a method of dissipating heat, essentially causing them to over-react, under-react, or even shut down at times.

I woul first try a can of compressed air, you can by it from places like Maplin or Tandy or your American eqiv. Just remove the battery and open cd/dvd draw first to protect the lense and spray through vents both ways. Make sure it's in short bursts or the air temp may drop to freezing and damage something. It's worked for me in the past and it's cheaper.:g
The laptop must be cool before doing this,