Computer keeps randomly shutting off

I know there has already been threads regarding systems shutting down, I have not begun to explore some of the reasons for this yet. I wanted to know if it makes a difference if, when the computer comes back up, it says "windows shut down unexpectedly" and another time it said something to the effect of complete system shutdown. Do you think it could still be capacitor or power supply related. It is a Dell XPS laptop about a year old.

 

Hi Xray,you need to post your operating system I'll assume its Vista as its a year old,also what security do you have ,firewall,anitvirus,spyware ect. right first I always suspect and check over heating because its easy to eliminate so make sure the fans are blown clear of dust,check your battery is charging and your laptop will run without the power adapter,check you have a surge protector.

To check if its over heating install this program and keep and eye on the temperatures we want them all below 70C,while in speedfan click the smart tab and select your harddrive,all the stats should have a green OK symbol next to them.

http://majorgeeks.com/SpeedFan_d337.html

Go to control panel,system "or system maintenance then system" ,advanced,start up and recovery and uncheck automatic restart and make sure its set to small memory dump,if your computer crashes again hopefully it will show a BSOD and write a memory dump that I will debug or you can debug yourself.

Have you installed any programs recently,visited any dodgy websites,anything that happened about the times of the first restart to give us a clue,is there a specific time lapse between when you turn the machine on to when it restarts you say random but what are the time differences,post how often you update windows also.