Unprovoked computer shut-down -also after reformating ??

Hi,

I have just reformatted my computer, and reinstalled my original WIN XP cd, because i was getting tired of my computer getting too slow, and that it for some reason kept on shutting down for no reason. sometimes with a warning, saying: "THE PARAMETER IS INCORRECT".. 2 seconds later the green ON-light from the computer switched off, and half a second later the screen went black and the computer was off.


othertimes just as if the power had been cut, and the computer went black.. (the battery and the power supply are working fine, together or seperately)
and the reason is not because of over-heating. can happen after 5 hours of operation or 4 minutes - or just after booting up.. :-S

I really thought that my reformatting process would kill the issue.. but aparently not.

have just reinstalled all my drivers, and updated with WINDOWS UPDATE ... xp files, internet 8, etc. etc. etc.

why is this happening?

has to be said: the computer is a DELL Precison M20 (laptop), 4 years old.
2 ghz pentium M processor
2 gb ram
80 gb harddrive

have also reinstalled the service pack 3
(all this have been done during the day).. and the problem still is present..

what to do ???

hope that some of you wise-guys can help me out here.. much appreciated

thanks in advance

 

I have run a DELL diagnostics program in the BIOS, where the RAM was tested as well..

everything came out as: PASSED, so dont think thats the problem.

Have tried running on AC power and on battery.. and the problem seems bigger on AC power. the only thing is that i cant really test my computer on battery for that long, cause the batter is as old as the computer 4+ years.. so the life of the battery is extremly poor.

if i set to run a video it says on 100% that it has 1½ hours left of juice.
then after 5 minutes it is down to 45minutes. and 10 minutes it says 7minutes left..

so very unreliable... and not possible really to test with the video going....

but the problem is that it is NOT only when i am running a video, sometimes it comes up in the middle of nowhere as well. (again most often when running on AC power) ..

how can i manually test the AC adapter?? is that at all possible+??

 

I think you have to use a multimeter, but I might be wrong.