laptop random shutdown

Hi guys. Hope you can help me.

My 3 yr. old NEO laptop has been randomly shutting down for around a year now. I've checked for malware and my system's clean. I'm convinced that this is hardware related. I've also read topics regarding random shutdowns but those I've found were desktop PC's and they were discussing about fixing/replacing/doing stuff to individual computer components. I don't think I can do that with my laptop. Here's some observations and info that I think would be useful.

- It seems to be "picky" about where I plug my power adapter. If it "dislikes" the outlet, it shuts down randomly around once every ~10-30 mins. If it "likes" the outlet, it could go on for more than 24hrs. It can still shut down when I 'move' the adapter though. I still haven't figured out the timing or what 'move' causes the shutdown (I've tried kicking it, picking it up, twisting the wires, etc). When I intentionally kick or pick it up, most of the time nothing happens.It only does when the adapter is moved unintentionally, but not always. Confusing? Not yet? Good...

- My HDD is around 3 mos old. I've replaced the old one that came with it. I haven't replaced, added or removed any other hardware.

- I don't think it's overheating. I don't use any software or equipment to measure temperature, just my hands. When the random shutdown occurs, my
laptop's pretty cool (my seat's warmer ). The overheating temperature is way higher than the temperature my laptop's at when it randomly shuts
down. I'm pretty sure its not overheating.

- My battery is dead. Attaching or detaching the dead battery doesn't seem to have any effect to the problem.

- My fan is not working. I use a laptop cooling pad instead. Works fine.

- Right now, I'm thinking that the most probable cause is the power adapter. Next would be RAM or some other internal component maybe.

I'm looking for advice on what to do to fix it or know where the problem is. Thanks.

*Please note that I am not very adept with hardware. I would really appreciate it if you guys can be detailed like the staff at the malware removal forums.

Edited by ditrackster, 09 May 2008 - 09:07 PM.