well since you request not to hear the truth, i'll respect that... i advise changing out your ram chip, also your computer is old... it is time to whipe and reinstall. that will extend the seeming life of the hd. but really to me it sounds like severe memory corruption.

So you think it's in the RAM (as opposed to the HD)?

I have basically the same laptop that you do, Matt, and when it starts to get overly wunky (which it does), I just backup all the data and re-install the OS from scratch. (Time consuming, I know.) I have not had the exact problem you describe, however, so I defer to those with more expertise in hardware.

By the way, my next computer is going to be an Apple.

This sounds more likely to be a power management issue, such as an internal cable fault. Is your battery in good shape? A dying battery plus an intermittent power supply might be sending your machine spontaneously into power-related shutdown.

That said, jeremy is right. It sounds like your machine is more than 2 years old, in which case it's getting time to think about a replacement. If it's more than 30 months old, for a professional, it's high time.

High time, indeed. Thanks everyone--

You reallly ought to just get a Mac, you know.

;-)

Run Linux!

;-)

Wise-asses.

I'm having the same problem with my L400.
And I AM running Linux!!
It's not windows, or too much software, it's a hardware glitch in the laptop. It's not the hard drive, as swaping doesn't help. It's not the battery (as you probably know as well). It's not power management because it happens even when that is disabled. My only guess is the ram or the main board. I'm guessing it's the ram.

-Jeremy

P.S. Don't get a Mac!!
(Someone had to disagree with you guys!)

Ah, finally someone who can empathize!

I'm now happily running an x300; but, Jeremy, if you're able to find any more documentation about this I'd still be very interested to see it.