i hope some one can help me out with this.

i use a toshiba laptop, about 2.5 years old with XP.

It basically shuts down/crashes spontaneously.  I have seen this happen with playing the sims, watching a movie on the dvd player, or playing a flash game on-line.

However there have been times when it shuts down when i have done none of the above.

I hope i put in enough information, and thank you in advance for looking at this.

melhey i have a toshiba M15 S405 with centrino with the same problem.  MINE makes the little high pitched sound when it shuts off.  it seems that when i put pressure on one part of the laptop, it just DIES.  It sounds like a broken solder, but im not sure.Yes could be something broken inside, but my first guess is that something is overheating the processor or some other vital part.
The result is an immediate shutdown of the COMPUTER to prevent permanent damage.

Check if all the fans are properly working. You also might want to try to open the laptop and check for any visible damage inside. Caution is required - if you open the laptop all warranty is gone.
Best would be to go to a professional store to have the problem examined and solved.heh- i feared the "go to a professional" response.

well, thank you for your replies.  Hope the professionals can fix it without too much problem.

melthis question DEPENDS on how the laptop is setup in the bios......power options..and no disrepect...but laptop are not cut out to play GAMES and run dvd disks...power is the key??is this laptop top power options in the control panel set to never.......does this happen if the laptop is connected to the a/c mains adapter??and i would run a bug scan for trojans/spyware /malware /scumware..the list gets longer:(run the best spysweeper..