also, the problem persists regardless the mode of power input. It happens when on AC power alone, happens when on battery alone, happens when both AC and battery are connected. I reinstalled windows once, did not solve anything.

i upgraded the BIOS and i run dell diagnostic, the fan is running normally. But the laptop does seem to be hot/overheating to the touch.

oh, I forgot to add, whenever i toy with adjusting the monitor's resolution, the data writing light lights up and goes for a minutes then the system powers off just like it did in the middle of the games. Whenever i switch back to windows in the middle of the game (in dos) the resolution is all messed up. It used to be 32 bit and 1400 by 1050 before i enter the game and after i switch back to windows, it was like 8 bit and 800 by 600. I try to start task manager but an error message appears and says it fails to initialize. I could not even log off. The data light flashes for a while then the system powers off as usual.

i also kind suspect if the problem is with the graphic card/driver. I reinstalled the graphic driver a couple times, updated direct x, but none solved the problem. Please help!

okay, to follow up, i opened up my computer, took the cooling unit out, cleaned the dusts on the fan, teared the foils that are attached to the keyboard, and then put the computer back together, and it works. No more random shut down.

I connected an external keyboard to fix the keyboard problem.