Computer just randomly shuts down, is sluggish

Hi all,
Been having a problem with my HP Pavillion 774e (runs Windows XP) for the past month or so now. . .it just shuts down at the most random times. Typically I will start the machine, get going on the internet, and then foom. . .it just shuts off and restarts itself. There are no error messages when this happens. It also seems very sluggish when I start it; it doesn't have the typical whir that it usually has; it's just slower and seems to catch and click a lot more than usual. Sometimes when it restarts, it seems like it's trying to catch, like an engine that you are trying to start with a key, clicking and buzzing over and over.
I've tried a number of things to try to get it to not do this. I've opened up the computer, and cleaned it out thoroughly, I've run a malware scan, virus scan, run my copy of AVG PC Tuneup and cleaned things up, so I'm fairly certain it's not a virus/malware. I've also set the computer to not shut down on system failure in the control panel, and it doesn't help. I just can't figure it out. I've looked on many different forums for advice on what to do and I've seen advice about replacing motherboards, the power supply, etc.
I've also thought about doing a system restore (it seems to have begun when I had a windows update not install properly), but I'm concerned because if I go back that far, it would be before I ran the AVG PC Tuneup and downloaded a newer version of AVG 2012 (not sure if that would affect things, but it's why I'm concerned). I also worry because the thing doesn't stay on long enough to do anything; I just started it again and it shuts down in about two minutes. Safe mode also doesn't seem to help; it shuts down in there too.
Any advice on what to do with this machine? I don't want to junk it; it worked OK until just recently. But now, it's completely unreliable. By the way, I'm not an online gamer at all; I just want to use this thing for simple wordprocessing, powerpoints, and internet surfing.

seems like your power supply has started to show signs of it failing. Seeing that your computer is an older hp computer, its about time for something to show signs of getting wore out.
HP Elite h8-1070T Intel Core i7 2600 12GB RAM AMD Radeon HD 6850 1GB Windows 8 Professional 64-bit (Gaming)
HP DC7900CMT Intel Core 2 Duo 3Ghz 4GB RAM Windows 8 Professional 64-bit (Workstation)
HP XW4200 Intel Pentium 4 HT 3.6GHz 4GB RAM Windows XP Professional (Home File Server)

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Overheated? in Oregon...
Message was edited by: OregonMac7

Certainly sounds like a case of the left hand not knowing from the right, huh
Well, I have my call in, and I am getting onsite service to replace the logic board, as per Apple's recommendation.
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About six weeks ago I posted this same problem. It seemed to go away on its own but now has happened again (once today and once just two days ago). I couldn't find any thread that had the same problem as mine.
I have a Macbook that I bought in January, 2007 and I've had very few problems with it. Starting last early spring, after a little over a year, the battery started taking less time to run out. It also occasionally took a longer time to come out of sleep mode, usually only a few extra seconds but a few times it took nearly a minute, and once it was nearly ten minutes). I know I need to replace it, but overall, it isn't drastic. It just runs out maybe 25% faster than it used to (and hasn't really increased since), and rarely has problems with coming out of sleep mode.
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Computer just randomly shuts down, is sluggish

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