MacBook shuts down abruptly after some time, then has problems starting

I have 13" MacBook that I'm having some problems with. I have OS X and Windows XP in a dual boot configuration, and the problem happens in either OS. I can only use the computer for anything from 3 to 30 minutes before it suddenly shuts down.
When this first happens, I get trouble restarting it. It often just comes as far as intialising the DVD-ROM (you hear the sound), then it shuts off again. It can take up to ten starts before it powers up again. And then it's just a matter of time before the whole thing starts again. This happens regardless if I have the charger connected or not, or if I use just the charger and remove the battery.
At first it was thought that the battery was faulty, and I received a new one last spring. However, the problem quickly returned, and I haven't bother to do anything more about it before now. Suffice to say, I miss using my shiny MacBook, and I hope that someone can point me out in the right direction. As the computer is 2 years this may, I doubt I can get it repaired for free on the warranty(?).
Long post, but I hope I've explained the problem thourough enough. I believe I did the SMC reset and software update last summer, though I'm not sure which revision I'm on. If there's any more information I can provide, please let me know. It just takes some time to get the computer to stay on long enough to check stuff

Thank you so much for answering! I've actually read your answer to other similar forum, and have just installed iStatPro. it says that my fan is "exhaust" and at 0rpm. do i HAVE to replace the fan to a new one? can I just open up my mac and clean out the fan? if so, would you recommend this instead of buying a new fan? one last thing, if I buy a new fan, is it easy for me to replace it by myself? again, thank you so much for your answer.

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N73 got shuts down automatically after some time

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The reason is that nokia phones have many bugs and problems.
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Macbook shuts down unexpectedly after an hour of use

I've had my MacBook since 2006, and I've had some minor problems now and then.
But since few days ago, my mac shuts down unexpectedly after I use it for about an hour.
at first I thought that maybe it's the fan, cause I've never cleaned the fan since the day I've bought it and my mac gets pretty hot after a while. but it used to work just fine when it got even hotter.
now I'm guessing maybe it's the battery? I've also never replaced the battery to a new one, cause I've almost always used power adapter instead of using battery alone. but I think I've heard it somewhere that the battery still dies even when you only use power adapter. is this true?
I usually just turn mac right back on when it shuts down, and it goes well for about 30 mins and then it shuts down again.
could anyone please be kind enough to tell me if it is the battery that's causing this such a frustrating problem? I don't know if this would help figure out the problem, but this is what battery info says,
Battery Information:
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Thank you so much for answering! I've actually read your answer to other similar forum, and have just installed iStatPro. it says that my fan is "exhaust" and at 0rpm. do i HAVE to replace the fan to a new one? can I just open up my mac and clean out the fan? if so, would you recommend this instead of buying a new fan? one last thing, if I buy a new fan, is it easy for me to replace it by myself? again, thank you so much for your answer.

Macbook shuts down, charger does not charge then charges hours or days late

My daughter's macbook symptoms:
- shuts down all of a sudden
- when restarted, displays error message: date reset 2008 etc.
- When restarted, charger may or may not charge (Magsafe LED off). It may take days before it works again
Macbook under 3 year guarantee (contract says you get a new computer if it breaks down):
In French: www.fnac.com/guides/services/garantie-echange-neuf/default.asp?NID=0
In English via Google: http://tinyurl.com/6ayl5re
Was sent to repair (MSS repair centre, FNAC, France) . They said they did "un reset du système" = a
system reset .
Worked well at my home for 3 days.
Back to my daughter's: same thing happens.
Charger does not charge Magsafe LED off.
Taken to my home: charger charges magsafe red. But my daughter had moved the charger's parts tried other power sockets to no avail before Macbook repair.
Note that this macbook has a mildly loose magsafe port. Yet, moving the magsafe won't change anything while Mac is on. Loose Magsafe port has been reported to me as not an issue (some geek on a forum, and a genius at an applestore)
I suspect something wrong with motherboard. Loose magsafe port should not shut dow the machine should it ?
Back to repair centre: they say it's a "software problem" this is not covered by their 3 years guarantee. Which is plain false (look up - in French only - http://tinyurl.com/6avkvhy ) .
As I don't see which software problem that could be, I took it to the genius bar at Applestore's: Genius says bah ! not a software problem.
Says it's a motherboard failure. So he gives me a written estimate for motherboard repair. Indeed that may to help me battle with my 3-year guarantee and "FNAC" repair centre since they are not so smart.
Happy with this and having checked that the guarantee contract covers even for the alleged "sofware" problem, having an Applestore paper telling me the rub lies in the motherboard, here I am, sending FNAC a formal notice by registered mail (with a copy to my lawyer. An excellent one with the appropriate specialisation , and my other daughter, hence cheap).
But .... in the meantime, I'm using that faulty computer, and here I get another shutdown.
I was moving the computer softly to place it on a table, this pulled a little bit the charger's cable: screen goes black. Magsafe LED off.
I have to restart it, and I get the usual error message telling me the date is set earlier than 2008.
Same crash as usual. Note that my daughter says the shutdown never happened without the charger on, and shutdown did happen without movement nor strain on the cable.
But as I have my own Macbook, same as my daughter's, I perform an experiment.
- I plug my daughter's charger cable on MY Macbook: LED stays off !
- I plug MY Macbook 's charger cable on my daughter's Macbook: LED is on !
My impression is that there is a problem with my daughter's charger, isn't there ?
But how can a problem with the charger, its cable of the magsafe cause the Macbook 's clock to bet set back a few years ?
I have to point out that the battery is not dead, and behaves normally, so the charger suddenly stopping should not shut the computer down. I can use the computer on battery for hours and battery capacity is 86 % of theoretical.
Could a motherboard problem or some other Macbook problem cause charger dysfunction ?
This is important since while I may resort to buying a new charger if FNAC does not abide by their contract duties, if there is another problem than that of the charger, we'll be in trouble again sooner or later.
We know MSS FNAC have not been good at all (not my first untoward experience with them) and Applestore may be wrong or partially right.
Thanks for your ideas about this trouble.

I am having the exact same problem, although it only takes a few minutes for my computer to start charging again. What was the solution you found? My computer just returned from Apple today with a replaced thermal assembly, and I just had the problem repeat itself, not two hours after I picked it up from the postal service.

MacBook Shuts Down Unexpectedly After Inserting DVD

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My MacBook (White, first generation) shuts off abruptly even if I leave it idle for 5 minutes whether on battery or on AC. I already tried battery calibration. I changed power saver settings to "never sleep" in both battery and ac modes.
Moreover, when I close the lid, it doesn't sleep it just shuts off. I erased/installed the OS but the problem is still there. Any idea what's wrong and how I can fix it.

This could be a variety of issues. The machine might not be able to receive current from the battery or the AC because of power issues. The machine might also be experiencing a more serious logic board error. There isn't anything you are going to be able to do at home, unfortunately. I recommend scheduling a genius appointment and see what they think, but this machine is going to require a repair.

Macbook shuts down right after update.

IMG_5528.jpeg
I downloaded the last update. When the Mac shut down and restarted to install the update.. The computer shuts down. Not sure what is going on. Hope someone can help
I attempted to add picture

Hi DBolick5,
Thanks for visiting Apple Support Communities.
If your Mac is not starting up after installing an update, first try booting into Safe Mode:
Mac OS X: What is Safe Boot, Safe Mode?
http://support.apple.com/kb/ht1564
Starting up in Safe Mode
To start up into Safe Mode (to Safe Boot), follow these steps.
Be sure your Mac is shut down.
Press the power button.
Immediately after you hear the startup tone, hold the Shift key.
The Shift key should be held as soon as possible after the startup tone, but not before the tone.
Release the Shift key when you see the gray Apple logo and the progress indicator (looks like a spinning gear).
After the logo appears, you should see a progress bar during startup. This indicates that your computer is performing a directory check as part of Safe Mode.
To leave Safe Mode, restart your computer without holding any keys during startup.
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My macbook shuts down automatically after 30 seconds of inactivity

after immediately start up, maybe less than 30 seconds, the menu comes up asking if i want to restart/shutdown/sleep/cancel and if i don't cancel immediately the computer shuts down.
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My computer said fire fox is running and wont shut down even after you shutdown the cumputer and start it back up

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See:
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After prompted to update 10.9.1, my MacBook Pro updates and went thru restart but failed...I tried to start my book and gray screen, Apple logo both on, chime sounded, then went to progress bar, less than half macbook shuts down...did few times, same!!

After prompted to update 10.9.1, my MacBook Pro updates and went thru restart but failed...I tried to start my book and gray screen, Apple logo both on, chime sounded, then went to progress bar, less than half macbook shuts down...did few times, same!!
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Thanks clintonfrombirmingham...
After clicking "repair disk" it says DISK UTILITY STOPPED REPAIRING MACINTOSH HD, DISK UTILITY CAN't REPAIR THIS DISK. BACK UO AS MANY OF YOUR FILES AS POSSIBLE, REFORMAT THE DISK, AND RESTORE YOUR BACKED -UP FILES....
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hey plz help me out!! i am using macbook pro 10.5.8..... and was using photobooth...and then after some time i opened it and there was no green light on cam, and it displayed nothing! plz tell me how to fix it! i want to see my face again!!! plz help me

iSight troubleshooting
http://support.apple.com/kb/HT2090

MacBook Shuts Down After Unplugging Powercord Although Battery is Installed

Hi,
Whenever I disconnect the power cord of my MacBook, the OS shuts down within 2-5 seconds. The battery is installed and it has a 80% health and it has 185 charge cycles. I've been experiencing this strange behavior after two days of installing (Secrets Preference Pane). But I'm not sure if it was behind the problem. I even uninstalled Secrets preference pane but the problem still exist.
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I don't know what is causing the problem, and why sometimes the problem arises and sometimes it goes away.
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I tried several solutions such as:
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shaknon
Note: Here are two pictures that shows stats about the battery:
1- http://jump.fm/SAOBW
2- http://jump.fm/JBHYI

I am having identical issues as you described - although I haven't installed secrets preference pane (so I doubt that's involved).
My problem went on for hours one night, I got sick of dealing with it and went to sleep with AC adapter unplugged and macbook off. The next day, it worked fine all day long. Now here I am in the evening - had a power cut, AC adapter went off obviously, and MacBook powered off. Again now I have this problem.
I tried everything you've talked about (PRAM reset) as well as SMC reset, no change. My battery stats look great, says battery is healthy. This started happening to me a few days ago, I upgraded to 10.6 a few weeks ago.. not sure what caused this to start happening.
I found one VERY interesting thing, maybe you can check this: when I have the problem, with AC adapter unhooked, when I try to power up my MacBook it comes up for 2-5 seconds (sometimes until the apple tone, sometimes not), and turns off. If I HOLD THE POWER BUTTON for 5+ seconds the MacBook remains on, the white light on the front flashes, and I get a long tone. This procedure is supposed to be used for firmware updates or something. Anyway, when I do this, the computer comes up perfectly and it uses the battery. When I hook an AC adapter up, that works, but as soon as I unplug it I am back to the same problem. You should try this and see if it works for you, it may be a clue. If nothing else, it's a good way to still use your laptop if you are on the go and can't be dead in the water
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My macbook shuts down after 5 minutes

My macbook shuts down after 5 - 10 minutes, and I have to restart it each time. Can anyone help me with this? I've tried resetting the PRAM, re-instatlling the OS, switching HDD's. I asked a friend of mine what it could be and he said it may possibly be the power switch button. Any answers out there?

Have you tried resetting the System Management Controller? That is a good first step for power related issues such as this.
If that doesn't do it, you are looking at a hardware repair.
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MacBook shuts down abruptly after some time, then has problems starting

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