Overheating

I've been having car problems. I have a 1999 Oldsmobile Delta 88 sityh 187,000 miles. I bought it for $2500.00 with 91,000 miles. It looks brand new and runs like a top! It was a real steal!

Lately, though, it stalls while I'm driving. I could be clipping along at 55 MPH and the engine will just stop.

I have it in for service. After speaking to the service manager, they think it may be an Ignition Module problem. Basically, this is the car's onboard computer. In layman's terms (and if there's a mechanic out there, feel free to correct me), as ignition modules age, they develop more heat and run hotter. They overheat and fail. Since all points,plugs, wiring, etc. run into this module, all the processes needed to run the engine are cut off and the car stalls.

Why do I mention this? Because it's similar with computers. Whether you're running Windows or Linux, if your computer shuts down without warning, it may be a bad cooling fan. Your processor needs to be cooled. A fan is mounted atop a heat sink which sits on top of the Intel or AMD processor chip. thsi fan is constantly turning and moving the hot air out and away from the chip. If this fan no longer works, heat builds, the chip runs hotter, overheats and your computer shuts down.

So if you're computer is exhibiting this kind of behavior, before you try an anti-virus program or re-installing your OS, check your cooling fans. Open the box and make sure all fans on your computer are turning and doing their job. Swapping out a fan is easy and inexpensive. A guide on how to do this here. But do a Google search for "Replacing CPU Fan" and you'll have more results to choose from. If you'd rather not do this yourself, any computer shop replace your cooling or CPU fan, even while you wait if necessary.

Then, after you get that fan replaced and your system running, get Linux.