BleepingComputer.com: PC shuts off by itself, while using or waking from sleep more

Hey This is a two part question in case my problem is related? My PC protection wasn't on for a period of time, when I figured it out I went to microsoft and tried the onecare scan, it wouldn't complete the scan. I'm wondering if I had spyware or a virus change my system (nothing shows up with any scan). I've had problems ever since, my most recent and very irritating is if I am online or wake up my pc from sleep mode, the fan kicks on loudly, and my pc shuts off! I have a Gateway Quadcore, just a year old, I've tried a scan with them, their scan said my fan was fine. Gateway also suggested to reload my Hard drive? I haven't tried that yet, and don't know how that would help? Could someone please tell me what causes a pc to just shut down, could this be an infection, or hardware problems? And if I were to wipe my pc clean the way it was installed when I received it, could this help, is there too much on my hard drive? Any help would be greatly appreciated!! THANKS

If there is a software problem, or a virus problem - wiping the hard drive clean and starting over would most likely fix it.
But, this would wipe out everything on your hard drive - then you'd have to reinstall Vista, then reinstall the Drivers and Applications from the Drivers and Applications disk that the Gateway system should've asked you to make.

This is sort of overkill if you're just looking to remove a virus/cure a software problem - but it is the quickest way to rule out all sorts of software/virus issues.

Thanks for the reply, as it turns out I didn't get back up CDS with my pc, I'll have to burn those in the next day. I was thinking about wiping my system out the way I had received it from the factory. Will that solve anything or do you think it would be better to wipe it out completely and reinstall everything? I didn't want to do this that's why I have stalled for so long but, it's weighing on my patience !! My pc goes into sleep mode and it will not wake back up, I have to hit the power button and restart the entire thing!! Do you think that this is probably a virus causing all this havoc? If I need to reinstall the drivers and applications is it simple to do by myself or do I need someone who knows more about pcs to do it? Thanks again for your help!

The best method is to use an application such as KillDisk ( http://www.killdisk.com/ ) to wipe the entire drive clean (including viruses), then restore the system to factory settings.

Gateway normally gives you a Vista OS disk, but you've got to make the Applications and Drivers DVD yourself. If you don't have/can't make either - then you'll have to contact Gateway for replacements.