Computer Troubles!

[Felixaar]

Hey-o. So, my little laptop is suffering some sort of problem. It boots up fine, gets to the desktop, and then inexplicably shuts down about twenty seconds in. I'm presuming its a virus, and know how to reset the laptop to factory standards, the only problem is that I have a bunch of super-important documents on there. Anyone know how to get them off? I've tried shifting them over in the limited operation time I get, but no such luck.

[Jimorian]

Get a linux distro bootable from CD or flash drive? If it is a virus, it won't activate. If it's something else like power supply...

[Tawmis]

I'd wager it's not a virus. I'd bet it's the power supply for your laptop cutting out. Or the fan is over heating. But more than likely the power supply. Most virus won't shut down your system entirely. It'd be pointless. Most virus want to operate on your machine without you know its there, to steal info, keylog, etc. Shutting down a PC is a pointless virus. Especially if your power is shutting off on the laptop. That's not a virus.

[KuReshtin]

I'd agree with Tawmis. It doesn't sound as if it's a virus if it shuts down.

Most computers that come with a recovery partition also has a feature in that recovery partition where you can back up files, at least in a very rudimentary fashion.
I know for Lenovo laptops, you have the chance to do so, but to be able to save onto a USB drive, the USB drive needs to be connected before starting the machine for it to be recognised.

Then again, a recovery doesn't seem totally necessary as I'd say that it's more likely to be a hardware fault.