All games crash on Toshiba laptop/Windows 7 (64-bit)

[enzyme1]

Hello all, this is my problem: I became a Steam member only several days ago, and purchased and downloaded a couple of games over the weekend, and found that just about all the games (except one) have crashed my pc laptop.

I'm running Windows 7, home premium on a Toshiba laptop, and after installing these games and getting past a few compatibility issues with getting certain particular games to run at all, (say for example: Onimusha 3) the games will play fine for about 15 minutes to nearly an hour, then I will suddenly hear a (zap) noise, and my computer screen will go black, I won't get the "blue screen of death", instead, my computer just instantly shuts off, and then when I turn it on, get the system recovery message asking if I would like to start windows in safe mode.

Now its going to be almost a week since I downloaded the steam app to my computer and had installed about 7-8 games, nearly all seem to continuously crash at random, and know for sure it is steam related since it only happens while I'm playing a steam game with only a logitech controller attached to the laptop. Ive tried:
-configuring compatibility options,
-running the games in windowed versus fullscreen,
-defragged the c drive,
and the burn out still happens at some point during game play, so I have narrowed it down and not sure what else to do.

my specs are:

OS Name Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium
Version 6.1.7601 Service Pack 1 Build 7601
System Manufacturer TOSHIBA
System Type x64-based PC
Processor AMD Turion(tm) II Dual-Core Mobile M500, 2200 Mhz, 2 Core(s), 2 Logical Processor(s)
BIOS Version/Date Insyde Corp. 1.10, 12/17/2009
SMBIOS Version 2.6
Boot Device \Device\HarddiskVolume1
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 4.00 GB
Total Physical Memory 3.75 GB
Available Physical Memory 1.22 GB
Total Virtual Memory 7.49 GB
Available Virtual Memory 4.53 GB
Page File Space 3.75 GB

Online, I have found that many other people have had this problem, and am wondering if there is a solution to a common problem in regards to my specs. I have not had crashes on my computer before installing steam, not since I had a bsod when I first purchased it and had a few updates.
Anyone can help with any suggestions?

[ivi]

Make sure you have the latest version of your graphics card driver.

[enzyme1]

I think I tried this before already.
Just tried it again, and Windows says that "the driver software for your device is up to date."
Driver: AMD M880G with ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4200.

[ivi]

Windows isn't always correct, as a matter of fact, it's rarely correct.
Here's the Steam Support Troubleshooting Game Crashes article, hope it helps you. Sorry I couldn't help much, game crashe is just fix 'n' see type of problem.

[enzyme1]

Actually, you were of help, I was on the ATI website and had installed the recent updates which is the catalyst program that is supposed to compliment the driver, I forgot about these extended softwares on the ATI website which I had to download before on my last computer for emulation. I restarted the computer after installation, played Steam for over an hour, no blackouts as of yet to report.

[Laptop]

Yeah, always get drivers direct from the manufacturers website.

[_wilco]

It could also be a problem of overheating. Notebooks aren't the best systems to play games with and the temperature inside can go up fairly easy. Try HWMonitor[www.cpuid.com] and check if the temperature is too high while gaming. A sudden shutdown can be a safety mechanism for too much heat...