Running XP and the pc began turning off suddenly, now it turns off all the time. Tried to run a virus scan but it turned off so it couldn't finish it. I also tried restoring it to an earlier time but wouldn't complete it either... can't do much now, what can I do?

You need to figure out why it keeps turning off. The first thing that could be causing it is an overheating CPU. You need to get inside your pc and make sure that the CPU fan is working and you also need to clear out all dust from the heatsink and fan.
If that makes no difference then you will need to remove the heatsink and put fresh thermal paste on it.

Let me know if that helps or not as I can make a few more suggestions once that lot has been checked.

the first post on what to do is very valid, you should however get some degree of time to do whatever if it was the cpu,
it sounds like you might not have enough power to your computer, did you install new cd /dvd /hd or something that consumes power?? Try to disconnect any such peripherals , also did someone work on your machine recently could they have chanced jumpers or cables on your motherboard
Try replacing your ram with other ram that you know works well, but first look at your power , that is if the info in the first post is not working
As soon as you do get some time to play on the machine run the virus scan
Let us know

This is my son's old computer which he passed on to my daughter and NO ONE ever thought of cleaning it out, duh! I've been telling her to clean it and finally last night she did. I'm waiting to hear if it got rid of the problem, but all the fans are working correctly. Older computer with no peripherals and used mostly to download music (yes, I'm always on her to check for viruses), pictures and Skype.

Let's hope a clean up will sort it as it is by far the cheapest thing to try first.

quintabelina
If the cleanup help (I doubt) that would be great
after thinking about it really sounds like the power supply
If you have another one try that I think that will do it, if you don’t have one go to your nearest computer repair shop and ask them to test a working power supply on your computer. they should not charge you for it if you ask for something specific like that, if it is the power supply you can possibly buy a new one for not that much or a second hand one for cheap
barry