It is a sad thing when ones laptop dies TF, I'm sorry it passed away on you
I can only hope mine does not pass away on me anytime soon with my kids taking it to its limits with their graphic intense games, I would feel the loss greatly
But it is good you were able to get a replacement so soon and you have not lost your hard work
Alot of people I know in Australia who have those particular type of laptops have had the same issue no matter what windows they ran, it is due to an overheating issue with the laptop itself usually. Though I'm not saying this is the problem in your case, its just a possibility.
I run Windows Vista Home 32bit on my compaq presario (will be 2years old next month) and have had no such issues but it also incorporates an AMD cpu which I have found runs cooler in the long run than its intel cousins
my laptop actually shuts down faster than Majestics PC which is running Windows Vista Ultimate 64bit as is my PC which also shuts down faster than Majestics PC
(we only run AMD PC's)
It really depends on how it is treated and what it is used for, some laptops I know have lasted longer than 5years, mine probably wont, even though it was bought specifically for doing MSFC admin stuff and basic web browsing etc... My kids use it for games and to be honest the games they play on it require high end graphics etc, which slow it down a little even on a hot day (this is when they either have to shut it down to cool down or run the external cooling pad) so I dare say they are shortening the life expectancy of it on me