Thank you for replying. I suppose that is possible that someone who was trying to help may have put it on the computer and then later removed it, and maybe it wasn't completely removed. I have felt, as you did, that maybe I had a virus hiding out somewhere. But I have Microsoft Essentials on my computer (though Defender for some strange reason is turned off and I can't get to the root of that problem either) and I did scan the computer with Malwarebytes as you suggested, but as usual, it also says there are no infected areas.
My computer has been shutting off and restarting continually for a month or two. We changed the settings to not restart in hopes of seeing an error message to target the problem. Now it just gives a blank screen and will not revive until it is turned off and back on again. It has been running very hot and the fan seems to be laboring at times. We installed a Core Temp gadget and found the temperature to be as high as 190 F. Took the laptop to a shop to check on the fan, was told that it probably just needed to be cleaned. Did this and purchased a better cooling pad with a fan directly under the hottest spot. It is running cooler now (about 100 to 120 F) but is still shutting down, especially when viewing pictures through Windows Media Player. Advice that we have been given is that it sounds like the problem is still that it is running hot. Could the shut downs be because of the overheating? Is this a dangerous temperature?