laptop

Clarifications

Could be a fan has quit or isn't spinning fast enough. Could be dust/smoke accumulation. Without looking, it's hard to tell. Take it to a repair shop and let them look at it.

Get yourself a set of optical screwdrivers (including Philips head). On the back of the laptop you will find about half a dozen screw slots around the perimeter, usually marked by an embossed arrow in the plastic case. There will also be a central screw hole, likewise marked with an embossed arrow.

All the screws should be the same size. If not, you have removed a screw that should have been left in place.

Carefully remove the plastic cover bezel, and use compressed air from a can, and a moistened cotton tip applicator, to remove the dust and debris. Be sure the air flow ports are completely free of blockage, and the fan blades carefully cleaned.

When operating the laptop, the air flow ports should be unobstructed. Be sure the fan is operational. If overheating recurs, the solution may be an auxiliary laptop cooler device:

http://www.quadcooler.com/

Good luck, and post back if problems persist.

Rick/Portland, OR

And make sure there is nothing blocking them. Use a vacuum hoover (on a low setting) to gently suck anything out that maybe affecting the laptop. If it is still overheating then just put two cd cases (one on each end at the rear) underneath at the rear of your laptop, see if it keeps to a certain temperature.
You might need a new battery.
Just a few options for you to test out.

If there are loose coverings over it or things like paper left on the desk/table whatever this can be picked up and block the Air Intake to cool the NB down. If the Air Intake or exhaust vents get blocked the NB will heat up very quickly and soon fry itself.

Depending on what you are using this for different people use different things to keep their NB's cool things like some of the old Dot Matrix Printer Stands that lift the NB off the desk top are are a popular item or as one of the TR Members here has said a Cake stand can be used effectively.

I personally prefer the Cool Pads like the Quad Core shown above as these suck air down under the NB and out the bottom so any dust or other rubbish gets sucked along by the fans in the housing under the NB and the NB gets to suck clean air into it for cooling. I don't use that particular brand of Cooler but it looks effective. My personal NB which is more a tool than a working computer can get so hot at the touch pad that it's not comfortable to touch but with a cool pad under it there is no noticeable heat so it now is run for much longer periods of time without any ill effect. But that isn't a normal NB as it was built to suit my needs and is all raw power and speed even now 3 years after it was originally built it is still able to keep up with the current generation Dual Core CPU's with twice as much RAM so I'm not considering changing it any time soon. But I also wouldn't consider using it without the Cool Pad.

As others have suggested cleaning out the NB air passages will not hurt any either but if you want to do away with the need to ever clean again buy yourself a cool pad and leave it permanently under the NB. Just pickup the NB and cool pad when you need to move it and place it int he NB Bag together. I've yet to see one that will not fit in any NB Bag without problems.

Col