BleepingComputer.com: laptop heat up

hi,
i have an HP dv4000 laptop which i bought in 2006. it has an Intel Centrino 1.86Ghz and i have upgraded the RAM to 2GB. Recently my laptop began heating up..especially the top right hand corner on its reverse( guessing thats where the processor is placed). I was using a cooling fan to sort this problem, and sort it did until now. Now it crashes within 15 minutes of it starting up. The laptop has no viruses. I'm dead sure of that. What do i do about this? Is it possible that my processor has become too old that the newer programs require it to work more? bcoz most of the times the CPU usage is 100%!!! i'm still thinking of removing the panel behind and cleaning the vent and check of it is working too,but i just cant find that six-pronged screw driver!!
Plz.. anybody.. any suggestions????

cheers
nikhil

Well you may need to replace the HSF.
I'm not sure if I should recommend you do this, though. It's very difficult to open a laptop. You would also need to scrape off the thermal paste from the processor and replace it with new thermal paste. If you take it to geek squad (or somewhere similar) it might cost you more than it would for a new one.

If you REALLY want to try it yourself, you would need these.
HSF
Thermal paste

Before getting extreme; how about cleaning the dust wads off of the heatsink. Here is an illustarted article for a DV4000: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/documen...789&lang=en

Agreed with all of the above taking laptop apart can be daunting. However if you are inclined I have a few pointers, follow a manual, keep some sandwich baggies handy with a permanent marker and keep track of where the screws go, if your really nervous take lots of pictures with your digital camera so you can remember how it goes back together. If the computer wont stay on its likely a bad fan on the heat sink or dust build up.

nikhil14, on Oct 20 2009, 11:59 AM, said:

This indicates a probable software related problem. Two many programs running at start-up, a poorly written program hogging CPU time.

Lap top coolers are pretty good to keep a healthy properly running lap top in a cooler running condition. How ever if their is a thermal related problem then they only prove to be band-aids\temporary fixes. As you noted, you got the cooler because it was getting hot, it helped for a while but the problem has returned. Actually it never left, and has gotten worse.

After following the advice given then I feel it is time to check your running processes and try to trim them down.

You also said you know you are not infected. The symptoms you stated, 100% CPU usage, points to to the contrary, perhaps.

thanx evrybody for ur suggestion! i just got my laptop back from d service centre. I have replaced the heat sink and cooling fan,and they have also cleaned the interior, and this seems to have worked wonders! Not only do i not need the cooling pad, my laptop works better than ever. My fan had stopped working all together, hence it left me no choice but to give it for service. Also used to CCleaner to get rid of unwanted startup programs and registry errors. My laptop works perfect now! Thanx agn evrybdy!

Glad its all working .. Dust Bunnies can get quite mean when left unattended.