How hot does the CPU get, and does it crash? If the computer is stable it is probably within operating temps. Does it get too hot regardless of what you're doing or only when you are putting it under heavy load?

if I let it go it does shut down. Gets hot no matter what. takes more time when the computer is idle,

I wonder if there's a problem with the thermal paste on the CPU/heatsink

Anything is possible at this point. I dont think they ever Changed the processor so it could be a problem with it too.

AquaticEdge,

I have a HP dv3 laptop that had the following problem:
After about 15 minutes of use from a fresh start with the A/C cord plugged in, the laptop screen would go dark in the Windows 7 OS and then shut itself down. I could immediately start it back up and it would take me to a screen that said that Windows 7 was improperly shut down, yadah yadah yadah...

This HP dv3 is powered by an AMD processor. (Turion 64 maybe?)

Here is what I did and it helped expand the shutdown time from 15 minutes to about 45 minutes. (Doing all of the below allowed 45 minutes of run time.)

-Used canned air to blow out the vents, but only a small amount of dust came out... could not be the sole reason for overheating...

-Removed the battery, this gave me a large chunk of the 30 minute time upgrade.

-Removed the keyboard and cleaned under it. There was a surprising amount of dust/dirt, but nothing covering vital heat sinks and such so I am not sure this actually helped at all.

I was nervous about taking apart this HP. It is simply not built very well and the parts are thin plastic prone to cracking and stripping. I had an IBM ThinkPad T43 before this laptop and boy did I take on a huge downgrade when going from the ThinkPad to this pile of garbage HP.

What I ended up doing short of applying new thermal paste between the CPU, GPU and heat sink was to take an Exacto knife and cut out all of the small vertical plastic bars covering the copper/aluminum air intake and exhaust ports.

After this modification, I could run the laptop in High Performance mode with the battery installed, and the A/C plugged in all day long. The laptop gets hot and the fan is almost always at top RPMs, but it never shuts down on its own anymore.

My advice to any one reading this: Never buy an HP laptop powered by an AMD processor. You will most likely regret it. My next laptop is going to either be a Macbook or a ThinkPad.

I'd never used the canned air on my computer, moisture and electronics dont mix... but I may investigate the CPU thermal Gel and see what if anything is on there, I'm supposed to get the computer back tomorrow...

Canned air is dry air made for blowing the dust off things like motherboards....
Heat and electronics don't mix either.... and an insulation layer of dust can make a difference...

If they took it apart and replaced all these parts, i am betting dust is not the problem... unless they are total dummies and didn't clean the vents and heatsink.

I was amazed at the amount of dust wedged into the fins on my daughter's computer. But she would use it flat on the carpet or on her bed, so that added lint. It would not have come clean with just air from the outside.

Remember that spraying air from out to in only pushes the dust around.

The disassembly manual on HP's site was surprisingly thorough. You can remove most components without full disassembly of the laptop.

But...assuming HP's done this twice already under warranty the chances are good that it's been cleaned, particularly if they already replaced the fan.

They were supposed to call me tonight. she did not.... Irked. I called them 3 times today to find out what they did "she's on the other line but as soon as she's done she'll call you riiiiiiight back" I called back "She's gone home for the day...." Not happy..... not happy at all......

Computer came back. case manager called. they are replacing the computer. now I need to move 800GB worth of data.... weeeeee

I "Would" buy a Macintosh. :D

I enjoy right clicking oh so much though....

I'm not too fond of mac computers, I know they are better then the ones I used but I would have to relearn some different programs and the price tag is prohibitive, I wouldnt say no to a free one though just to play with, get to use. I know they have some nice Video editing software etc

Just having to move that data sounds like a pretty good end to this story....