Laptop keeps switching off (Over heating??)

[ex_matelot]

I have a Compaq Presario HP CQ50. The other day I upgraded the hard drive from Vista to Win7 Ultimate. I have also been tinkering the past few days swapping the hard drive around etc. It now keeps switching off and I think it may be a faulty fan as the one nearest the power inlet does not seem to spin. I have just managed to complete windows updates by placing the laptop on the cold paving in the garden. When I went for the restart it shut down again.

Could this be a BIOS issue with me swapping hard drives? How can I go about diagnosing this problem? The drive that's currently in it is the original one.

It never had this problem running Vista but most of the time it was switched on was spent either waiting for it to switch on or shut down!

Thanks.

[ex_matelot]

Sorted it - was a stuck fan. I stuck a needle through the vent and moved it, heard a slight click..switched it on and now all ok.

[Avtrician]

The cooling ducts probably have dust in them, and could use a clean out.

As they say on electronic kits,

Requires some skill knowledge dis and re assembly