Dell Studio 17 overheating. Help with fix.

[Jaghat]

Hello everyone,

I use a two-year-old Dell Studio 1735 laptop. It used to run fine, but it's been overheating more and more over the past year. Now it's sometimes unusable.

Of course I updated BIOS, sprayed some air and use it on the appropriate surface. I even have a cooling pad which makes no difference in the frequency of overheats. Overheats being instant shutdowns.

My next guess is that the heatsink needs to be reseated, but I know nothing of a laptop's inside layout. I've been looking for a guide on how to open it up safely.
EDIT: And ironically found it right after I posted this. Right on Dell's page, how did I miss this?

Do you have any tips of information about the situation?

Thanks!

Also, one place that seems to be the hottest (when I play and touch the bottom of the laptop) is the area near the RAM and southbridge, inside.
EDIT: I used Everest to test FPU Stress, it lasted 2 seconds and overheated. CPU Test lasted and was stable.

[Sparky]

What did you use to clean the vents? did you go the whole length of the vent? Which direction did you blow it (in the intake or in the exhaust)?

[Jaghat]

I used a can of compressed air. I sent the air from inside (removed the bottom panel of the laptop) and tried to push the dust out to the best of my abilities. I didn't put that much thought into it, unfortunately, except for what I guessed was common sense.