i have a dell inspirion 5100 laptop. recently, the bottom of the computer gets hot really fast after a short time of usage. i think i have this problem before, so i sent it to dell and they seemed to have fixed it. no more warranty :-(. when it gets hot, the program that normally would not take that much cpu usage, took a lot of cpu usage. when it gets hot, programs such as word or media player would use up like almost 100% cpu usage. in order to help the computer not be so hot, i have to raised it up (used a book or something) and try not to cover the fan at the bottom. i have tried opened up the laptop and cleaned the fan, but it still has the same problem.
thanks.

My daughter has a similar Dell which had the same problem. If you google for overheating Dell laptops you will find that it is a widespread problem. I found a neat little utility which lets you control the fan speed and setpoints independent of BIOS.

http://www.diefer.de/i8kfan/

Here is one link off the Dell Forum there are lots of discussions about the 5100's I think the intake is on the bottom of the laptop I could be wrong. http://www.geocities.com/i5100dustproblem/

I second Ichabod's recommendation for fangui. Great piece of freeware, good support, great reviews.

DM

I use it on my Inspiron 8200 also.