I'd got just the same problem with an desktop I've got. Usually, the 
machine is idling, and it's not producing much heating while idling. 
Hence, this overheating problem has taken some years to resolve. I'd 
recently found that I'd have to build some large program, or at least cd 
to /usr/pkgsrc as root and perform a make clean. In my case, it's 
insufficient cooling of the processor. I'd have reduced the clock speed 
from 3,4 GHz to 1,4 GHz by altering the bios, and a over temperature 
warning has been enabled in the bios too. This warning also slows down 
the clock when the temperature reaces a given limit. This temperature is 
specific for each type of processor, and I've had to spend a little time 
to find out the exact type of processor I've got. Thereafter, two huge 
fans has been mounted at the case, blowing air into the cabinet. Both 
the case temperature and cpu temperature seems so far to be under 
control. Note that the cpu temperature are a little dependant of the 
cabinet temperature, if cpu temperature is on the limit, a little raise 
of the case temperature may trigger the temp warning. The cpu cooling 
flange has been changed to the largest available, too. My pc are 
constructed that way that the air blows directly from free air into the 
cpu cooling flange, and it's clogging up with dust and dirt quite 
quickly. With the two new fans, the cabinet having a little overpressure 
inside, and the next thing I'll do is to mount a airfilter to the fan's 
intake to keep the dust out. It's easy to monitor the temperatures with 
the mbmon program, you'll find it in the /usr/pkgsrc/sysutils directory.

Those fans I'd have mentioned are'nt noticeable noisy, I'd bougth fans 
that each have plentyful of capacity to do the job, and I'd bought two. 
They are both dc fans, and they have their own adjustable power supply, 
which is set to 6V instead of 12V which are the rated voltage. The 
amount of air a fan move is proportional to the power consumption. The 
amount of air is proportional to the speed of the fan squared. The speed 
of an dc motor is proportional to the voltage. I'm running the fans at 
half the voltage which means they run at half speed, which means they 
deliver a quarter of the rated amount of air. I'd found that that amount 
of air were enough to keep the case cool, and the noise were almost 
gone. There are a little fan noise still, but it's not annoying.

Because you have a laptop, I do not think it is possible to add a fan, 
but do make sure it's free of dust and dirt inside, maybe this is a job 
for an qualified technician. But that's what I'd have done, and I'd hope 
that I'd have given you a point of what do try to solve your problem.

Cincerely,
Sigmund

Jeremy C. Reed wrote:
> I have a laptop that normally powers down when I am compiling some 
> software. I guess it is a feature when it overheats. Other than that it 
> works fine (and has been on 99.99% of the time for over 6 months).
> 
> Any suggestions on how I can get it to run slower? I am guessing if there 
> is a way to make it slower it wouldn't overheat.
> 
> I know I can build on another system.
> 
> Also is there any way to get the temperature?
> 
> I have:
> 
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