it sounds hard but open up the laptop and check that thre is no fan motor damage and no cables in the way--since the laptop is old make sure there is not bigass piece of dust trapped in it

good luck!

If you get an air can for electrical devices, while the machine is off, spray into each air intake and exhaust. amd_sucks is correct though that you may have to open up your machine if you can't clean it from the outside. I have a laptop that is about three years old that had very bad issues with overheating, so I opened her up, cleaned every single component (I literally cleaned everything and had every piece out of that casing), and put it back together. The thing ran like new. It's unfortunate, but laptops are not intented to run forever; they definately have a life expectency for the average user.

Before you do any disassembling of your laptop, make sure that you are working in an area that will not be disturbed. Keep track of every single screw (label them if you have to). Be very, very careful. You can permanently damage your system if you do not take it slow. Many times, disassembling a laptop is like a puzzle that you must solve.

Thank you both very much. I will try to do what you have suggested. In fact, I will probably look for a new quieter fan to replace this noisy one since I will be opening up the computer anyways.

Many thanks

http://froogle.google.com/froogle?q=...en&sa=N&tab=wf

here at froogle they have great laptop fans
be sure to measure your current one and get the right size
if there is space-you might wanna think about adding extra fans while you are at it!