I think my computer has been overheating lately. For example, my computer utterly freeze to the point where I cant do anything and the little red light that shows if the CPU is being used turns on and stays on. When I touch the outside of the computer, it is very hot. So obviously, my computer is overheating!

I don't have enough money to purchase heatsinks, so...

A. What temperature is considered to be a safe temperature for an AMD Athlon?

B. How do I set up my computer so that it failsafes in some way, such as reducing the CPU to 1/4 processing power or putting the computer in a hibernate mode, when the computer starts to reach unsafe temperatures?

Do you know the make & model of the motherboard?

Try this scan: http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html

What is under Main Circuit Board

Also: are you familiar with opening the case?

I don't know the make or model of the motherboard, and under the Main Circuit board heading is:

Bus Clock: 66 megahertz
BIOS: American Megatrends Inc. 062710 07/15/9

and I don't know how to open the case. I don't know anything about repairing or replacing hardware, for that matter.

Unfortunatley Belarc didn't come up with the board itself. From the BIOS I find this:

You can try this tool to further ID the board if you wish:

http://www.ami.com/support/mbid.cfm

Also do you know the make & model of the computer?

Check Belarc under System Model

If we can ID the board we can check for BIOS adjustments.

More likely than not to do any troubleshooting you will need to go inside.

If you are interested in trying we can help you thru the process.

If you have no interest in opening it up you should probably take it to a shop.

And yes; it definitly seems like a heat issue.