I have a Dell INspiron 630m, model MXC051, running XP Professional SErvice Pack 3. I have had increasing problems and it now will only operate for a maximum of 5 mins before it freezes. I suspect there is more than one problem.

On closedown I have been getting regular messages that ccSvcHst.exe is not responding. This is something to do with Norton 360 which I have now uninstalled from the laptop. I have also had messages that Dr Watson post mortem debugger needs to close.

There have been occassions when the laptop has shut itself down and when I restart I get the message that: "Your system automatically powered off becuae it became warmer than expected. This may have been caused by:
operating in environ which is too hot, or vents blocked (not so). If this problem recurs please contact Dell Support with error code #M1004. I have emailed them, but not yet had a response and connot get through on their online chat support.

I have used CCleaner and have attempted to use Uniblue Registry Cleaner, but the laptop always freezes before it completes. I am entering this from an Advent desk top. Can anyone suggest what might help? Thanks

I have used CCleaner and have attempted to use Uniblue Registry Cleaner, but the laptop always freezes before it completes.

Good! I don't have a problem using the disk cleaning section of CCleaner, but you should not attempt to mess with the Registry for a problem that clearly at this point, looks to be caused by heat. It is too easy to totally corrupt Windows as changes to the Registry take effect in real-time, with no undo feature if you forget what you did, or failed to make a backup and have a restore routine established for that particular computer. Sadly, Registry cleaners, as a class of software, have earned a reputation for doing little, if any, good (in terms of perceptible performance gains). Worse yet, many or even most Registry cleaners are overly aggressive, often making things irrecoverably worse. Therefore, many experts discourage their use.

What you describe are classic heat related symptoms caused by poor ventilation, or an overstressed and/or failing component.

Sadly, laptops are not really user friendly when it comes to what should be simple user maintenance, like checking anti-freeze levels, or topping off the oil. The normal user can't pop open the hood on a laptop to ensure the CPU's heatsink is free of heat trapping dust, the vents not cloggled, and the fans are clean and spin freely. I recommend taking it into a shop and have them do a thorough cleaning. They have the tools and lots of practice opening laptop cases - unless still under warranty, then wait for Dell.

Otherwise, what are your temperatures? You can boot into the BIOS Setup Menu and check the temps under PC Health (or some similar section) but note running the BIOS Setup Menu is about the least demanding task, so the computer will not be under normal use. That said, if high in the Setup Menu, you got a problem.

To check under Windows, you computer may have come with a utilities disk with a monitoring program, or use one of the many 3rd party monitoring programs.

Laptop users that are able to get MobileMeter to work on their laptops like it a lot. If not compatible, and for PC users, CoreTemp is for newer Intel and AMD64 CPUs. Speedfan is a great and popular alternative, or you can try Motherboard Monitor. Unfortunately, I have found that these programs often have problems properly identifying and labeling the sensor they are reading. The temperatures shown are as accurate as the inexpensive, low-tech sensors will allow, but it may say System Fan instead of CPU Fan. Fortunately, the programs do allow you to edit the labels, so I use Everest to verify the temperatures (as it is able to put sensor to label correctly), then edit the label in the monitoring program. In Everest, look under Computer > Sensor, then wait a couple seconds for the readings to appear. Unfortunately, Everest does not minimize to the system tray to show real-time temperatures, otherwise, you could use Everest instead of the others.

Get a desk fan and blast it directly onto the keyboard and see what happens. Consider getting a Laptop Cooling Pad w/ext. power supply.

Have contacted Dell who have updated the bios and suggested that if this doesn't work the problem is the heat sink on the mother board. They are due to call me back in a couple of hours. Have also downloaded MobileMeter. This shows the temperature to be pretty stable at 45 degrees C. I'm not sure what it should be!
It's out of warranty, but I've opened it up already, there doesn't seem to be dust blocking the fan. Dell had me do some checks on the fan and the motherboard. They all passed OK. The laptop hasn't frozen for more than half an hour now, so maybe the BIOS update has worked?

Assuming the heat problem is fixed, I'm concerned that the registry is a mess. If not a cleaner what do you recommend? Thanks for your help so far.

Dell ... suggested that if this doesn't work the problem is the heat sink on the mother board.

Ummm, heatsinks don't go bad so I am at a loss as to what they may mean there. Certainly they can get clogged with dust and dirt and need to be regularly cleaned, and they can be knocked loose, but they do not go bad.

45°C is just fine. But you need to watch is to make sure it does not go high when you are taxing the system and/or it has been running for a bit.

I'm concerned that the registry is a mess.

Why? What symptoms lead you to that? Note that if there were problems with the Registry, programs would not work properly or possibly boot times would be excessive (over 5 minutes) or the system might not shut down correctly. Of course those are also symptoms of bad drivers - and nothing to do with the Registry.

I would wait and see if the BIOS update cleared the problem.

OK thanks, I will wait to see how it performs. I have had problems with close down. I regularly have to end unresponsive ccSvcHst.exe and Dr Watson post mortem debugger

I regularly have to end unresponsive ccSvcHst.exe and Dr Watson post mortem debugger

- and yet you said you uninstalled Norton. Sadly, this is the same ol' story - Symantec products are notorious for grabbing up resources, then refusing to let go. It is so bad that Symantec has created removal tools for all their products that fail to uninstall properly. See here.

See MSKB Article 310414, How to Configure and Use Error Reporting. This shows you how to enable reporting (Dr. Watson) and from there, you can see how to disable it.