Lenovo 3000 N100 shuts down by itself

hey guys
having a problem with my bro's laptop. his lenovo N100 shuts down by itself. its the same with the battery and without the battery plugged in. it doesnt seem to heat (doesnt feel hot when i touch underneath it), and it sometimes shuts down after like just 2min after booting up. its about 3 years old, and out of the warranty period. im wondering if it could be a issue with the power cable? i could buy a new one, but i dont wanna spend on one without being sure it could be the reason. could it? or wat else could i check for? could it be a virus? its hard to keep the machine on long enough to run a virus scan even! please help! thanks

 

download everest your laptop is probably overheating.

 

thanks ^^ ok i'll download wat u said i hope thats the case.. but can it heat up so soon? like in 2-4min? and it doesnt feel hot? thanks

 

if the thermal compound between the CPU and the heat sink isn't working properly then yes maybe.

 

hmm, im not at home right now so cant check immediately.. but if i notice a high temp or something, wat do i do? clean the fan or heat sink, using compressed air cans? not sure how to do that, but i will search around n try.. is there anything else? thanks