Why is my laptop overheating and what can I do about it?

Most likely it is to cool your CPU or other components of your laptop. Do you know if the heat is coming near the battery, or more towards the screen?

If most of the heat is on the battery, it may be time to replace said battery with a new one.

If you are able to, I recommend cleaning your fans (you will most likely need a screwdriver to do this and this would probably void any warranty you have).

The other option is to by a laptop fan cooler with fans, I used to use one on my older laptop, and it did help keep the machine cool.

Your laptop may be overheating due to an excessive number of programs running, extended use, or poor ventilation. Try propping the laptop up so the bottom can effectively disperse the heat created. If this does not help the fan may be clogged. The fan can be accessed on the bottom of the laptop and cleaned to solve this problem. For additional help, visit the Acer Aspire 3000 Troubleshooting page.