On Sun, 10 Feb 2013 13:46:03 -0800, "David Farber"
wrote:

I was able to remove the keyboard after lots of nudging with several small
screwdrivers. I'm not down to the bare motherboard yet but at first glance,
I don't see much dust in this case. A new fan is going to be at least $20.

The dust is inside the fan shroud, in the heat pipe radiator, and
jammed in between the fan and radiator. Also around the intake on the
bottom of the machine. Hit it with compressed air and watch the dusty
fly.

A new fan is going to be at least $20.

$6 if you don't mine used. $15 for new.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/330723494250

Throw in a couple of hours for labor and testing and this nearly seven year
old laptop may not be economical to repair.

Right. Just toss it because you can't find a way to get rich fixing
it. Repair is always better than recycling:
http://www.ifixit.com/Manifesto

The part about the erratic
behavior of the mouse makes me think that there may be an additional
hardware failure other than the heat problem.

It's caused by either too many mouse drivers installed or a broken
"enhanced" pointer precision:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-GfJC4YGr4

--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558