Overheating system acer aspire 4520 laptop seems to overheat and shutdown, gets especially hot above area where RAM is positioned, running 1gb of ram Vista Home Premium.

Try using a laptop cooler (cheap) this solved my problem with my aspire 4520 laptop too.

try shutting your laptop off after using it for 6 hours... give your laptop a rest for 1-2hours

if your a hardcore gamer/computer user laptop cooler is good for you.

Your memory modules might have problems, or the memory slot is has a short circuit. Try to change your memory modules or have your memory slots cleaned and checked for foreign particles.

I am Prabhu From coimbatore(+919994592634).I am Compaq Laptop user,To Prevent Over heating Of any Manufacturer laptops
Step1-Dont Use Your Laptop With Your Lap's because heat generated by the laptop will not disipate through Laps.
step2-Dont place the laptop on your bed or cloths and also in wooden tables.
step3-place the laptop in Hard Surface or in Heat absorbing materials like aluminium table,Iron Table(dont use Stainless steel table)you can use your home surface very good for laptop and use in highly vetilated area.