Tom, I was able to perform the fan cleaning yesterday using your explicit instructions. I also removed the battery as recommended in the HP Support forum. They said that it was reported by some users that the power started while cleaning the fans.
I'm not sure if it cleaned the fans propertly. I used compressed air in every necessary vent....but the fan runs continuously. It does not make any noise except for a low sounding hum of the fan. It also doesn't get real hot. I've never noticed anything hot on the exterior of the laptop and it only discharges warm air from vent every so often. So I don't know if anthing is wrong or if it is okay for the fan to run continuously when there doesn't seem to be any problem. Would a cooling pad, or whatever the correct name is, help. And, if so can you recomment a reasonable cost pad.
Thanks again for your help. It's really appreciated.
Josey