Windows 7 - Overheating laptop

I have a hp dv6t 2000, running windows 7 64 bit, with an intel i7 1.6 GHz processor, 6 GB of ram and the nvidia geforce gt 230m graphics card. The CPU maxes out whenever videos and even music is played. I usually have an external monitor plugged into the the vga port and sometimes I have to just unplug the external monitor and the cpu winds down. Even recently my cpu maxes out without the external monitor plugged in and video playing. There is no ventilation problems with where the computer is located. About a year ago when I started using the external monitor, I could use as many applications as I wanted to. The laptop is a little over 2 years old. Any suggestions?

Canned air for blowing out dust is an obvious thing to suggest, but the fact your CPU maxes out isn't right - so there's some kind of corruption or malware present.

Anti-virus deep scan, malwarebytes ditto, and System File Checker are all prudent steps.

Do what Qdos said and also get yourself a cooling pad I have a Hp 2000 but the AMD version i got that one simply cause i know intel is a hot head

Anyhow scan for malware look for programs that look suspect also use can air to clean any dust and to open up clogged area's the cooling pad will give additional airflow and cooling and should bring it down some

remember laptops will always run a little more toasty due to there space and size

Follow Qdos' directions. A notebook cooler might also be nice:

Newegg.com - ZALMAN Ultra Quiet Notebook Cooler Model ZM-NC1000 Black

Process explorer might be useful to see what going on:

Process Explorer

Are you sure your fan is running?

2 yrs of usage could accumulate a lot of dust inside, especially if you have pets, I would actually open the bottom up and clean there with compressed air and possibly brush. If it worked fine before, you don't need cooling pad now (after cleaning of course) and if you don't clean it and just use cooling pad, it will get better for now, but it will get worse later.

must admit , some model laptops cope far better than others too...but follow all above .

also taken into consideration he does have a discrete GPU installed make sure the gpu fan is working too process by elimination

check the temps on the gpu to make sure it isn't giving off extra heat as well

High temps for cpu might cause high cpu usage. That's what I've observed so far in my years of experience. Canned air is good. Opening it out and cleaning the fan is better(yet,not recommended for beginners).