a turquoise flower

Thursday night I started having laptop problems. It would overheat like crazy in minutes and the little built in fan on the bottom couldn't cool it down fast enough so it shut off by itself.

I can use the laptop as long as I keep it from overheating - which translates to using it for about ten minutes before hitting the hibernation button to cool it down a bit before I turn it on again and then surf for about ten minutes and/or until it gets hot again and then let it sleep for five minutes again until it cools down and then rinse and repeat.

It's a solution, but not a long-term one.

Does anyone know if it's a battery problem? And can I buy a new battery and replace it with this old one or would I need to start saving up for a brand new laptop? (This Toshiba laptop isn't old exactly - I got it summer of '10, I believe? So I do want to avoid buying a new one if the only problem is the battery - which I suspect it is but then again I'm computer illiterate when it comes to the hardware stuff.)

At least I can be grateful the tech problem started when I don't have a dire need for a computer but still...