I have a laptop that runs Windows Vista Enterprise. It's a HP-Compaq nc8430, and for a long time the GPU ran very hot as a sort of default behavior set in the bios. This problem was reported and experienced by lots of different people.
I asked about this problem here on superuser.com. Eventually I figured out (a) that it was the GPU generating all the heat, and (b) how to turn off or turn down the GPU. This corrected the heat problem.
However, the damage had been done, apparently. It's maybe 3.5 years old, but the keyboard no longer works. Some of the keys just don't work at all. I figure this is heat-related damage.
This machine is set up as a development machine. It's got tools and software on it, a nice setup for me. The network adapter still works. So I can connect to the thing via RDP, and continue to use it that way. This is a great idea, but I am now having intermittent RDP connection problems, which I also asked about here. So frustrating!
What are my other options? Is there a way to freeze-dry the Windows Vista OS image into a virtual PC and then run it on my newer laptop (Windows 7 Home)?
Other suggestions?