Clean the laptop for dust and reapply the thermal paste if the laptop is old-ish [a year or more, maybe 2].
This means, to open the laptop by either following a manual or bring it to your local servis and tell them to clean it for dust and to reapply the paste [if its old-ish].
While the cooling pad sounds nice, the build-up dust really cripples the cooling system in the laptop, thus making your laptop to overheat easily.