Resolved XP sp3 never froze b4, now frequent

I have an Acer Aspire 1640 Pentium 1.6 with 1gb ram, I've had very few problems with this laptop but recently while having trouble connecting with my wireless router I changed some settings as directed in this post
= http://www.windowsbbs.com/networking/91400-cannot-connect-wireless-network.html

When I installed the updated firmware for the router I was able to connect and thought everything was fine but..... it's not. My wireless connection drops randomly several times a day, not when in use but when it hasn't been used for a while and you go to use it, it's disconnected. if you repair or open the connections window and click connect it connects but it's annoying.

I also installed Microsoft security essentials about a week ago and since then my computer has been freezing solid several times a day, in the last four years since Ive owned it, it has never done that.

 

I have minimal programs running in the backround already. I just noticed last night after I posted that the cooling fan isn't coming on any more... it will run when you first turn the computer on for about three seconds. This it does without fail and it sounds normal but then it won't come on again, and it gets warmer than normal... then it freezes.
Is there two cooling fans on laptops? One for cpu and one for the case? Is there some setting I can change to make the fan run continuous?

 

Thanks for the help but it fried the day of my last post and I just bought a new laptop today. $600 ouch