Seriously!?! Serious problems with the customer support and AppleCare.

Question

I have a macbook pro.  I've had it since Aug 2007, so it's old, i get it. But I'm a poor starving student and I bought the computer with the idea that it was a quality product that would last me though my studies.  However, it has been the shop for repairs literally, every year, often multiple times per year, since I bought it.  Everything from DVD (twice failed, more than two visits), to hard drive failure, to replacing the motherboard.  That's just what I remember.  The thing is a lemon.
Fortunately I bought apple care, great idea right? It was for the first year or two.  However over a year before AppleCare was set to expire it started having problems over heating, freezing, and subsequently giving me that scary roll down 'restart your computer immediately screen'.  It gets so hot you can't set it on your lap - it burns. I repeatedly brought it into the shop for help (the flagship one on Regents Street in London), and they couldn't seem to do anything.  When I explained time was of the essence because I wanted it covered under AppleCare, they seemed unbothered, it seeed they were clearly waiting for it to expire first.  Dodgy.
During the appointments they couldn't seem to replicate the issue in the shop (it take about 30 minutes to an hour to really scorch, and seems to not be related to how hard the CPU works).  And said because they could see it do it, they were not able to help.  Really, in the whole history of apple, I'm the only one to have a computer over heat?  Really?  Instead, they sent me away asking me to come back later "when it starts doing it again".  Okay, as I said, it always overheats, it just takes a while to start, so unless we sit together in quiet awkwardness waiting, and waiting, it's not going to happen.  And as the appointments take about three days to get so it's not like I can just pop round when it starts to happen and say, feel, it's really hot now, will you please, for the love of God, find a solution now?  And it's a bit of a walk to the store, and there are no internet cafe's near by for me to go heat it up at, so it's always going to cool before I arrive. Duh.
And why is the burden of proof on me?  It's like they are insinuating that I just love popping round the apple store every few months, all the vain hope that I can have a ...free part?
Still I persevered, taking it in when the problem seemed to exacerbate, and making sure I used it a bit first to get it warmed up.  All the while with the warranty getting closer and closer to expiration.   Finally, we got it to do it in the shop.  But for a fix, they just sprayed it with air, and told me to "see if that works".  It didn't.  And I ask you, why is it in no other visit, they could not have come to this ground breaking solution? Did they really have to feel it get hot to realize overheating may have something to do with a clogged fan? 
I should also note that they then proceeded to put it back together wrong, and I was unable to open it because a misplaced screw caused it to lock shut.  It took two days to get a new appointment to get it fixed, even when I called to explain that it was their error, and I really, really, needed my laptop.
Anyway, as I said, it didn't fix the problem. So I had to go back yet again, at this point I can't remember if I was still under applecare or if it had just expired.  It doesn't matter, because, again, without being able to make it get hot on their own (even though they had case history where it was clear that it had, and this was not just in my imagination, and even more case history showing it had a history of instability), they couldn't offer me any solutions.  All they could do, they said, was suggest that I leave it with them for "about a week" to check it over.  A week!! Who goes without a computer for a week?!?! I'm not a student in 1985.  
So now, I'm sitting here writing you am email from my laptop which is sitting on a towel in my lap to protect my thighs from mac burn.  The warranty has now long passed, but the problem has now finally progressed to the point that it takes much less than 30 to reach scalding point, so I could prove it if there were any point.  But there isn't, because now when I call the apple people, they assure me that it must be a hardware issue (and furthermore that the apple employees should have been able to tell me this over a year ago), and unless I want to buy parts there just isn't anything that they can do.  Which leads me to my next point, if the problem started while under warranty, and you have documentation of this, why do I - a poor starving student - have to pay for this just because it took you, Apple, a year and half to finally figure out the problem?
So to recap, I decided to pay the exorbitant apple costs and make the switch from PC because I thought that the stability of the machines, the so touted excellent customer service, and the superior programs were worth the cost.  And to be fair, the programs are fabulous, the apps integrate smoothly, and it starts up with a flash.  Unfortunately I can't enjoy any of this with my laptop on my lap without risking burning through my pants.  I can only enjoy these benefits for about 30 minutes before it starts freezing due to the heat.  And, a few times a year I have to make multiple journeys to the apple store (which is, to be fair, really quite a nice store) to get the latest hardware problem fixed, which means I'm often without it for days to over a week at a time.  All in all, it's not worth the money to me - one of those young, hip, cutting edge media types you are trying so hard to market to - until you can fix your customer service issues, put knowledgable people in positions to help, and have the internal support systems to get it done with at least enought efficiency to keep up with the technology demands of the modern world. 

Answer 1

It sounds as if this is coming back to Norton Security...
"LiveUpdate_solved" in "Norton 360"
The article by author "rab60" contains detailed instructions on the Live Update solution.
You might try a more thorough search of the Norton community forum... I do not use Norton and cannot comment on whether any of the solutions work.
Kind Regards,
Dragon-Fur