thermal paste and my processor

Hey all -
my desktop has been out of commission for about a month due to a bad PSU.  i finally got my replacement PSU in, and tried to set it up yesterday. 

when i first booted up my computer, everything started off normally, but then it froze up at the windows loading screen.  after trying to restart it, it would freeze up at the "start in safe mode" option screen (before windows even began loading). i decided to open it up and unplug everything from the motherboard, then plug it back in like i did on day one to make sure that everything was in order. 

i noticed that the CPU heatsink felt a little loose, so i removed it.  i saw that the thermal sealant was kinda hard and looked like burnt rubber (i didn't apply the sealant - it was an Intel processor that came with everything set up.) 

so i have two questions: 
1.  is an overheating processor the source of my problems with booting up?
2.  can i simply remove the old sealant, apply some new thermal paste, and set it all back up?

1. its likely. Without a properly attached heatsink CPUs overheat really quickly.

2. yeah put rubbing alcohol on a tissue and rub the thermal grease off the top of the cpu then you can follow the directions for the new stuff

cool thanks!

update:

so after cleaning off the old stuff with a cloth and some isopropyl alcohol, i applied a thin layer of Arctic Silver and spread it on the surface of my CPU with an old credit card.  I then reinstalled my heat sink (it's one with those plastic feet that kind of snap in). 

after doing this, i booted up my computer and it ran fine for about 5 minutes, then the monitor just shut off.  i turned it off and turned it back on, and it said it was in power save mode and that the PC was not activated.  the hard drive was still running, but when i hit the reset button nothing happened, and when i held down the power for a several seconds it didn't turn off.  after shutting off the power supply switch to turn it off, i booted everything back up, and 5 minutes later the same thing happened. 

after reading about this on the internet, it seems, again, like it's most likely my CPU overheating.  thing is, i've cleaned it and re-applied the thermal paste 3 times now, and i'm still having the same problem.  is there something that i'm missing?

Check if the fan is spinning. Else, you're applying too much thermal paste. You should only put on a drop the size of a rice grain.

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really? oh.  well.....THAT could be part of the problem

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this made me lul so hard.

but yea..grain of rice does it.

ok - so here's my question - should i apply it to one edge and spread it out like on a cracker?  or just put a grain in the middle, then press the heat sink onto it to spread it?

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The AS5 instructions for intel dual cores is to put a line down the middle of the CPU and then to just install the heatsink like normal.

It does depend on the processor though. I had an old AMD Athlon where i had to spread it over the chip manually.

Yeah with the C2D you just put a line down the center, and then when you put the heatsink on it will auto-spread out cuz of the pressure.