Miscellaneous laptop discussions forum: My Laptop Fan is Crapping Out!!

I have a Sony Vaio VGN-S360 and I've been having problems with the fan for a long time now. The fan inside sounds like it's always off track or something. Ever since it first started making noise, I used an air duster and sure enough, a dust ball came flying out. After that, the fan kept getting louder and louder.

Nowadays, two or three times a week, the fan will stop spinning and make a loud grinding sound. When that happens, I just freak out and immediately use the air can to get it back to normal.

I'm going on a trip for about a week and I'm not sure whether or not to leave my laptop on. What I want to do is somehow take apart my laptop and see if I can fix the problem myself. I tried getting to the fan from the back, but the laptop seems tied down.

I guess the questions are: Is it safe to leave my laptop on? If it overheats will it shut down automatically? And, how on earth do I get inside a Vaio computer? How do I get to the fan without too much work?
Would really appreciate any helpful answers!

~LF