Hp Pavillion model dv7-3020sa shuts down within a minute of boot up

I'd bet just about anything you are overheating. I can't think of anything else that would produce those symptoms.

You say that the computer doesn't have time to get very hot, only up to 65C. Do you mean if you just leave it sitting at the desktop, it's hitting 65C doing nothing? Good idle temps should be in the 30-40 range. 65 is absolutely overheating, no question about it.

If I were you, I'd check your temps with another piece of software. I'd also check the BIOS to see if you can find out what temperature it's kicking in the failsafe and shutting down the system.

As far as fixing it, start by replacing your thermal compound. If that doesn't do it, replace the fan too.

Yeah 65c is idle, I was just wondering if it could be the GPU triggering the shutoff rather than the CPU. I figured the CPU shutoff wouldn't happen at that temp. When it used to stay on longer the CPU would get up over 85c. I was using core temp.
I just tried going into the bios. Only had about a minute before it shut off but I'm pretty sure there were no options for when it shuts off. None that I could see anyway.
If I end up replacing the thermal compound and fan on the cpu it will be a lot of work. Should I try to get a GPU fan too and whatever else I may need to replace or do you think it has to be the CPU triggering the shutoffs? Thanks,
Jon

The trick to laptops is treating every component like it's a CPU, i.e. very carefully. If you go like that, with an anti-static bracelet you should be fine. My guess is a jammed CPU fan or GPU fan. Check all the fans in the computer. Once I had a fan that was over heating (the motor was failing) so I lubricated it with normal household oil and it worked fine. There are videos on youtube involving the lubrication of a fan and what not.

Holy crap, yeah, you are absolutely overheating. No doubt whatsoever, your CPU is overheating. Not sure why you determined it wasn't a CPU heat issue when you'd already seen it in excess of 85C. That's is really, really hot, and well into the realm of temperatures that can kill your chip. There is no way whatsoever that an overheating video card is causing your CPU to get that hot.

You said this has gotten progressively worse over time, but don't say how long. Has this been a week? A month? A year? Because from the sound of things, you've already done permanent damage to your chip. If you've just been powering it back on and waiting for the temperatures to hit their limit and let the computer shut itself off, you've been doing very, very bad things to the processor.

At this point, you may be looking at replacing the CPU entirely, not just the thermal compound. At any rate, stop using the computer IMMEDIATELY. I'm not kidding, you are literally destroying your hardware every time you turn the computer on.