Car is overheating

You've covered some of the basics. Does the cooling fan come on? Does the engine over heat at freeway speeds or only in traffic or does it boil and loose coolant almost immediately after starting? Does the engine run rough or seem to misfire? Is there any water in the oil or does the oil look milky, water or steam come out the exhaust? Too many questions but it's best to get this resolved before more serious damage occurs. Could be a bad fan switch a restricted radiator or a blown head gasket, very hard to guess at the cause of this over heating without being able to do some basic diagnostic tests or be able to experience the problem first hand.