In this guide I will be taking apart a Sony Vaio VGN-SZ series laptop. In my case I’m working with a Sony Vaio VGN-SZ330p laptop but the guide should work for the entire VGN-SZ line.

In you need replacement parts, search here.

STEP 1.

Turn off the laptop, unplug AC adapter and remove battery.

Remove one screw securing the keyboard.

STEP 2.

There are two latches securing the keyboard. They are located above the F2 and Insert keys.

STEP 3.

Using a small screwdriver press on the locking latch above the Insert key and lift up the right side of the keyboard.

STEP 4.

Do the same with the second latch and lift up the keyboard from the laptop base.

STEP 5.

Place the keyboard upside down on the palm rest so you can access the cable connector underneath.

STEP 5.

In order to unlock the cable connector move the black clip about 2 millimeters towards the touch pad. The clip must stay attached to the connector base.

If you break the connector, you’ll have to remove the motherboard. Work very carefully.

STEP 6.

Release the keyboard cable. Remove the keyboard and replace it with a new one if needed.

STEP 7.

Remove four screw securing the heat sink cover. Remove the cover.
Remove two screws securing the memory cover. Remove the cover.

STEP 8.

Remove two screw securing the CPU heat sink.

STEP 9.

Remove heat sink from the laptop.

Now you can clean the cooling fan and heat sink with compressed air.
Also, you get an access to the CPU.

STEP 10.

Both memory modules could be access through the door on the bottom of the laptop.

STEP 11.

Remove four red screws securing the switch cover.
Remove three yellow screws securing the palm rest.

STEP 12.

Carefully lift up and remove the switch cover.

STEP 13.

Remove three screw securing the palm rest.
Unlock the touch pad cable connector and release the cable.

In order to unlock the connector simply lift up the right side of the locking clip with your finger nail.

On the picture below the connector is shown in the unlocked state.

STEP 14.

Release the touch pad cable and remove the palm rest assembly.

When the palm rest assembly is removed you get an access to the hard drive, DVD drive, wireless card and CMOS battery.

STEP 15.

Remove three screws securing the hard drive assembly.

Disconnect the hard drive cable connector from the motherboard.

STEP 16.

Remove the hard drive assembly from the laptop.

If you are replacing or upgrading the hard drive you’ll have to transfer the mounting bracket and cable from the old drive to a new one.

STEP 17.

Remove one screw securing the DVD drive.

STEP 18.

Slid the DVD drive to the right to disconnect it from the motherboard.

There is an adapter between the DVD drive and motherboard. This adapter has to stay attached to the motherboard.

STEP 19.

Remove DVD drive from the laptop.

STEP 20.

In order to remove the wireless card, disconnect two antenna cable from the card, remove two screws securing the card and pull the card from the slot on the motherboard.

If you would like to replace the CMOS battery, simply unplug it from the motherboard and replace with a new one.

In one of the previous guides I explain how to remove the LCD screen and inverter board from a Sony Vaio VGN-SZ series laptop.

In this guide I remove the motherboard and repair the DC power jack in a Dell Inspiron B130 laptop. You can use same instructions for Dell Inspiron 1300 and Inspiron B120 laptops. All three models have same type of body.

In my case the power jack started failing intermittently. The laptop started switching from AC to battery power on its own. In order to switch it back to the AC power I had to fiddle with the adapter plug and find the right position. I tested the laptop with another adapter and it failed exactly the same way. I came to a conclusion that the DC power jack is not making good contact with the motherboard and has to be repaired.

In Dell Inspiron 1300/B120/B130 laptop the DC power jack is soldered to the motherboard. If the jack is broken, you’ll have to unsolder it and replace with a new jack.

Let’s start removing the motherboard.

STEP 1.

Check out spare parts for Dell Inspiron 1300/B120/B130.

Before you start taking the laptop apart, do not forget to turn off the power and remove the battery.

Lift up the right side of the keyboard cover with a small screwdriver and continue removing the cover with your fingers.

STEP 2.

After the cover is removed you can access two screws securing the keyboard. Remove both screws.

STEP 3.

Lift up the keyboard and place it upside down on the palm rest.

STEP 4.

Now you can access the cable connector and release the cable.

STEP 5.

Unlock the connector, pull the cable and remove the keyboard.

On the following picture the connector is displayed in the unlocked position.

STEP 6.

Remove two screws securing display hinges on the bottom of the laptop.

STEP 7.

Remove two screws securing display hinges on the back side of the laptop.

STEP 8.

Disconnect the video cable connector from the motherboard.
Disconnect the wireless card antenna cable.

STEP 9.

Remove the display panel assembly.

Here’s an example of removing the LCD screen from a Dell display panel.

STEP 10.

From the bottom of the laptop you can access the hard drive, memory modules, wireless card, optical CD/DVD drive and heat sink.

STEP 11.

Remove the hard drive cover.
Pull the hard drive assembly to the left and remove it from the laptop.

STEP 12.

Remove one screw securing the optical CD/DVD drive to the laptop base.
Pull the drive from the laptop and remove it.

STEP 13.

It’s not necessary to remove both memory modules and wireless card for the purpose of this guide but you have to disconnect the Wi-Fi antenna cable.

STEP 14.

Loosen four silver screws securing the heat sink.

STEP 15.

Pull the heat sink up and disconnect it from the processor.
As you see, in my laptop the heat sink is clogged with dust and needs a good cleaning.

STEP 16.

Remove all marked screws from the bottom of the laptop.

STEP 17.

Remove eight screws securing the top cover.
Disconnect the touch pad cable.
Disconnect the lid close switch cable.
Disconnect the CMOS (RTC) battery.

In this model the lid close switch is discrete module and mounted under the fight hinge.
If the lid close switch failed, you can remove it and replace with a new one or simply unplug the faulty switch from the motherboard and use the laptop without it.

STEP 18.

Separate the top cover assembly from the laptop base and remove the cover.

STEP 19.

Remove five screws securing the motherboard.
Disconnect the speaker cable from the motherboard.

STEP 20.

Start removing the motherboard from the right side as it shown on the picture below.

STEP 21.

Remove motherboard from the laptop base.

The DC power jack is soldered directly to the motherboard.

I assumed that the power jack is not making good contact with the motherboard and I was correct.

As you see, there is a crack in the solder joint around the “+” pin.
The “+” pin got oxidized and not making good contact with the motherboard.

If you resolder the jack without cleaning the “+” pin, your repair will not last.

It is necessary to unsloder the power jack, clean all contacts and solder it back to the motherboard.

You’ll find more detailed instructing in this guide for fixing failed DC power jack in a laptop.

On the following picture you see the same jack soldered back to the motherboard.
You can find a new power jack for Dell Inspiron 1300/B120/B130 here for less than $8.

In this guide I explain how to remove the keyboard and access both memory modules in a Sony Vaio PCG-V505 series laptop. The whole process will not take more than 10-15 minutes and can be done even by an inexperienced user. In one of the previous posts I explained how to remove and upgrade the hard drive in the same Sony Vaio PCG-V505 laptop.

Before you start do not forget to turn off the laptop and remove the battery.

Need spare parts for Sony Vaio PCG-V505 laptop? Search for replacement parts here.

STEP 1.

Remove one screw securing the keyboard. This screw is located between the lock/unlock and release latches.

STEP 2.

Insert a small flat head screwdriver between the keyboard and base. Carefully lift up the keyboard as it shown on the picture below.

STEP 3.

Move the keyboard and place it on the display panel so you can access components underneath.

Under the keyboard you’ll find both memory (RAM) modules and RTC (CMOS) battery.
Sony Vaio PCG-V505 laptop can handle up to 1GB memory total. You can install up to 512MB memory stick into each slot.
You should use PC2100/PC2700 DDR SODIMM memory modules.

If your laptop looses date and time each time you restart it, apparently it’s time to replace the RTC (CMOS) battery. You can easily unplug the RTC battery from the motherboard and replace it with a new one.

STEP 4.

Before you remove the keyboard, you’ll have to unlock the cable connector on the motherboard and release the cable.
On the picture below you can see the cable connector in the locked position.

Unlock the connector and release the keyboard cable.

Now you can remove the keyboard and replace it with a new one if needed.

You can find a new replacement keyboard here.

In this guide I will disassemble a HP 530 Notebook PC and remove the top cover assembly. I’m replacing the top cover assembly because one of the touch pad buttons is broken. When you press on the button it feels loose and sometimes will not click. The plastic button is a part of the top cover and when it gets broken you have to replace the whole top cover.

In order to replace the top cover I will have to disassemble the whole notebook. I’ll be removing all internal parts including hard drive, keyboard, motherboard, cooling fan and other key components.

It’s possible that my guide will work for some other HP notebooks. If it works for you, please mention the notebook model in the comments below and help other people.

First of all, turn off the notebook and remove the battery.

STEP 1.

Remove the memory and hard drive covers from the bottom of the notebook.

You will find the wireless card under the memory cover.

STEP 2.

Remove one screw securing the CD/DVD optical drive. Push the drive from the laptop with a small screwdriver.
Remove the optical drive.

STEP 3.

Pull the hard drive assembly to the left to disconnect it from the motherboard. Remove the hard drive assembly.

STEP 4.

When you replace the top cover, you don’t have to remove memory modules and wireless card, but it’s necessary to disconnect the wireless card antenna cables from the card.
Disconnect both Wi-Fi antennas from the wireless card.

STEP 5.

Remove eleven (yellow) screws from the bottom of the notebook. These screws are securing the switch cover (power button cover).
Remove two (red) screws. These two screws securing the display panel assembly.
Remove two (orange) screws. These two screws securing the keyboard.

STEP 6.

Turn the laptop over and start removing the switch cover. If you cannot separate the cover from the base, you can use a piece of plastic (I’m using a guitar pick).
Insert the guitar pick between the switch cover and base and carefully lift up the cover. Continue removing the cover with your fingers.

The switch cover has been removed.

STEP 7.

You removed two screws securing the keyboard in the step 5. Now you can lift up the keyboard from the base.

Place the keyboard so you can access the cable connector underneath.

In order to unlock the connector, you’ll have to move the brown locking clip towards the display panel. Move it about 2-3 millimeters, not more. The locking clip must stay attached to the connector base.
Now you can release the keyboard cable and remove the keyboard.

WARNING! If you break the keyboard connector, you’ll have to replace the motherboard.

Need a replacement keyboard for HP 530 notebook? Find a new keyboard here.

STEP 8.

Disconnect the video cable from the motherboard.
Pull the wireless antenna cable through the hole in the motherboard. You disconnected these cables from the wireless card in the step 4.
Remove two screw securing the display panel hinges. You removed two more screws securing the display panel in the step 5.

Remove the display panel assembly from the notebook base.

You can find the LCD screen removal instruction in the official service guide for HP 530 notebooks. Take a look on the page 49.

Search here for new LCD screens.

STEP 9.

Disconnect the switch board cable from the motherboard. Unlock the connector the same way as you unlocked the keyboard connector in the step 7.
Remove one screw securing the switch board.
Remove the switch board.

STEP 10.

Remove all remaining screws from the bottom.

STEP 11.

Disconnect the touch pad cable from the motherboard.

STEP 12.

Start separating the top cover from the notebook base.

Continue separating the top cover from the base.
By the way, in a HP 530 notebook PC the motherboard is attached to the top cover, not to the base assembly as a most other notebooks.

Remove the base cover.

STEP 13.

The base cover has been removed.
Now you can access and replace the RTC (CMOS) battery if needed.

STEP 14.

Remove one screw securing the cooling fan.
Disconnect the cooling fan cable from the motherboard.

Remove the cooling fan.

Here are replacement cooling fans.

STEP 15.

Loosen four screws securing the heat sink.

Remove the heat sink.
In my laptop the heat sink was clogged with dust and needed a good cleaning.
After the heat sink is removed, you can access and remove the processor (CPU) if needed. I’ll leave the processor attached to the motherboard.

STEP 16.

Disconnect the speaker cable.
Remove one screw securing the motherboard to the top cover.

Start removing the motherboard from the top cover.

The motherboard has been removed.

STEP 17.

The touch pad is attached to the top cover and secured by a metal bracket. I’m not removing the touch pad because when you buy a new top cover it comes with the cover.

Now you can replace the top cover assembly with a new one.

You can find a new top cover assembly (with touch pad) using the HP spare number. In my notebook the part number is 441626-001.
I think you can use the same top cover for all HP 530 Notebook PCs.

You can find a new or used top cover assembly here.

In the following guide I will take apart a Dell Vostro 1510 notebook. You can use this guide for removing almost all internal parts from the notebook base. I think these instructions might work for some other Dell Vostro notebooks, not just a Vostro 1510. If it fits your laptop, please mention the model in the comments below.

If you need spare parts for your Vostro 1510 laptop, you can search for used and new parts here.

Before you start the disassembly process do not forget to unplug the  power adapter and battery.

STEP 1.

Remove hard drive and memory covers.

STEP 2.

Pull the hard drive to the left and disconnect it from the motherboard.

Remove the hard drive. As you see it’s a SATA hard drive. If you are replacing the hard drive, any large 2.5″ SATA hard drive should work just fine.

STEP 3.

Remove both memory modules. In a Dell Vostro 1510 you can install up to 4GB RAM (2GB module into each slot). You should use DDR2-667 modules.

STEP 4.

Remove three screws securing the cooling fan. Unplug the cooling fan cable from the motherboard.

Remove and lift up the cooling fan.

STEP 5.

Loosen four screws securing the heat sink.

Carefully lift up and remove the heat sink.

STEP 6.

Disconnect two antenna cables from the wireless card. Grab the golden connector on the end of the antenna cables with your fingers and pull it up.
Remove one screw securing the wireless card and remove the card.

STEP 7.
Lift up the keyboard cover with a small screwdriver or another sharp object.

Remove the keyboard cover.

STEP 8.

Remove two screws securing the keyboard.

Lift up the keyboard so you can access the keyboard cable connector underneath.

Very carefully unlock the connector and release the keyboard cable.

Now you can remove the keyboard.

If you are replacing the keyboard, you don’t have to through steps 1-6. Simply remove and replace the keyboard as it shown in steps 7 and 8.

STEP 9.

In the following three steps I’ll remove the display panel assembly.

Remove one screw securing the right hinge.

STEP 10.

Disconnect the video cable from the motherboard.
Pull both wireless antenna cables through the opening.
Remove five screws securing both display hinges.

STEP 11.

Remove the display assembly.
If you would like to know how to take apart the display panel and remove the LCD with inverter, check out other disassembly guides in the Dell category. The LCD screen removal instructions will be similar for most Dell (and other ) laptops.

STEP 12.

Disconnect three cables and remove three screws from the top cover assembly.

STEP 13.

Remove all screws from the bottom of the notebook.

STEP 14.

Start separating the top cover assembly from the base assembly. You can use a small flathead screwdriver.

Continue separating the top cover assembly with your fingers.

Remove the top cover.

STEP 15.

The CD/DVD drive is mounted inside the base and can be removed only after you remove the top cover.
Disconnect the CD/DVD drive cable from the connector on the motherboard.

Lift up and remove the CD/DVD drive.

STEP 16.

Remove three screws securing the motherboard.
Unplug the USB board cable from the motherboard.

Lift up the motherboard as it shown on the picture below.

Remove the motherboard.

The processor (CPU) is locked in the socket. In order to remove the processor, you’ll have to unlock the socket first. There is a small screw on the side of the socket. This screw locks/unlocks the socket.

In this notebook the CMOS (RTC) battery is replaciable. You can unlug the old CMOS battery from the motherboard and replace it with a new one.

In the following guide I will disassemble a HP Compaq 8510p notebook PC and remove all main parts. According with the HP specifications, my disassembly guide should work for a HP Compaq 8510w mobile workstation. If it works for any other model, I would appreciate if you mention the model name in the following comments.

In the next guide I’ll explain how to remove and replace the screen inverter.
Before you start, you should turn off the laptop and unplug the power adapter.

STEP 1

Remove the battery.
Remove the hard drive and memory covers.

STEP 2

Remove the memory module.
Remove the hard drive as it shown on the sticker. Simply remove one screw securing the hard drive, slide the hard drive to the left and remove it from the laptop.

STEP 3

Remove one screw securing the optical drive (CD/DVD drive). Push the drive from the laptop with a screwdriver. Remove the drive.

STEP 4

Loosen two screws securing the keyboard. Both screws will stay attached to the laptop bottom.

STEP 5

Slide four latches securing the keyboard to the direction pointed by red arrows.

STEP 6

Lift up the keyboard with a sharp object, you can use a small flathead screwdriver.

STEP 7

Continue removing the keyboard. Place it upside down on the palm rest.

STEP 8

The keyboard is connected to the motherboard via two flat ribbon cables. Unlock both connectors by lifting the locking tab about 2-3 millimeters up with your finger nails. Be very careful with the connectors.

On the picture below you can see both connectors unlocked and keyboard cables removed. The locking tab must stay attached to the connector base.

STEP 9

Remove two screws securing the cooling fan. Unplug the fan cable from the motherboard.

Remove the fan.

STEP 10

Remove six screws securing the video card (VGA board) and processor (CPU) heat sinks.

Remove the heat sink.

STEP 11

Remove two screws securing the video card.

The video card will pop up at a 15-20 degree angle. Carefully pull the video card from the slot by the edges.

STEP 12

Now I’m going to remove the laptop top cover. Remove all screws from the bottom of the laptop. The orange screw securing the touch pad. There are two more screws (marked with green squares) hidden under rubber seals.
As you see, you can access the Bluetooth card through the hard drive compartment.

STEP 13

Lift up the touch pad assembly as it shown on the picture below. Place the touch pad upside down on the palm rest.

Disconnect the touch pad cable from the motherboard. Remove the touch pad.

STEP 14

Start removing the keyboard bezel with a small screwdriver. Do not forget to disconnect the cable the same way as you disconnected the keyboard cables.

Continue separating the keyboard bezel with your fingers and remove it from the laptop.

STEP 15

Unplug the LCD cable from the motherboard.
Unsnap three wireless card antenna cables from the wireless card.
Unroute the wireless card antenna cables.
Remove five screws securing the display hinges (two from the left hinge and three from the right hinge).

STEP 16

Remove four screws securing the display hinges on the back of the laptop.

STEP 17

Remove the LCD screen (display) assembly.

STEP 18

Remove six screws securing the top cover assembly.
Unplug the CMOS (RTC) battery cable from the motherboard.
Unplug the finger scanning device cable from the motherboard.
If you wish, you can remove the wireless card here. I’ll do it later.

STEP 19

Start removing the laptop top cover assembly. It could be a challenge.

The top cover is still attached to the bottom with a cable pointed with the red arrow. Unplug this cable. By the way, you can access the Bluetooth module from here too.

Remove the top cover assembly.

On the picture below you can see the finger scanning device attached to the top cover.

STEP 20

Remove two screws securing the speaker assembly to the motherboard (I don’t remember if I had to remove three screws).
Unplug the speaker cable.

Lift up and remove the speaker assembly.

STEP 21

Remove two screws securing the wireless card. Remove the wireless card from the motherboard.
Remove two screws securing the modem card. Unplug the modem card cable from the motherboard. Remove the modem card.

STEP 22

Remove two hex studs from the VGA port (two orange arrows on the top).
Unplug cables pointed with red arrows.
Remove five screws securing the motherboard.

STEP 23

Start removing the motherboard from the laptop base.

The motherboard has been removed. If you are replacing the motherboard, transfer the processor (CPU) to the new board.

These instructions will help you remove hard drive, memory, wireless card and keyboard from a HP Pavilion dv9000 series laptop. All these components, except the keyboard, can be accessed through the bottom of the laptop.

In the next guide I will explain how to disassemble laptop display panel and remove inverter board with LCD screen.

Do not disassemble your laptop if it’s still covered by the manufacturer’s warranty or you loose the warranty. Are you looking for spare parts for your HP Pavilion dv9000 laptop? Search here.

First of all, remove the battery. Remove screws from the 1st hard drive and memory covers. Remove both covers.

Under the memory cover you will find the wireless card and RTC battery.

In order to remove the hard drive, lift up the right side of the drive assembly (move 1) and then pull it to the right (move2). If you are replacing the hard drive, you’ll have to transfer the caddy and connector to the new drive.

Before you remove the wireless card, you’ll have to disconnect both antenna cables pointed with green arrows. Simply unsnap both antenna cables from the wireless card with your fingers. After that remove two screws securing the wireless card and pull it from the slot by the edges.

Some Pavilion dv9000 laptops have only one hard drive installed. As you see, in my case there is no second hard drive under the cover.

If you would like to install second hard drive into your notebook, you’ll have to purchase a new SATA drive, SATA connector and drive caddy. You’ll find step by step hard drive installation instructions in this guide.

we will refer to all HP Pavilion dv9000, dv9000t, dv9100, dv9200, dv9300, dv9400, dv9500, dv9600 & dv9700 notebooks as the “dv9000″ since adding a hard disk drive (HDD) to all above mentioned notebooks are similar.

In order to remove the CD/DVD drive you’ll have to remove the securing screw (1) and then carefully pull the drive from the laptop.

KEYBOARD REMOVAL INSTRUCTIONS

Remove six green screws securing the keyboard bezel and one red screw securing the keyboard.

Carefully start removing the keyboard bezel with a small flathead screwdriver.

Be very carefull, the bezel is attached to the motherboard with a flat ribbon cable. The cable location is pointed by the green arrow. Do not disconnect this cable. Simply place the bezel as it shown on the picture below.

Remove three screws securing the laptop keyboard.

Lift up the keyboard. Be carefull, it’s connected to the motherboard.

In order to release the keyboard cable, you’ll have to unlock the connector as it shown on the picture above.

1. Slide the connector lock to the direction shown by two green arrows with your fingernails.

2. Pull the keyboard cable from the connector.

Now you can remove and replace the keyboard with a new one. You’ll find more detailed laptop disassembly instructions in the official service manual for HP Pavilion dv9000 (3.72MB pdf file).

UPDATE: Your HP Pavilion dv9000 notebook might be eligible for a free repair.

In the next guide I explain how to replace broken dispaly hinge in HP Pavilion dv9000 series laptop.

I am looking to replace me RTC battery in my Toshiba Tecra 9100 and don’t know how to get to it. Is this an easy job without tearing down my complete laptop as you have shown in your tear down site?
Please let me know
Thank you

Unfortunately it is not easy to replace the RTC (CMOS) battery in a Toshiba Tecra 9100 laptop. In order to replace the battery you will have to take it apart and remove the top cover assembly. The RTC battery is connected to the power board. It’s really hard to see the battery on this photo, but it’s there. You can find a new RTC battery for this model if you search on the Internet by the following part number: P000328540

Here are instructions for taking apart a Toshiba Tecra 9100 laptop.