In this guide I’ll be taking apart a Asus Eee PC 1201n netbook. I will show how to remove netbook memory modules, keyboard, top cover, hard drive, cooling fan and CMOS battery.

Most likely this guide will work for other Asus Eee 12XX netbooks. If it works for you, please mention the model number in comments after this post.

Make sure the netbook is turned off.

STEP 1.

Remove the battery.

Remove two screws securing the memory (RAM) cover and remove the cover.

STEP 2.

Both memory modules can be easily accessed through the door on the bottom.

Spread plastic latches on both sides of the memory slot until the memory module pops up at a 30 degree angle. After that carefully pull memory module from the slot by the edges.

In the following 7 steps I’ll be removing the keyboard.

STEP 3.

The keyboard secured by four latches on the top.

STEP 4.

Press on the latch with a sharp object and at the same time pull the keyboard a little bit up.

Do the same with remaining three latches.

STEP 5.

After all four latches are released, you can lift up the keyboard.

STEP 6.

Be careful, the keyboard attached to the motherboard with a flat ribbon cable.

Before you can remove the keyboard, you have to unlock the connector and release the cable.

STEP 7.

In order to unlock the keyboard connector, move the brown clip about 2-3 millimeters towards the display.

The brown clip must stat attached to the white base.

On the following picture the connector shown in the unlocked position.

STEP 8.

After the connector unlocked, you can release the cable and remove the keyboard.

You’ll find a few keyboard part numbers on the sticker. I’m not sure which one is the official Asus part number, but you can search on google for all of them.

I think one of these part numbers will lead you to the replacement keyboard.

In the following 5 steps I will show how to remove the top cover.

STEP 9.

Remove all screws from the bottom of the netbook.

STEP 10.

Remove all screws securing the top cover assembly.

Disconnect the touch pad cable.

STEP 11.

You unlock the touch pad connector same way you unlocked the keyboard connector.

STEP 12.

Start separating the top cover assembly from the netbook base. You can use a piece of soft plastic to separate the top cover. I’m using the guitar pick.

STEP 13.

Remove the top cover assembly.

STEP 14.

After you remove the top cover assembly, you can access the hard drive, cooling fan and CMOS battery.

STEP 15.

Remove four screws securing the hard drive assembly.

Slide the hard drive assembly to right to disconnect it from the motherboard.

Lift up and remove the hard drive.

As you see, it’s a regular 2.5″ SATA hard drive for notebooks.

STEP 16.

In order to remove the cooling fan, you’ll have to remove two screws and disconnect one cable from the motherboard.

After that the cooling fan is ready for the removal and replacement.

Today I explain how to disassemble a HP Pavilion dm3 series notebook.

In this particular guide I’m taking apart a HP Pavilion dm3-1035dx Entertainment Notebook but the guide should be the same for all other models in Pavilion dm3 line.

Before you start, make sure the notebook is turned off.

Removing hard drive, memory modules, wireless card and CMOS battery shown in steps 1-7.

STEP 1.

Remove the battery.

Remove five screws securing the hard drive and memory covers. Remove both covers.

STEP 2.

Remove two screws securing the hard drive and slide it to the left to disconnect from the motherboard.

STEP 3.

Now you can remove the hard drive.

As you see, it’s a standard 2.5″ SATA hard drive.

STEP 4.

Remove both memory modules.

In order to remove the memory module you’ll have to follow two simple steps:
- carefully spread lathes on both sides of the slot until the memory module pops up at a 30 degree angle.
- pull the memory module from the slot by the edges.

STEP 5.

Disconnect both antenna cables from the wireless card.

Remove two screws securing the wireless card.

STEP 6.

Remove wireless card same way you removed memory modules.

STEP 7.

Disconnect the CMOS battery cable from the motherboard and remove the battery.

Removing notebook keyboard shown in steps 8-12.

STEP 8.

Remove two screws securing the keyboard on the bottom of notebook.

STEP 9.

Push on the keyboard through the openings in the battery compartment.

STEP 10.

Lift up the keyboard as it shown on the following picture.

STEP 11.

Carefully lift up the keyboard and access connector underneath.

In order to remove the keyboard you’ll have to disconnect the cable first.

On the following picture the keyboard connector shown in the locked position.

Lift up the right side of the brown clip so it opens at a 90 degree angle.

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

Now you can pull the keyboard cable from the connector.

STEP 12.

Remove the keyboard.

The best way to find a replacement keyboard is searching by the HP part number.

In my case I had two different HP part numbers on the keyboard: 580687-001 and 573148-001. I guess both part numbers are compatible.

If you need a replacement keyboard for HP Pavilion dm3 notebook, you can find it here.

Removing notebook top cover and cooling fan shown in steps 13-18.

STEP 13.

Remove marked screws form the bottom of the notebook.

STEP 14.

Remove six screws securing the top cover assembly.

Disconnect the top cover cable (left arrow) and touch pad cable (bottom arrow).

On some HP Pavilion dm3 models you’ll have to disconnect one more cable – the Bluetooth module cable.

On the following picture you can see the top cover cable disconnected.

On the following picture you can see how to open the touch pad cable connector.

STEP 15.

Start separating the top cover assembly from the notebook base.

You can use a thin piece of plastic (I’m using guitar pick) as a case cracker.

STEP 16.

The top cover assembly has been removed.

On the following picture the notebook shown with the top cover removed.

STEP 17.

Remove two screws securing the cooling fan.

Disconnect the fan cable from the motherboard.

STEP 18.

Remove the cooling fan.

The cooling fan part number is printed on the white sticker. In my case the part number is: 580696-001

If you need a replacement fan for HP Pavilion dm3 notebook, you can find it here.

By the way, in HP Pavilion dm3 notebook the power jack is not soldered to the motherboard. The jack attached to the power harness.

When the power jack fails, you can disconnect the failed jack harness from the motherboard and replace it with a new one.

In this guide I explain how to disassemble a Dell Inspiron E1505 or Inspiron 6400 laptop. These are two identical laptops with different names.

The main purpose of my repair is removing and replacing the cooling fan which started making lots of noise.

The cooling fan mounted inside of laptop case, so the whole thing has to be disassembled.

Make sure the laptop is turned off before you start taking it apart.

STEP 1.

Remove the battery.

Remove two screws securing the hard drive assembly and pull it out.

Remove two screws securing memory cover and remove the cover.

STEP 2.

Remove all screws from the bottom.

STEP 3.

Remove one screw securing the CD/DVD drive.

Push the drive from the laptop with a screwdriver.

Pull the optical drive from the laptop.

STEP 4.

Remove two screws on the back of the laptop.

These screws are hidden under screw seals.

On the following 7 steps I’ll be removing the keyboard.

By the way, it’s not necessary to go through all previous steps in order to remove the keyboard. Simply follow steps 5-11.

STEP 5.

Lift up the right side of the power button board cover with a screwdriver.

STEP 6.

Remove the power button board cover.

STEP 7.

Remove two screws securing the keyboard.

STEP 8.

Lift up the keyboard and carefully remove it from the laptop.

STEP 9.

Access the keyboard cable connector underneath.

STEP 10.

Unlock the connector and remove the keyboard cable.

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

STEP 11.

Now you can remove the keyboard.

Need a new keyboard for Dell Inspiron E1505/6400? You’ll find it here.

STEP 12.

Disconnect the video cable connector from the motherboard. Remove one screw securing the video cable.

Disconnect two antenna cables from the wireless card.

Remove two screws securing display hinges.

STEP 13.

Remove the display assembly.

STEP 14.

Remove two screws securing the power button board.

STEP 15.

Carefully lift up and disconnect the power button board from the motherboard.

STEP 16.

Disconnect the lid close switch cable from the motherboard.

Disconnect the touch pad cable from the motherboard.

Remove one screw securing the top cover assembly.

On the following picture the touch pad connector shown in unlocked state.

STEP 17.

Separate the top cover assembly from the laptop base.

STEP 18.

Remove the top cover assembly.

The top cover has been removed.

STEP 19.

Remove two screws securing the cooling fan.

Unplug the cooling fan cable from the motherboard.

STEP 20.

Now you can remove the cooling fan and replace it with a new one.

Looking for a replacement fan for Dell Inspiron E1505/6400 laptop? You’ll find it here.

In this post I explain how to disassemble Asus K-series notebook and get access to main internal parts.

As an example I took a Asus K50IJ notebook. I believe disassembly steps will be same or very similar for all models in Asus K line.

Let me know if this guide works for your Asus notebook. Please mention the model number in comments below.

Make sure the laptop is turned off.

ACCESSING MAIN PARTS UNDER THE BOTTOM COVER.

Remove the battery.

Remove one screw securing the bottom cover.

Remove four screws securing the bottom cover on the back side of the notebook.

Slide the bottom cover to the shown direction.

Remove the bottom cover.

Under the bottom cover you’ll get an easy access to the memory module, hard drive, CMOS battery, cooling fan, DVD drive, wireless card and heat sink with processor.

Remove one screw securing the DVD dirve.

Slide the DVD drive to the right and remove it from the notebook.

Remove four screws securing the hard drive assembly.

Slide the hard drive assembly to the right to disconnect it from the connector on motherboard.

Remove the hard drive assembly.

Now you can separate the hard drive from the caddy and replace it with a new one if needed. As you see, it’s a SATA hard drive.

Spread latches on both sides of the memory module and after the module pops up at a 30 degree angle, carefully pull it from the slot by the edges.

In this particular notebook I found only one memory slot. It looks like some memory was integrated into the motherboard.

Not sure if all Asus K series notebooks have only one memory slot.

Remove three screws securing the cooling fan.

Unplug fan cable from the motherboard.

Now you can remove the fan.

REMOVING KEYBOARD.

In order to remove the keyboard it’s not necessary to go though all previous disassembly steps.

There are five small spring loaded latches securing the keyboard.

I pointed to them with yellow arrows.

In order to unlock the latch, simply press on it with a sharp object.

At the same time pull the keyboard upwards.

After all latches unlocked, you can lift up the keyboard as it shown on the picture below.

Carefully place the keyboard upside down on the palm rest.

Before you can disconnect the keyboard cable, you have to unlock the connector.

The keyboard cable is jammed between the white connector base and brown locking clip.

On the following picture the connector is shown in locked position.

Move the locking clip about 2 millimeters to the left (do not move any further).

The locking clip must stay attached to the white base.

On the following picture the connector is shown in unlocked position. Now you can pull the keyboard cable from the connector.

Finally, remove the keyboard and replace it with a new one if needed.

In the following guide I’ll be taking apart a Gateway P-series laptop.

In my case I’m taking apart a Gateway P-6825 but the guide should work for the entire P-series line.

If it fits any other Gateway model, please mention the model number in comments after this post.

First of all, turn off the laptop, disconnect AC adapter and remove battery.

Many major laptop components can be accessed if you remove two covers from the bottom.

There are five screws securing the fan/RAM cover and four screws securing the hard drive cover.

Under the fan/RAM cover you’ll find both memory (RAM) modules, wireless card, cooling fan and processor (mounted under the heat sink).

Removing this cover will not allow you to replace the cooling fan, but you’ll be able to clean it. I suggest using compressed air for cleaning the cooling fan and heat sink.

Also, removing this cover gives you access to both memory modules and makes it very easy to replace/upgrade memory.

Under the hard drive cover you’ll find two hard drive bays.

In my case I had only one hard drive installed.

In order to remove the hard drive, slide the entire hard drive assembly in the direction shown by the yellow arrow.

In my case I had to use some force because the hard drive was fitted very tightly.

When the hard drive assembly removed, you can remove four screws securing the hard drive to the caddy.

After that separate the hard drive from the caddy. Now you can replace the hard drive with a new one.

Using a sharp object remove the rubber cover located on the right side of the hard drive bay.

This cover hides a screw securing the DVD drive. Remove the screw.

Now you can slide the DVD drive from the laptop and remove it.

The DVD drive has been removed.

In the following 10 steps I explain how to remove the keyboard.

It’s not necessary to follow all previous steps in order to remove the keyboard.

Remove two screws securing the power button cover in the battery bay.

Carefully lift up the right side of the power button cover.

Continue removing the power button cover.

Be very careful. There are two cables connecting power/media boards to the motherboard. Do not lift up the cover too high.

On the following picture you can see two cables.

Try not to disconnect them from the motherboard or power/media board.

Ideally, these cables remain connected after you remove the cover.

Remove five screws securing the keyboard.

Lift up the top side of the keyboard.

Now you can access the keyboard cable connector.

Before you remove the keyboard, you have to unlock the connector and release the cable.

In order to unlock the connector, flip the right side of the brown clip up so it opens at a 90 degree angle.

After the connector is unlocked, you can release the cable.

Finally, remove the keyboard and replace it with a new one if needed.

Looking for a new keyboard for your Gateway P-series laptop? You’ll find it here.

In the following guide I explain how to remove the hard drive from a Dell Inspiron Mini 10 (1010)  netbook.

There is no easy access to the hard drive from the bottom of the netbook. The hard drive is mounted inside the case, under the keyboard.

You can use this guide for removing/replacing the keyboard and removing/replacing/upgrading the hard drive.

STEP 1.

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

Remove three screws from the bottom. These screws secure the keyboard.

STEP 2.

Insert a thin object between the top side of the keyboard and laptop case.

Lift up the keyboard and continue removing it with your fingers.

STEP 3.

Lift up the keyboard as it shown on the picture below and flip upside down on the palm rest.

STEP 4.

Under the keyboard you’ll find the hard drive assembly and wireless card.

It’s not necessary to disconnect the keyboard if you are replacing the hard drive or wireless card.

If you would like to replace the keyboard, you’ll have to unlock the connector and release the cable.

In order to unlock the connector, very carefully move the brown lock about 2 millimeters towards the touch pad.

The lock must stay attached to the connector base.

When the connector unlocked, you can pull the cable and remove the keyboard.

Looking for a new keyboard for your Dell Inspiron Mini 10 netbook? Search here.

STEP 5.

Remove one screw securing the hard drive assembly.

STEP 6.

Slide the hard drive assembly to the left and disconnect it from the motherboard.

STEP 7.

Remove the hard drive assembly.

Now remove four screws securing the hard drive to the caddy and separate the hard drive from the caddy.

In my case I had a regular 160GB 2.5″ SATA hard drive installed. This hard drive can be replaced with a larger 2.5″ SATA hard drive.

In the following guide I explain how to remove the keyboard and both memory modules from a Dell Inspiron 700m laptop.

You can use the guide for replacing a damaged keyboard or replacing/upgrading memory modules.

Dell Inspiron 700m laptop can take up to 2GB memory total. You can install up to 1GB memory stick in each slot. Use PC2700 DDR SDRAM SODIMM memory modules.

There are two memory slots in this laptop. One of them located on the button and another one under the keyboard.

Let’s take it apart. First of all, turn off the laptop and remove the battery.

STEP 1.

Remove two screws securing memory cover on the bottom.

STEP 2.

Carefully spread latches on both sides of the memory slot.

The memory module will pop up at a 30 degree angle.

Pull the memory by the edges.

Now you can install a new 1GB module instead.

In the following steps we’ll remove the keyboard and access the internal memory slot.

STEP 3.

Lift up the left side of the power button cover with a small screwdriver.

Continue removing the cover with your fingers.

The power button cover has been removed.

STEP 4.

Remove two screws securing the keyboard.

STEP 5.

Lift up the keyboard and remove it from the laptop. Be careful because the keyboard still attached to the motherboard.

STEP 6.

If you are replacing the keyboard, you have to unlock the keyboard connector first. Only after that you can pull the cable and remove the keyboard.

In order to unlock the connector, very carefully move the locking clip about 2 millimeters towards the LCD screen.

Do not disconnect the locking clip from the connector base. The connector clip must stay attached to the base.

The cable is jammed between the locking clip and connector base.

After you unlock the connector, you can pull the cable and remove the keyboard.

Looking for a new Dell Inspiron 700m keyboard? You’ll find a brand new keyboard here.

STEP 7.

If you just removing/upgrading memory, it’s not necessary to disconnect the keyboard. Simply turn it upside down and place on the palmrest.

Remove two screws from the internal memory slot cover. Remove the cover.

STEP 8.

Remove memory module from the internal slot same way you removed from the external slot.

By they way, my laptop had only one speaker working. When I removed the power button cover I found the problem.

Apparently this is a know issue with Dell Inspiron 700m laptops.

If one (or both) speakers stopped working, but you still can hear sound in headphones, check those cables.

If cables are damaged, you’ll have to replace the speaker assembly (located inside the display panel) or solder the damaged cable (cables) back together.

In the following guide I explain how to remove the keyboard and upgrade memory modules in a Dell XPS M1210 laptop.

This laptop has two memory slots. One of them can be easily access from the bottom of the laptop, but the second memory slot is hidden under the keyboard.

A Dell XPS M1210 can take up to 4GB memory total. You can install up to 2GB stick into each slot.

You can use DDR2-533 PC2-4200 or DDR2-667 PC2-5300 memory modules.

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

STEP 1.

Remove one screw securing the memory cover on the bottom of the laptop. Remove the cover.

STEP 2.

Spread latches on both sides of the memory slot. After the memory module pops up at a 30 degree angle, carefully remove from the slot by the edges.

Now you can replace it with a new 2GB memory module.

STEP 3.

In the following few steps we’ll be removing the keyboard.

Lift up the right side of the power button cover with a small screwdriver.

Continue removing the cover with your fingers.

STEP 4.

Remove the power button cover.

STEP 5.

Remove three screws securing the keyboard.

STEP 6.

Lift up the keyboard as it shown on the following picture.

STEP 7.

Disconnect the keyboard from the motherboard. Do it only if you are replacing the keyboard.

If you follow this guide in order to upgrade the memory module, simply flip the keyboard upside down on the palmrest.

You can access the internal memory slot without disconnecting the keyboard.

Need a new keyboard for your Dell XPS M1210 laptop? You’ll find it here very cheap.

Under the keyboard you’ll find the internal memory module and CMOS battery. Also, you’ll get some limited access to the cooling fan.

If the fan looks dusty, blow it off with compressed air.

Cleaning the cooling fan once in a while will prevent the laptop from overheating.

STEP 8.

Now you can access the memory module installed in the internal slot.

Spread latches on both sides of the slot and carefully pull the memory module by the edges.

Now you can replace it with a new 2GB memory module.

After both memory modules are replaced, you can assemble the laptop back together and turn it on.

You don’t have to change any settings in the BIOS. New memory should be detected and configured automatically.

In this guide I explain how to replace the cooling fan assembly in an IBM  ThinkPad T43 laptop. This laptop was starting up with a “Fan error” message indicating the cooling fan failure. The fan is a part of the heat sink assembly and when the fan fails, the whole cooling assembly has to be replaced.

Also you can use this guide for removing and replacing the keyboard and hidden memory module.

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

STEP 1.

Remove three screws securing the keyboard on the bottom of the laptop.

The first memory module can be accessed through the door on the bottom.

It’ not necessary to remove the memory module in order to replace the cooling fan.

STEP 2.

Insert a sharp object between the bottom of the keyboard and palm rest and carefully lift up the keyboard.

Place the keyboard upside down on the palm rest.

STEP 3.

Disconnect the keyboard cable from the motherboard.

STEP 4.

Remove the keyboard.

If you are looking for a new keyboard for an IBM ThinkPad T43, you can find it here.

STEP 5.

The cooling fan assembly is hidden under the palm rest and cannot be removed until the palm rest is removed.

The second memory module is located under the keyboard.

STEP 6.

Now we are going to remove the palm rest.

Remove all marked screws from the bottom of the laptop.

STEP 7.

Disconnect the touchpad cable from the motherboard.

STEP 8.

Start separating the palm rest assembly from the laptop base.

STEP 9.

Remove the palm rest assembly.

STEP 10.

Remove three screws securing the cooling fan assembly.

Disconnect the cooling fan cable from the motherboard.

The cooling fan assembly part number is printed on the label.

STEP 11.

Lift up the right side of the cooling fan assembly.

STEP 12.

Remove the cooling fan assembly.

In order to find a new cooling fan assembly, I would suggest searching by the IBM FRU part number. In my case the part number is 26R7950.

You can buy a new cooling fan assembly here.

STEP 13.

Clean up the CPU and GPU chips with an alcohol swab.

Do not forget to apply fresh thermal grease on the CPU. You don’t have to apply thermal grease on the GPU because it will be covered with thermal pad located on the heat sink.

A new cooling fan assembly should come with thermal grease pre-applied on the heat sink. Also, it comes with thermal pad for the GPU.

In this post I explain how to replace a noisy or failed cooling fan in a Lenovo ThinkPad T61 laptop.

This guide might work for some other Lenovo ThinkPad models. If it works for you, please mention the laptop model number in the comments after the post.

The cooling fan is a part of the heat sink assembly. If the cooling fan fails, the whole heat sink assembly has to be replaced.

It’s possible that you can separate the fan from the heat sink and replace it separately, but in this guide I’m replacing the whole assembly.

Let’s remove the cooling fan assembly and replace it with a new one.

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

STEP 1.

Remove four (red) screws securing the palm rest.

Remove one screw (yellow) securing the keyboard.

STEP 2.

Lift up the palm rest.

STEP 3.

Place the palm rest upside down so you can access the touch pad cable underneath.

STEP 4.

Disconnect the touch pad cable from the motherboard.

By the way, both memory modules are located under the palm rest. If you are replacing or upgrading memory modules, you don’t have to follow the guide any further.

A Lenovo ThinkPad T61 laptop can take up to 4GB RAM total. You can install up to 2GB memory module into each slot. You should use DDR2 PC2-5300 or PC2-6400 memory modules.

STEP 5.

Lift up the keyboard and place it upside down.

STEP 6.

Disconnect the keyboard cable from the motherboard.

In order to disconnect the cable simply lift up the the connector, same way you disconnected the touch pad cable.

If you are replacing the keyboard, you don’t have to follow this guide any further.

You can find a new replacement keyboard by the Lenovo FRU part number printed on the label. In my case the keyboard part number is 42T3209.

Need a new keyboard for your Lenovo ThinkPad?  Search here.

STEP 7.

Remove three screws securing the speaker cover.

By the way, the CMOS battery is located under the keyboard.

STEP 8.

Remove two screws securing the speaker cover on the bottom of the laptop.

STEP 9.

Remove the speaker cover.

STEP 10.

Remove four screws securing the cooling fan assembly brackets. Remove both brackets.

I would recommend taking a close up picture of the lower bracket, so you know how the wires are routed. The picture will help you to rout wires correctly when you assemble the laptop back together.

STEP 11.

Remove two screws securing the left speaker.

Disconnect connectors shown by two arrows.

Move the left speaker with cables to the right side, so you can get to the cooling fan assembly.

STEP 12.

Disconnect the cooling fan cable from the motherboard.

Remove four screws securing the cooling fan assembly.

STEP 13.

Lift up the cooling fan assembly as it shown on the picture below.

STEP 14.

Remove the cooling fan assembly from the laptop.

If you are replacing the failed cooling fan assembly with a new one, most likely the heat sink already has thermal grease pre-applied.

On the other hand, if you are installing a refubished cooling fan assembly, you’ll have to apply thermal grease on both chips shown below.

You can search for a replacement cooling fan assembly by the Lenovo FRU number from the failed fan.

The FRU number is printed on the label. In my case, the FRU part number is 42W2460.

You can find a new or used cooling fan assembly here.

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