In this post I explain how to take apart an Acer Aspire 5820T series laptop.

I will take apart the laptop base assembly down to the motherboard.

Here are major laptop disassembly steps:
STEP 1-5: Accessing and removing laptop memory, hard drive, DVD drive.
STEP 6-12: Removing laptop keyboard.
STEP 13-18: Removing laptop top cover (palmrest) assembly.
STEP 19-23: Removing laptop motherboard.
STEP 24-25: Accessing laptop cooling fan, CMOS battery and DC power jack harness.

If you would like to replace the laptop screen, you should check this LCD replacement guide. I think it will be very similar.

Make sure the laptop is turned off before you start disassembly.

STEP 1.

Remove laptop battery.

STEP 2.

Remove eight screws securing the laptop bottom cover.

Lift up and remove the cover.

STEP 3.

Under the bottom cover you can access the following laptop components:
- both memory modules.
- CMOS battery.
- hard drive.
- wireless card.

Acer Aspire 5820T can take up to 8GB RAM maximum. You can install up to 4GB RAM module into each slot.

STEP 4.

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

Lift up and remove the hard drive from the laptop.

Acer Aspire 5820T series laptop has a regular 2.5″ SATA hard drive installed. It can be replaced with any other large capacity 2.5″ SATA hard drive or 2.5″ SATA SSD.

STEP 5.

Slide the DVD drive to the left to disconnect it from the motherboard.

Remove DVD drive from the laptop.

NOTE: the DVD drive was secured by one of the screws we removed in the step 2.

STEP 6.

You’ll find six spring loaded locks on the upper side of the keyboard.

In order to remove the keyboard you’ll have to push all locks into the laptop case and lift up the keyboard.

STEP 7.

Here’s how you do it.

Push one lock into the case with a small flathead screwdriver. At the same time lift up the keyboard a little bit.

When the keyboard lifted up it will not allow the lock to slide back into the locking position.

Do the same with all remaining locks.

STEP 8.

Lift up the upper side of the keyboard and remove it from the laptop base.

Be careful. The keyboard still connected to the motherboard.

Turn the keyboard upside down and place it on the palmrest.

STEP 9.

Now you can access the keyboard cable connector.

It’s necessary to unlock the connector and release the cable before removing the keyboard.

STEP 10.

Lift up the brown locking tab with your fingernail.

It will open up at a 90 degree angle.

The locking clip must stay attached to the white base.

STEP 11.

On this picture the same connector shown in the unlocked position.

Pull keyboard cable from the connector.

STEP 12.

Now you can remove the keyboard from the laptop.

If you are looking for a replacement keyboard for Acer Aspire 5820T series laptops you can find them here.

STEP 13.

Remove all screws from the bottom of the laptop.

STEP 14.

Remove all screws securing the top cover assembly.

Disconnect the following cables:
1. Speaker cable.
2. Power button board cable.
3. Touchpad cable.
4. Switch board cable.

Here’s how to disconnect the speaker cable.

It’s a regular male-female type of connector. Simply unplug the male part from the female part.

Do not pull by the wires. Disconnect it by the edges of the connector.

Disconnect three other cables the same way you disconnected the keyboard cables in steps 10-11.

Unlock the connector first by lifting up one side of the locking tab.

Pull the cable from the connector.

STEP 15.

Stat separating the top cover assembly from the laptop base cover.

STEP 16.

If the top cover doesn’t separate, use a piece of plastic (I’m using a guitar pick).

Insert it between the top cover and bottom cover and slowly move along the side.

STEP 17.

Remove the top cover assembly.

STEP 18.

On the other side of the top cover assembly you can access the following laptop components:
- Switch board.
- Both speakers.
- Power button board.
- Touchpad.

STEP 19.

I’ll be removing the motherboard so it’s necessary to disconnect both antenna cables from the wireless card.

STEP 20.

Also, unplug the DC jack connector from the motherboard.

This connector located under the bottom cover which we removed in the step  2.

STEP 21.

Remove one screw securing the motherboard.

Disconnect the following cables from the motherboard:
1.  Microphone cable.
2. Video cable.
3. USB board cable.

Here’s how you unplug the video cable connector.

Just lift it up by the black belt attached to the connector.

STEP 22.

Start removing the motherboard from the laptop base as it shown on the following picture.

STEP 23.

Acer Aspire 5820T motherboard has been removed.

STEP 24.

On the other side of the motherboard you’ll get access to the cooling fan and CMOS battery.

By the way, in Acer Aspire 5820T series laptop the CMOS battery IS NOT soldered to the motherboard. It can be unplugged and replaced.

STEP 25.

The DC jack harness is running under the right hinge mounting bracket.

There shouldn’t be a problem to remove the DC jack harness and replace it with a new one if need.

In this guide I explain how to dismantle Acer Aspire 5534 series laptops.

I will dismantle the laptop base and remove most internal parts.

STEP 1-5: Removing hard drive, memory, DVD drive.
STEP 6-12: Removing keyboard.
STEP 13-16: Removing top cover assembly.
STEP 17-25: Removing laptop motherboard.
STEP 26-28: Removing DC power jack.

Most likely this guide will work for some other Acer Aspire models. If it fits your laptop, please mention the model number in commend after the post.

If you would like to know how to remove the screen, check out this Acer laptop screen replacement. It should be pretty close to Acer Aspire 5534 laptop.

STEP 1.

Turn off the laptop and remove the battery.

STEP 2.

On the bottom of the laptop you’ll find two covers. One is for the hard drive and another one for memory modules.

Remove screws securing both covers.

Lift up and remove both covers.

STEP 3.

On the bottom of the laptop you can access the following components:
- both memory modules.
- hard drive.
- wireless card.

I’ll leave both memory modules connected to the motherboard.

It’s necessary to remove the wireless card only if you want to remove the motherboard. I’ll leave it connected for now. I’ll remove the wireless card in the step 18.

Remove two screws securing the hard drive.

By the way, Acer Aspire 5534 laptop can handle up to 4GB RAM maximum. Each memory slot can handle up to 2GB memory module.

STEP 4.

Slide the hard drive assembly to the left and unplug it from the connector on the motherboard.

Lift up and remove the hard drive.

My Acer Aspire 5534 laptop had a regular 2.5″ SATA hard drive installed.

If you would like to replace or upgrade the hard drive, you can use any other large capacity 2.5″ SATA hard drive or SSD.

STEP 5.

Remove one screw securing the optical DVD drive. This screw located on the left side from the wireless card.

Pull the DVD drive from the laptop and remove it.

STEP 6.

The keyboard is secured by six spring loaded latches on the top.

STEP 7.

Push the latch into the laptop case using a small flathead screwdriver.

At the same time lift up the keyboard a little bit.

When the keyboard is lifted up, the latch will not lock.

Do the same with all remaining latches.

STEP 8.

Lift up the top side of the keyboard and move it towards the laptop screen.

Be careful, the keyboard ribbon cable still attached to the motherboard.

STEP 9.

The keyboard ribbon connector located under the keyboard.

It’s necessary to unlock the connector in order to release the cable and remove the keyboard.

I’ll show how to unlock the connector in the following two steps.

STEP 10.

The connector has two parts: black base which is soldered to the motherboard and brown locking tab which is a moving part.

Slide the locking tab about two millimeters to the shown direction. Do not move it any further. The locking tab must stay connected to the base.

STEP 11.

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

Now you can pull the keyboard cable from the connector.

STEP 12.

Remove the keyboard.

If you need a new replacement keyboard for your Acer Aspire 5534 laptop it’s available here.

STEP 13.

Remove all screws from the bottom of the laptop.

STEP 14.

Remove seven screws securing the top cover assembly.

Disconnect the following cables from the motherboard:
1. Power button cable.
2. Speaker cable.
3. Touchpad cable.
4. Media board cable.

On the following two pictures I explain how to unlock connectors and remove cables.

The power button cable, touchpad cable and media board cable locked in a connector as it shown on the picture.

You unlock it the same way as the keyboard harness connector.

Slide the locking tab to release the cable and after that pull cable from the connector.

The speaker cable has a regular male-female type connector.

Simply unplug the mail part from the female part.

STEP 15.

Start separating the top cover assembly.

If all screws on the bottom of the laptop and top cover removed correctly, there shouldn’t be any problem.

STEP 16.

The top cover assembly removed.

STEP 17.

Under the top cover you can access the following internal components:
- Cooling fan.
- DC jack harness.
- CMOS battery (soldered to the motherboard).
- USB board.
- Laptop motherboard.

STEP 18.

I’ll be removing the motherboard so it’s necessary to disconnect the wireless card from the slot.

Remove one screw securing the wireless card and pull it from the slot.

It’s not necessary to disconnect wireless card antenna cables. Just be careful.

STEP 19.

Remove two screws securing the motherboard.

Disconnect two shown cables.

STEP 20.

The DC jack cable connector located on the bottom side of the motherboard.

Unplug the DC jack cable from the motherboard.

STEP 21.

Lift up the right side of the motherboard and start removing it from the laptop base.

Be careful. The video cable still connected to the motherboard on the bottom side.

STEP 22.

After the motherboard removed from the laptop base, turn it so you can access the video cable connector.

STEP 23.

Unplug video cable from the connector on the motherboard.

STEP 24.

The Acer Aspire 5534 motherboard has been removed.

STEP 25.

The cooling fan mounted to the bottom side of the motherboard.

New replacement fans for Acer Aspire 5534 series laptops available here.

The cooling fan is attached to the heat sink but it can removed and replaced separately.

STEP 26.

Remove one screw securing the USB board.

STEP 27.

Move the USB board aside so you can access the DC jack harness.

STEP 28.

Remove the DC jack harness.

In this post I show how to disassemble an Acer Aspire 5560 series laptop.

The full name of my laptop is Acer Aspire 5560-Sb653.

Also it has Model No. MS2319 on the bottom sticker.

Most likely this guide will fit some other Acer Aspire models. If it works for you please mention full laptop model name in comments after this post.

For the LCD screen removal and replacement procedure, check out this Acer Aspire 5560 screen replacement guide.

STEP 1.

Make sure the laptop turned off. Unplug the AC adapter.

Unlock the battery and remove it from the laptop.

STEP 2.

Remove three screws securing the hard drive and memory cover.

Lift up and remove the cover.

STEP 3.

Under the cover you’ll get access to the laptop hard drive, both memory modules and wireless card.

Acer Aspire 5560 laptop can handle up to 4GB RAM maximum. You can install up to 2GB RAM module into each slot.

Memory used: DDR2 667MHz, PC2-5300

For the purpose of my guide it’s not necessary to remove memory modules and wireless card. I’ll leave them connected to the motherboard.

It’s necessary to remove the hard dive. Remove one screw securing the hard drive in the upper right corner.

STEP 4.

Slide the hard drive to the shown direction to disconnect it from the motherboard.

Lift up and remove the hard drive.

My Acer Aspire 5560 laptop had a regular 2.5″ SATA hard drive installed. It can be replaced with any other large capacity 2.5″ SATA hard drive or SATA SSD.

STEP 5.

The keyboard is locked by six spring loaded latches on the top.

In order to remove the keyboard it’s necessary to push all latches into the case and release the keyboard.

STEP 6.

Using a small flathead screwdriver push latches into the case and at the same time lift up the keyboard a little bit.

When the keyboard lifted up it will not allow the latch to lock.

STEP 7.

After all latches are unlocked you should be able to lift up the keyboard.

STEP 8.

Move the keyboard towards the laptop display so you can access the cable connector underneath.

Before you remove the keyboard completely, the connector has to be unlocked and keyboard cable released.

STEP 9.

Here’s how to unlock the keyboard connector.

Very carefully move the brown locking tab about 1 millimeter to the shown direction.

The keyboard cable jammed between the locking tab and white connector base.

STEP 10.

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

Now the cable is released and you can pull it from the connector.

STEP 11.

Remove the keyboard.

If you need a new replacement keyboard for your Acer Aspire 5560 laptop, you can find it here.

STEP 12.

Remove all screws from the bottom of the laptop.

NOTE: the “yellow” screw secures the optical DVD drive. Normally, you should be able to remove this screw and pull the DVD drive from the laptop. For some reason in my laptop the DVD drive was fitted very tightly. I couldn’t pull it out. I’ll remove the DVD drive after I remove the top cover. You’ll see it in the step 17.

STEP 13.

Remove four screws securing the top cover assembly.

Disconnect the following cables:
1. Power button cable.
2. Speaker cable.
3. Touchpad cable.

Here’s how to unlock the touchpad and power button cable connectors.

Lift up the brown tab with your fingernail. It will open up at a 90 degree angle.

After the connector is unlocked you can pull the cable.

The speaker connector is a regular male-female connector. Simply unplug the connector.

STEP 14.

Now you can start separating the top cover assembly from the laptop base.

STEP 15.

If the top cover doesn’t separate, you can use a piece of soft plastic as case cracker.

Insert it between the top cover and base and wiggle a little bit, move along the side.

STEP 16.

Remove the top cover assembly.

STEP 17.

Now I was able to slide the optical DVD drive to the right side, disconnect it from the motherboard and remove from the laptop.

As I mentioned in the step 11, you should be able to pull the DVD drive without removing the top cover assembly. But in my case it was fitted very tightly and I had to remove the top cover in order to remove the DVD drive.

STEP 18.

After the top cover assembly removed, you’ll get access to the following internal parts:
- Cooling fan.
- CMOS battery (regular CR2032 3V coin battery).
- USB board.
- Motherboard.

STEP 19.

The DC power jack mounted in the upper left corner of the laptop base.

You should be able to unplug the DC jack cable from the motherboard after you disconnect the video cable.

In order to access and remove/replace the cooling fan it will be necessary to remove the motherboard. The cooling fan mounted on the bottom part of the motherboard.

In this guide I explain how to disassemble Acer Aspire 5251/5551G/5551 series laptops.

To be precise, I’m taking apart an Acer Aspire 5251-1005. Model number NEW75.

In the following steps I’ll go through complete laptop base disassembly.

Before you start make sure the laptop is turned off.

STEP 1.

Remove laptop battery.

STEP 2.

Remove two screws securing the hard drive and memory cover.

Lift up and remove the cover.

STEP 3.

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

Lift up and remove the hard drive.

My Acer Aspire 5251 laptop had a regular 2.5″ SATA hard drive installed. It can be replaced with any other large 2.5″ SATA hard drive or SSD.

You can leave the wireless card connected for now. It’s necessary to remove the wireless card only if you plan to remove the motherboard. I’ll be removing the wireless card in the step 19.

STEP 4.

Both memory slots accessible on the bottom of the laptop.

It’s not necessary to remove memory modules for the purpose of my guide so I’ll leave them connected.

By the way, Acer Aspire 5251/5551G/5551 series laptop can take up to 8GB RAM total. You can install up to 4GB RAM module into each slot.

Memory type: PC3-8500 DDR3-1066 204pin SDRAM SODIMM

STEP 5.

Remove one screw securing the optical DVD drive.

Pull DVD drive from the laptop and remove it.

STEP 6.

There is one more cover in the upper left corner.

In my laptop there was nothing under the cover.

I believe some Acer Aspire 5251/5551G/5551 laptops might have a 3G card installed under this cover.

STEP 7.

The keyboard secured by six spring loaded latches on the top.

STEP 8.

In order to unlock the keyboard you’ll have to push the latch into the case with a small screwdriver and at the same time lift up the keyboard a little bit.

STEP 9.

After all latches pushed in, you should be able to lift up the keyboard.

Turn it over and place upside down on the palmrest.

STEP 10.

Now you can access the keyboard cable connector.

You’ll have to unlock the connector and release the cable.

STEP 11.

Here’s how to unlock the keyboard connector.

Move the brown locking tab about 1-2 millimeter towards the touchpad (away from the screen).

The locking tab must stay attached to the connector base.

STEP 12.

On the following picture you see the same connector in the unlocked position.

After the connector is unlocked you can pull the cable from the connector.

STEP 13.

Remove the keyboard.

Looking for a new replacement keyboard for Acer Aspire 5251/5551G/5551 series laptop? You can find it here.

STEP 14.

Remove all screws from the bottom of the laptop.

STEP 15.

Remove six screws securing the top cover assembly:

Disconnect:
1. Power button cable.
2. Left speaker cable.
3. Right speaker cable.
4. Touchpad cable.

You disconnect the power button cable and touchpad cable the same way you disconnected the keyboard cable.

Slide the brown locking tab about 1-2 millimeters to the shown direction.

After the connector is unlocked, pull the cable.

STEP 16.

Lift up and remove the top cover assembly.

STEP 17.

Under the top cover assembly you can get access to the following internal laptop components:
- Cooling fan.
- CMOS battery (soldered to the motherboard).
- USB board.
- Card reader board.
- DC jack harness.
- Motherboard.

STEP 18.

Disconnect four cables from the motherboard.

Remove one screw securing the motherboard.

Here’s how to unplug the video cable connector.

STEP 19.

By the way, in order to remove the motherboard it’s necessary to remove the wireless card which is located on the bottom of the laptop.

It’s not necessary to disconnect antenna cable from the wireless card. Just remove one screw securing the wireless card and pull it from the slot. You can leave it connected to the antennas, just be careful not to damage them.

STEP 20.

Lift up the right side of the motherboard and remove it from the laptop base.

STEP 21.

There is one more cable you’ll have to disconnect before removing the motherboard completely.

It’s the power jack cable which is located on the bottom side of the motherboard.

STEP 22.

Remove the motherboard from the laptop base.

STEP 23.

On the other side of the motherboard you can get access to the cooling fan.

It’s easy to replace the fan. Just remove two screw securing the fan and disconnect fan cable from the motherboard.

After that you should be able to replace the fan with a new one.

STEP 24.

The DC power jack located in the upper left corner of the laptop base.

It looks like in order to remove and replace the DC jack harness it will be necessary to lift up the left display hinge. Shouldn’t be a problem though.

In this guide I’ll disassemble an Asus N53S laptop. My target – fixing failed DC power jack.

Problem description: the laptop charges battery intermittently. Moving the power plug inside the DC jack fixes the problem for a while but eventually it fails again. I tested laptop with another AC adapter and it failed the same way.

In Asus N53S laptop the DC jack is soldered to the power board. This guide explains how to access and remove the power board.

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

STEP 1.

Remove laptop battery.

STEP 2.

Using a small screwdriver lift up and remove the bottom cover.

STEP 3.

There are four rubber feet located on the bottom of the laptop.

STEP 4.

Remove all four feet with a sharp object.

STEP 5.

Remove four screws found under rubber feet.

STEP 6.

Slide the hard drive/memory cover and remove it from the laptop.

STEP 7.

Remove three screws securing the hard drive assembly.

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

It’s not necessary to remove the hard drive assembly for the purpose of my guide. You can leave it connected to the laptop.

STEP 8.

All four memory slots located under the same bottom cover. It’s not necessary to remove memory modules for the purpose of my guide.

STEP 9.

The keyboard secured by five spring loaded latches on the top.

STEP 10.

Push on the latch with a small screwdriver and at the same time lift up the keyboard a little bit.

When the keyboard is lifted, it will not allow the latch to lock again.

Do the same with all remaining latches.

STEP 11.

After all latches released you should be able to lift up the keyboard and place it upside down on the palmrest.

STEP 12.

The keyboard cable connector located under the keyboard.

You’ll have to unlock the connector and release the cable before you remove the keyboard.

STEP 13.

In order to unlock the connector move the brown locking tab about 2 millimeters to the direction shown by two yellow arrows.

STEP 14.

Pull keyboard cable from the connector.

STEP 15.

Now you can remove the keyboard.

Need a new keyboard for Asus N53S laptop? You can find it here.

STEP 16.

Remove seven screws securing the top cover assembly.

Disconnect the touchpad cable (left) and power button board cable (right).

STEP 17.

Unlock the power button board connector same way you unlocked the keyboard connector.

Remove cable from the connector.

STEP 18.

Here’s how to unlock the touchpad connector.

Lift up the left side of the brown locking tab with your fingernail. The tap will open up at a 90 degree angle.

After that pull the touchpad cable from the connector.

STEP 19.

One of the top cover screws also secures the optical drive (DVD drive).

Now you can remove the drive from the laptop.

STEP 20.

Don’t forget to remove three screws from the optical drive bay on the bottom of the laptop.

STEP 21.

After you removed all screws from the bottom of the laptop and top cover, you can start separating the top cover from the bottom.

You can use a piece of soft plastic to separate these parts.

Continue removing the top cover assembly with your fingers.

STEP 22.

The top cover assembly removed.

STEP 23.

Under the top cover you’ll get access to the following internal components:
- speakers
- power board
- cooling fan
- wireless card
- CMOS battery
- audio board
- motherboard

STEP 24.

Disconnect the power board cable from the motherboard.

Disconnect both antenna cables from the wireless card.

STEP 25.

Remove three screws securing the right laptop speaker.

Lift up and remove the speaker.

STEP 26.

Remove one screw securing the power board.

Diconnect cable from the power board.

STEP 27.

Now you can remove the power button board from the laptop and repair or replace the failed DC power jack.

The DC power jack soldered to the board.

You can use this tutorial explaining how to desolder the power jack.

New power jacks for Asus N53V laptops available here.

In this guide I will disassemble a HP Pavilion g6 laptop.

In this particular case I’m taking apart a HP Pavilion g6-1c55nr but the guide should fit all models in Pavilion g6 line.

This guide explains hot to disassemble laptop base. In the next guide I’ll explain how to remove and replace the screen.

STEP 1.

As always start laptop disassembly with removing the battery.

STEP 2.

Remove two screws securing the bottom cover.

Lift up and remove the cover.

STEP 3.

Under the bottom cover you’ll find the following components:
- hard drive.
- memory modules (in my case I have only one 4GB module installed).
- wireless card.
- CMOS battery (standard 3V battery).

STEP 4.

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

Lift up and remove the hard drive.

HP Pavilion g6 laptop uses a regular 2.5″ SATA hard drive.

STEP 5.

Remove the memory module.

HP Pavilion g6 laptop uses DDR3 memory

STEP 6.

Remove one screw securing the optical drive (DVD drive).

Pull DVD drive from the laptop and remove it.

STEP 7.

Remove one screw securing the keyboard on the bottom of the laptop.

This screw located close to the wireless card.

STEP 8.

The keyboard secured by five spring loaded latches on the top.

It could be tricky to release those latches. I’ll try my best to explain the process.

Using a small flat head screwdriver push the latch inside the case. At the same time lift up the keyboard a little bit.

When the keyboard lifted up it doesn’t allow the latch to lock again.

Do the same with all remaining latches.

STEP 9.

After all five latches release, you should be able to lift up the top side of the keyboard.

STEP 10.

Turn the keyboard upside down and access the connector.

You’ll have to unlock the connector in order to release the keyboard cable.

STEP 11.

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

Carefully lift up the left side of the brown locking clip. It will open up at a 90 degree angle.

STEP 12.

After the connector unlocked, you can pull the keyboard cable.

STEP 13.

Remove the keyboard.

New keyboard for HP Pavilion g6 laptop available here.

STEP 14.

Remove all screws from the bottom of the laptop.

One screw (yellow circle) hidden under the rubber plug.

You can remove the plug with a sharp object and after that remove the screw.

STEP 15.

Remove six screws securing the top cover assembly.

Disconnect the power button cable and touchpad cable.

STEP 16.

You unlock both connectors the same way you unlocked the keyboard connector.

Lift up the left side of the white locking tab. The tap will open up at a 90 degree angle.

STEP 17.

Pull cable from the connector.

STEP 18.

Now you can start separating the top cover assembly from the laptop base.

Insert a piece of soft plastic (I’m using the guitar pick) between the top cover and base and move it along the side.

Continue removing the cover with your fingers.

STEP 19.

Remove the top cover assembly.

Under the top cover you can access the following components:
- cooling fan (mounted on the bottom side of the motherboard). In order to access the fan it’s necessary to remove the motherboard.
- laptop speakers mounted on the bottom.
- power jack which is attached to the power cable. If the power jack failed, you simply unplug the old one from the motherboard and plug in a new one.
- USB board.
- optical drive connector.
- motherboard.

In this post I show how to disassemble an Acer Aspire 7551G laptop. I will be taking apart the laptop base and removing the motherboard.

It’s possible this guide will fit some other Acer Aspire models. If it works for you, please mention the laptop model number in comments below.

Before you start laptop disassembly, make sure it’s turned off and battery removed.

NEXT 4 STEPS EXPLAIN HOW TO REMOVE THE HARD DRIVE, MEMORY AND DVD DRIVE.

STEP 1.

Remove four screws securing the hard drive and memory cover.

Lift up and remove the cover.

STEP 2.

Remove one screw securing the hard drive caddy.

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

Lift up and remove hard drive assembly.

If you are replacing the hard drive, you’ll have to transfer the mounting caddy to the new drive.

My Acer Aspire 7551G laptop had a regular 2.5″ SATA hard drive installed.

STEP 3.

Both memory slots located on the bottom of the laptop.

Remove both memory modules.

STEP 4.

Remove one screw securing the DVD drive.

Pull DVD drive from the laptop and remove it.

NEXT 7 STEPS EXPLAIN HOW TO REMOVE THE KEYBOARD.

STEP 5.

You’ll find six latches securing the keyboard on the top.

STEP 6.

Push each latch into the case with a screwdriver and at the same time lift up the keyboard a little bit so latches stay inside.

STEP 7.

Lift up the keyboard and place it upside down on the palmrest.

STEP 8.

Now you can access the cable connector underneath the keyboard.

You’ll have to unlock the connector, release the cable and only after that remove the keyboard.

STEP 9.

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

In order to unlock the connector, lift up the left side of the brown locking tab. The tab will open up at a 90 degree angle.

STEP 10.

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

Now you can pull keyboard cable from the connector.

STEP 11.

Finally, lift up and remove the keyboard.

Now you can replace failed keyboard with a new keyboard (available here).

NEXT 9 STEPS EXPLAIN HOW TO REMOVE THE MOTHERBOARD.

STEP 12.

Remove all screws from the bottom of the laptop.

STEP 13.

Remove five screws securing the top cover assembly.

Disconnect the following cables from left to right:
- power button cable.
- touchpad cable.
- speaker cable.

STEP 14.

Lift up one side of the top cover assembly and start separating it from the laptop base.

STEP 15.

Remove top cover assembly.

STEP 16.

I’m going to remove the motherboard so it’s necessary to disconnect wireless card antenna cables from the card.

You can leave the wireless card attached to the motherboard.

STEP 17.

Disconnect the video cable from the motherboard (top left arrow).

Disconnect the USB board cable from the motherboard (bottom right arrow).

By the way, when the top cover is remove you can access the CMOS battery.

Acer Aspire 7551G uses a regular CR2032 3V CMOS battery which can be easily removed and replaced.

STEP 18.

Lift up the right side of the motherboard and start removing it from the laptop base.

STEP 19.

Before you remove the motherboard you’ll have to unplug the DC jack harness.

STEP 20.

Motherboard removed.

STEP 21.

You can access the cooling module on the bottom side of the motherboard.

The cooling fan attached to the heat sink.

In order to remove the cooling module you’ll have to loosen six screws and unplug the fan cable from the motherboard.

After that you should be able to separate the cooling module from the motherboard and remove it.

STEP 22.

In Acer Aspire 7551G the DC jack is not soldered to the motherboard. It’s attached to the power harness.

The failed DC jack harness can be easily removed and replaced with a new DC jack harness.

In this guide I explain how to disassemble a Dell Studio 1555 laptop. I’ll show how to take it apart completely and remove all major parts.

With this guide you’ll be able to:
- access laptop hard drive, memory, CMOS battery.
- remove and replace keyboard.
- remove and replace DVD optical drive.
- remove motherboard.
- remove and clean the cooling fan assembly.
- access and DC jack harness.
etc…

Before you start, make sure the laptop is powered off and battery removed.

STEP 1.

Start laptop disassemble with removing the memory card and hard drive cover which is secured by three screws.

STEP 2.

Under the cover you’ll get an access to both memory modules/slots, hard drive, wireless card and CMOS battery.

Also, some Dell Studio 1555 models can be equipped with WWAN and WPAN cards.

Remove four screws securing the hard drive. Slide the hard drive to the right to disconnect it from the motherboard.

STEP 3.

Lift up and remove the hard drive.

If you replacing the hard drive, you’ll have to transfer mounting brackets to the new drive.

My Dell Studio 1555 laptop has a regular 2.5″ SATA hard drive which can be upgraded to a SSD hard drive (expensive but quite and fast).

STEP 4.

In order to release the memory module you’ll have to spread latches on both sides of the memory slot.

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

Pull both memory modules from slots.

Dell Studio 1555 laptop uses DDR2 PC2-6400 memory. It can take up to 8GB total (up to 4GB RAM in each slot).

If you want to use more than 4GB RAM, you’ll have to run a 64-bit operating system.

STEP 5.

Remove one screw securing the center control cover.

STEP 6.

Carefully lift up the upper side of the center control cover and slide it towards the display.

STEP 7.

Remove the center control cover.

STEP 8.

Remove two screws securing the keyboard.

STEP 9.

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

Be careful. The keyboard still attached to the motherboard. There are two ribbon cables running from the keyboard to the motherboard.

Before you can remove the keyboard, it’s necessary to unlock both connectors and release cables.

STEP 10.

You can unlock both connectors using the same method.

Lift up the right side of the locking tab. It will open up at a 90 degree angle.

STEP 11.

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

Now you can pull the cable from the connector.

Open up another connector using same method.

STEP 12.

Remove the keyboard.

Now you can replace it with a new keyboard if needed.

STEP 13.

Disconnect both antenna cables from the wireless card.

If you have WWAN and WPAN cards installed, disconnect antenna cables from them too.

I would suggest making notes how those cables are connected.

STEP 14.

Unroute all antenna cables.

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

STEP 15.

Disconnect shown display cables from the motherboard.

STEP 16.

Unroute display cables and pull antenna cables though the opening in the top cover.

Remove two screws securing the display hinges.

STEP 17.

Lift up and remove the display assembly.

In one of the following posts I explain how to take apart the display assembly and remove the LCD screen.

STEP 18.

Remove eight screws from the bottom of the laptop.

STEP 19.

Remove ten more screws from the top cover.

Disconnect shown cables from the motherboard.

STEP 20.

Start separating the top cover assembly from the bottom cover.

STEP 21.

Continue separating the top cover.

I’m using a guitar pick as a case cracker.

STEP 22.

Lift up and remove the top cover assembly.

STEP 23.

Remove one screw securing the CD/DVD optical drive.

STEP 24.

Lift up the front side of the CD/DVD optical drive and disconnect it from the motherboard.

STEP 25.

Remove four screws securing the ExpressCard board.

STEP 27.

Remove the ExpressCard board.

As you noticed, I disconnected cables from the card itself and left them connected to the motherboard.

STEP 28.

Remove six screws securing the motherboard.

Disconnect three shown cables from the motherboard.

STEP 29.

Lift up the right side of the motherboard and carefully pull it from the bottom case.

STEP 30.

Remove the motherboard.

STEP 31.

On the bottom side of the motherboard you’ll get an access to the cooling module (cooling fan and heat sink).

If the cooling fan and heat sink look dusty, you can blow it off with compressed air.

Also, cleaning the cooling module will fix any possible laptop overheating issues.

Noisy fan? New Dell Studio 1555 fans available here.

STEP 32.

If you would like to replace the cooling module or apply new thermal grease on the CPU, you’ll have to remove it.

Loosen six screws securing the cooling module and disconnect the cooling fan cable from the motherboard.

Now you can separate the cooling module from the motherboard and access the CPU.

STEP 33.

The DC jack (power connector) in Dell Studio 1555 laptop is not soldered to the motherboard.

The DC jack attached to the power harness which can be unplugged from the motherboard (we did it in the step 28).

If your DC jack failed, just replace the entire DC jack harness.

It’s possible this guide will work for some other Dell Studio laptops. If it works for you, please mention the model in comments below.

In this guide I explain how to take apart a HP Pavilion dv8 laptop. I’m taking it apart in order to replace failed DC jack.

The LED light on the DC jack started flickering when adapter plug moved. I tested laptop with another known good AC adapter but it didn’t fix the problem. I assumed this is DC jack related failure and decided to replace it.

I believe that HP Pavilion dv8 laptop have many different flavors. It’s possible that your laptop will be a little bit different but most disassembly steps should be very similar.

Before you start, make sure the laptop is turned off and battery removed.

STEP 1.

Loosen six screws securing the Wi-Fi and Hard drive/Memory covers.

Remove both covers.

STEP 2.

My HP pavilion dv8 laptop had two hard drives installed. By the way, they are regular 2.5″ SATA hard drives.

Disconnect the hard drive cable from the motherboard. Lift up and remove the whole hard drive assembly.

STEP 3.

Remove the second hard drive.

Also, you can see the CMOS battery located close to the second hard drive.

STEP 4.

HP Pavilion dv8 laptop has two memory slots (like most laptops) and both slots accessible though the door we removed in the step 1.

In order to remove the memory module spread latches on both sides of the memory slot. The memory module will pop up at a 30 degree angle.

Remove both memory modules.

STEP 5.

Remove one screw securing the DVD drive.

Pull DVD drive from the laptop.

NOTE: in my laptop the DVD drive face plate was missing. Normally, the DVD drive will have the face plate attached to the front of the drive.

STEP 6.

Disconnect both antenna cables from the wireless card.

Remove two screws securing the wireless card.

Remove the wireless card.

STEP 7.

Remove six (red) screws securing the speaker cover.

Remove two (yellow) screws securing the keyboard.

STEP 8.

Carefully lift up one side of the speaker cover with a sharp object.

Remove the cover with your fingers.

STEP 9.

Carefully lift up one side of the keyboard bezel.

STEP 10.

Continue separating the keyboard bezel from the laptop.

Be careful, the bezel has LED board built in. There is a cable connecting the LED board to the motherboard.

Turn the keyboard bezel upside down so you can access the LED board connector underneath.

STEP 11.

Here’s how you unlock the LED board cable connector.

Move the brown tab about 2 millimeters to the direction shown by two yellow arrows. DO NOT move it any further.

The brown tab must stay attached to the connector base.

STEP 12.

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

Now you can pull the LED board cable from the connector.

STEP 13.

Remove the keyboard bezel.

STEP 14.

Remove four screws securing the keyboard.

STEP 15.

Lift up the keyboard and move it towards the LCD screen.

Now you can access the keyboard cable connector underneath.

Before you remove the keyboard, it’s necessary to unlock the connector and release the cable.

STEP 16.

In order to unlock the keyboard cable connector lift up the outer side of the brown tab at a 90 degree angle.

STEP 17.

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

Now you can pull the cable from the connector.

STEP 18.

Remove the keyboard.

Need a new keyboard? New replacement keyboards for HP Pavilion dv8 laptops available here.

STEP 19.

Disconnect all cables i pointed with yellow arrows (from left to right):
- video cable (aka LCD screen cable.
- webcam/microfilm cable.
- USB board cable.
- DC jack (power) cable.
- pull wireless card antenna cables though the opening in the top cover.

STEP 20.

Remove four screws securing display hinges.

STEP 21.

Lift up and remove the display panel assembly.

STEP 22.

Remove all screws from the bottom of the laptop.

STEP 23.

Disconnect all cables I pointed with yellow arrows (from left to right):

- power button board cable.
- touch pad board cable.
- speaker cable.
- LED board cable.
- touch pad on/off button cable.

Remove five screws securing the top cover assembly.

STEP 24.

Start separating the top cover assembly from the bottom cover.

When you lift up the top cover don’t forget to disconnect the finger print device cable (pointed with yellow arrow).

STEP 25.

Remove the top cover assembly.

STEP 26.

The top cover has been removed.

As you know, my goal is replacing the DC jack which is located in the upper right corner.

STEP 27.

Remove one screw securing the metal bracket to the bottom case.

Lift up and remove the bracket.

STEP 28.

Finally, lift up the DC jack.

As you see, in HP Pavilion dv8 laptop the DC jack is not soldered to the motherboard. It’s attached to the harness.

We unplugged the DC jack harness from the motherboard earlier, in the step 19.

Now you can remove the failed DC jack and replace it with a new one.

You can find a new replacement DC jack harness here. Instead of buying just the DC jack itself, I would recommend buying the whole harness (jack and cable). In this case you don’t have to solder anything.

I’m not going to disassemble this laptop any further but it shouldn’t be difficult.

In order to remove the motherboard you’ll have to remove two screws and disconnect one cable (maybe more cables if you have a different Pavilion dv8 model).

After that you should be able to lift up and remove the motherboard.

The cooling fan can be accessed and replaced only after the motherboard is removed.

In this guide I show how to disassemble a Sony Vaio VGN-FW170J laptop.

Most likely this guide will work for the entire Sony Vaio VGN-FW line. Please mention your laptop model number if this guide works for you.

Before you start, make sure the laptop is turned off and battery removed.

STEP 1.

I start laptop disassemble with removing the hard drive and memory covers from the bottom of the laptop.

STEP 2.

Remove three screws securing the hard drive caddy to the base.

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

STEP 3.

Lift up and remove the hard drive.

This laptop uses a regular 2.5″ SATA hard drive.

STEP 4.

Both memory modules can be accessed though the door on the bottom of the laptop.

In order to remove the memory module you’ll have to spread latches located on both sides of the memory slot.

The memory module will pop up at a 30 degree angle. After that you can pull the memory module from the slot.

Sony Vaio  VGN-FW170J can handle up to 4GB RAM max. You can install up to 2GB RAM module into one slot. Use DDR2 PC2-640 memory modules.

STEP 5.

Remove two screws securing the DVD drive.

Pull the DVD drive from the laptop.

STEP 6.

I remove all screws because I’m going to remove the top cover assembly.

If you only removing/replacing the keyboard, you should remove four (green) screws securing the speaker cover and one (yellow) screw securing the keyboard.

STEP 7.

Carefully lift up one side of the speaker cover with a sharp object.

Continue removing the cover with your fingers.

STEP 8.

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

STEP 9.

Now you can access the keyboard cable connector.

Before you remove the keyboard, the connector has to be unlocked and cable released.

STEP 10.

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

In order to unlock the connector, move the brown locking tab about 2 millimeters towards the LCD screen.

WARNING! The brown locking tab must remain attached to the connector base.

STEP 11.

On the following picture the connector is shown in the unlocked position. As you see, the brown tab still attached to the base but the cable is release now.

Pull the keyboard cable from the connector.

STEP 12.

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

A new keyboard for Sony Vaio VGN-FW laptops sold here. The keyboard color depends on the laptop model.

STEP 13.

Remove four screws securing laptop speakers.

Disconnect the cable from the motherboard and remove the speakers.

STEP 14.

Remove four screws securing the media button board.

Disconnect the media button board cable from the motherboard.

In order to unlock the connector you lift up the right side of the locking tab at a 90 degree angle.

After that you can pull the cable from the connector.

STEP 15.

Lift up the media button board.

You’ll have to disconnect the power button cable on the bottom of the board.

Remove the media button board.

STEP 16.

Disconnect display cables from the motherboard.

Disconnect two wireless card antenna cables from the wireless card (grab the gold connector with your fingers and lift it up).

STEP 17.

Remove four screws securing display hinges.

STEP 18.

Lift up and remove the display assembly.

STEP 19.

Separate the bottom cover from the top cover.

In this Sony laptop the motherboard is mounted to the top cover.

STEP 20.

Continue removing the bottom cover.

STEP 21.

The bottom cover removed.

NOTE: I think you can skip steps 7-19 if you only want to remove the bottom cover.

STEP 22.

When the bottom cover removed, you can access the cooling fan, CMOS battery and DC jack.

Also, you can access the processor (CPU) after you remove the heat sink.

STEP 23.

Remove three screws securing the cooling fan.

Disconnect fan cable from the motherboard.

NOTE: In my laptop a piece of metal frame (where DC jack mounted) broke off of the main frame. That’s why the DC jack looks dislocated.

STEP 24.

Lift up and remove the cooling fan.

New cooling fans for Sony Vaio VGN-FW series laptops available here.