In this guide I will disassemble a Dell Inspiron 17R N7110 laptop.

My goal is to access and replace the hard drive which is mounted inside the laptop case. But I will disassemble it even further. I will show how to remove the motherboard and other internal components.

This laptop has two different names: Dell Inspiron 17R and Dell Inspiron N7110.

Before you start make sure the laptop is turned off.

STEP 1.

Remove laptop battery.

STEP 2.

There are four locks securing the keyboard on the top.

STEP 3.

Each lock has a spring behind it.

Push the lock into the case with a small screwdriver.

STEP 4.

At the same time lift up the keyboard a little bit. You can use a knife blade to lift up the keyboard.

While the keyboard is lifted, push in all other locks.

STEP 5.

Finally, lift up the top side of the keyboard and place the keyboard upside down on the palmrest.

STEP 6.

Now you can access the keyboard cable which is connected to the motherboard.

In the following two steps I explain how to unlock the connector and release the cable.

STEP 7.

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

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

STEP 8.

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

Now you can pull the cable from the connector.

STEP 9.

Remove the keyboard.

If you would like to replace the keyboard, you can find a new keyboard for Dell Inspiron 17R N7110 here.

STEP 10.

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

Remove the cover.

STEP 11.

You’ll find both memory modules under the cover.

For the purpose of my guide it’s not necessary to remove memory modules.

By the way, Dell Inspiron 17R N7110 laptop uses PC3-10666 DDR3-1333 204pin SDRAM SODIMM memory.

It can take up to 8GB RAM total. It means you can install up to 4GB RAM module into each slot.

STEP 12.

Remove one screw securing the optical DVD drive.

Pull DVD drive from the laptop and remove it.

STEP 13.

Remove all screws from the bottom of the laptop.

STEP 14.

Remove four screw securing the palmrest assembly.

Disconnect the following cables:
1. Power button board cable.
2. Touchpad cable.
3. Hot key board cable.

STEP 15.

Separate the palmrest assembly from the bottom case with a piece of soft plastic.

I’m using the guitar pick.

STEP 16.

Lift up and remove the palmrest assembly.

STEP 17.

When the palmrest assembly removed you can access the following laptop components:
- Cooling fan.
- CMOS battery.
- Hard drive.
- Speakers and subwoofer.
- I/O board. Both wireless cards mounted on this board.
- Motherboard.

STEP 18.

Remove three screws securing the hard drive.

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

Lift up and remove the hard drive from the laptop.

In my Dell Inspiron 17R N7110 I had a regular 2.5″ SATA hard drive installed. It’s possible to replace it with any other large capacity SATA hard drive or SDD.

STEP 19.

Remove two screws securing the cooling fan.

Disconnect fan cable from the motherboard.

STEP 20.

Lift up and remove the cooling fan.

New cooling fans for Dell Inspiron 17R laptop available here.

STEP 21.

Remove four screws securing the motherboard to the laptop base.

Disconnect the following cables:
1. DC power jack cable.
2. Webcam cable.
3. LCD screen cable.
4. Status light board cable.
5. Laptop speaker cable.
6. Subwoofer cable.

STEP 22.

Carefully lift up the left side of the motherboard and disconnect it from the I/O board.

STEP 23.

Remove the motherboard.

STEP 24.

On the bottom side of the motherboard you can access the heatsink and processor (CPU) which is located under the heatsink.

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 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.

In this guide I explain how to disassemble a Dell Inspiron 1420 or Dell Vostro 1400 laptop. I will completely disassemble the laptop and remove the motherboard.

Dell Inspiron 1420 laptop is very similar to Dell Vostro 1400 laptop. If there are any differences, they should be very minor.

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

STEP 1.

Loosen eight screws securing the hard drive, memory and heat sink covers.

Remove all three covers.

STEP 2.

Lift up the hard drive assembly by the black tab to disconnect it from the motherboard.

Remove the hard drive assembly from the laptop.

STEP 3.

The hard drive connected to the laptop motherboard via connector.

Dell Inspiron 1420/Vostro 1400 laptop uses a regular 2.5″ SATA hard drive.

STEP 4.

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

Remove both memory modules.

Dell Inspiron 1420/Vostro 1400 laptop can handle up to 4GB RAM. You can install up to 2GB RAM module into each slot.

You should use PC2-5300 DDR2 or faster DDR2 memory modules.

STEP 5.

Remove one screw securing the DVD drive.

Pull DVD drive from the laptop.

STEP 6.

Loosen four screws securing the CPU heat sink.

STEP 7.

Carefully lift up the heat sink and remove it from the laptop. If the heat sink is clogged with dust you can clean it with compressed air.

NOTE: before installing the heat sink back into the laptop don’t forget to apply new thermal grease on the CPU.

After the heat sink is removed, you can access and remove the CPU (processor).

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

If you just replacing the keyboard, it’s not necessary to go though all previous steps.

STEP 8.

Carefully lift up the right side of the keyboard cover with a screwdriver.

Continue removing the keyboard cover with your fingers.

STEP 9.

Remove two screws securing the keyboard.

STEP 10.

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

You can remove the keyboard only after the connector is unlocked and cable released.

STEP 11.

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

STEP 12.

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

Now you can pull the keyboard cable from the connector.

STEP 13.

Remove the keyboard.

If you need a new keyboard for Dell Inspiron 1420/Vostro 1400 laptop, you can buy it here.

In the following eight steps I explain how to remove the display assembly.

STEP 14.

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

STEP 15.

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

STEP 16.

Lift up and remove both hinge covers.

STEP 17.

Lift up and unplug the video cable connector from the motherboard.

STEP 18.

Remove one screw securing the 7-button board and remove the board.

You do not remove the board completely, you just put it aside so you can remove the wireless card antenna cables.

STEP 19.

Disconnect both wireless card antenna cables from the wireless card.

STEP 20.

Now you can remove one screw securing the wireless card and remove it from the laptop (optional step).

STEP 21.

Lift up and remove the display assembly.

In order to remove the LCD screen you can follow this Dell Inspiron 1520/Vostro 1500 guide.

It’s a different model but LCD screen removal steps should be very similar.

By the way, the LCD screen can be removed and replaced while the display still attached to the laptop base.

In the next eight steps I explain how to disassemble laptop base and remove the motherboard.

STEP 22.

Remove all remaining screws from the bottom of the laptop.

STEP 23.

Remove three screws securing the top cover assembly.

STEP 24.

Lift up and remove the top cover assembly.

STEP 25.

In order to remove the motherboard, you’ll have to remove the modem card first.

Remove one screw securing the modem card, disconnect modem cable from the left side and remove the modem.

By the way, the CMOS battery is hidden under the modem.

STEP 26.

Remove three screws securing the motherboard.

Disconnect three cables.

STEP 27.

Carefully lift up the motherboard.

There is one more cable on the bottom which has to be separated from laptop base.

STEP 28.

Remove the motherboard.

STEP 29.

On the other side of the motherboard you can access and remove the cooling fan.

Simply remove two screws securing the fan, disconnect the cable and remove the fan.

A new replacement cooling fan for Dell Inspiron 1420/Vostro 1400 laptop sold here.

In this guide I explain how to disassemble a HP Pavilion tx2000 Tablet PC and remove the motherboard. I’m removing the motherboard in order to repair failed NVIDIA chip.

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

STEP 1.

Loosen five screws securing hard drive, memory and wireless card covers.

Remove all three covers.

STEP 2.

Lift up one side of the hard drive by the black tab to disconnect it from the motherboard.

STEP 3.

Remove the hard drive assembly.

By the way, it’s a regular 2.5″ notebook SATA hard drive. There is an adapter connected to the hard drive. That’s why the hard drive connector doesn’t look like a regular SATA connector.

STEP 4.

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

Remove both memory modules.

STEP 5.

Disconnect two antenna cables from the wireless card.

Remove two screws securing the wireless card.

STEP 6.

Pull the wireless card from the slot.

STEP 7.

Unlock the DVD drive and remove it from the laptop.

STEP 8.

Remove four screws securing laptop keyboard on the bottom.

STEP 9.

Carefully lift up the keyboard from the laptop case.

STEP 10.

Now you can access the keyboard cable connector which is located underneath the keyboard.

STEP 11.

Before you can remove the keyboard cable, you’ll have to unlock the connector.

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

In order to unlock the connector, lift up the right side of the brown clip at a 90 degree angle.

STEP 12.

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

Now you can pull the keyboard cable from the connector.

STEP 13.

Remove the keyboard.

New replacement keyboard for HP Pavilion tx2000 laptops available here.

STEP 14.

Remove four (red) screws securing the hinge cover.

Remove three (yellow) screws securing the display hinge and cable cover.

STEP 15.

Under the cover you’ll find two display cables.

Disconnect both cables from the motherboard.

STEP 16.

Turn the laptop display and start removing the hinge cover.

STEP 17.

The hinge cover removed.

STEP 18.

Disconnect LCD cable from the motherboard.

STEP 19.

Remove two screws securing the display hinge.

STEP 20.

Lift up and remove the display assembly.

STEP 22.

Remove screws from the bottom of the laptop.

STEP 23.

Remove two screws securing the top cover.

Disconnect two cables from the motherboard.

STEP 24.

Remove the top cover assembly.

STEP 25.

Disconnect two cables from the motherboard.

STEP 26.

Make sure the Express Card slot cover removed.

STEP 27.

Carefully lift up the left side of the motherboard.

STEP 28.

Remove motherboard from the laptop base.

STEP 29.

The motherboard has been removed.

On this side of the motherboard you can access the CMOS battery.

STEP 30.

On the other side of the motherboard you can access and remove the cooling module (heatsink with fan).

STEP 31.

Remove four screws securing the heatsink assembly.

Disconnect fan cable from the motherboard.

STEP 32.

Carefully lift up and remove the cooling module.

New fans for HP Pavilion tx2000 laptops available here.

If the heatsink is clogged with dust, you can blow it off using compressed air.

STEP 33.

After the cooling module is removed, you can access and remove the CPU (processor).

In this post I explain how to take apart a HP Pavilion dv5 laptop (Pavilion dv5t-1000 model).

I’m taking it apart in order to replace the noisy cooling fan which is mounted deep inside the case under the motherboard. In order to replace the cooling fan I’ll have to disassemble the whole laptop.

Let’s take it apart step-by-step. Before you start, make sure the laptop is turned off.

REMOVING HARD DRIVE, MEMORY, WIRELESS CARD AND DVD DRIVE (Steps 1-7).

STEP 1.

Remove the battery.

Loosen four screws securing the hard drive, memory and CMOS battery covers. Remove all three covers.

STEP 2.

Lift up the left side of the hard drive assembly and carefully slide it to the left.

STEP 3.

Remove the hard drive assembly and disconnect the hard drive cable from the motherboard.

Remove both memory modules.

If needed, remove the CMOS battery (I’ll keep it connected to the motherboard).

STEP 4.

If you are replacing the hard drive, you’ll have to disconnect the hard drive cable and transfer it to the new drive.

Also, remove four screws (two from each side) and transfer hard drive mounting brackets.

HP Pavilion dv5 laptop has a regular 2.5″ SATA hard drive installed.

STEP 5.

The wireless card located under the hard drive.

Disconnect both antenna cables and remove one screw securing the wireless card.

STEP 6.

Remove the wireless card same way you removed memory modules.

STEP 7.

Remove one screws securing the CD/DVD drive and pull it from the laptop.

REMOVING KEYBOARD AND KEYBOARD COVER (Steps 8-18).

STEP 8.

Remove five screws (yellow) securing the keyboard cover.

Remove two more screws (red) securing the keyboard.

STEP 9.

Insert a piece of soft plastic (I”m using the guitar pick) between the keyboard cover and laptop case and carefully lift it up.

STEP 10.

Continue removing the keyboard cover with your fingers.

Be careful, there are two cables running from the keyboard cover to the motherboard. You’ll see this cables on the next pictures.

STEP 11.

Place the keyboard cover so you can access four screws securing the keyboard.

STEP 12.

Lift up the keyboard.

STEP 13.

Now you can access the keyboard cable connector.

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

STEP 14.

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

STEP 15.

In order to unlock the connector, lift up the brown piece so it opens up at a 90 degree angle.

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

Now you can pull the cable.

STEP 16.

Remove the keyboard.

Looking for a new replacement keyboard for your HP Pavilion dv5 laptop? You’ll find wide selection here.

STEP 17.

Disconnect the power button and LED board cables from the motherboard.

STEP 18.

Remove the keyboard cover.

REMOVING DISPLAY AND TOP COVER ASSEMLBY (Steps 19-26).

STEP 19.

Disconnect the video cable from the motherboard.

Disconnect the webcam cable.

Pull both wireless antenna cables though the opening in the top cover.

STEP 20.

Remove four screws (two on each side) securing the display assembly hinges.

STEP 21.

Remove the display assembly.

In the next guide I explain how to take apart the display panel and remove the LCD screen.

STEP 22.

Disconnect the speaker assembly cable and remove it.

STEP 23.

Remove all screws from the bottom of the laptop.

STEP 24.

Remove four screws securing the top cover assembly.

Disconnect the touchpad cable.

STEP 25.

Start removing the top cover assembly.

STEP 26.

The top cover assembly has been removed.

REMOVING MOTHERBOARD AND COOLING FAN ASSEMLBY (Steps 27-32).

STEP 27.

Disconnect the power jack, USB board and audio jack board cables from the motherboard.

Remove one screws securing the motherboard. It’s hidden under the audio jack board cable.

STEP 28.

Lift up the right side of the motherboard.

STEP 29.

Remove the motherboard from the laptop base.

STEP 30.

If you need to replace the DC power jack, you’ll find it mounted in the top right corner of the laptop base.

In a HP Pavilion dv5 laptop the power jack is not soldered to the motherboard. It’s attached to a power cable.

STEP 31.

Loosen three screws securing the cooling fan assembly.

Disconnect the cooling fan cable from the motherboard.

STEP 32.

After the cooling fan assembly removed, you’ll have to clean remaining thermal grease from the CPU and GPU chips.

Now you can install a new cooling fan assembly.

I purchased a brand new assembly and it came with thermal grease and thermal pads pre-applied.

If you are installing a used assembly, you’ll have to apply thermal grease on the processor and transfer thermal pads from the old assembly.

Different HP Pavilion dv5 laptops have different cooling fan assemblies. It depends on the CPU installed (AMD or Intel) and type of graphics memory (discrete or UMA graphics subsystem memory).

Here’s how to find the correct fan/heatsink assembly.
1. Download the official service manual for HP Pavilion dv5 laptops.
2. Find the motherboard part number. Usually it’s located on a sticker under memory modules.
3. Compare your part number with all motherboard part number listed on the page 20 in the service manual. This will help you to find out what type of motherboard you have installed.
4. Find the correct fan/heatsink assembly part number in the same manual on the page 21. Search this part number on Google and you’ll find it.

By the way, you can buy just the replacement fan here without buying the entire heatsink assemlby.

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 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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In this guide I explain how to disassemble a Gateway MX (Model #MA2A) series laptop. To be precise, I’m taking apart a Gateway MX6650 laptop. If this guide works for your Gateway laptop, please mention the model number in the comment below.

The main purpose of this repair is replacing the laptop base cover. A piece of the base assembly where the right hinge connected broke off and the whole base assembly has to be replaced.

If yo need spare parts for your Gateway laptop, you can search by the model number here.

Let’s go through the laptop disassembly process step by step. Before you start, turn off the laptop, disconnect the AC adapter and remove the battery.

STEP 1.

Remove two screws (yellow) securing the hard drive assembly.
Remove one screw (red) securing the wireless card cover.
Remove seven screws (green) securing the memory cover.

There is one screw on the bottom (pink) securing the keyboard. You can remove this screw now or in the step 8.

STEP 2.

In order to remove the hard drive assembly, slide the whole assembly to the left to disconnect the hard drive from the motherboard.

Lift up and remove the hard drive assembly.

STEP 3.

Loosen three screws securing the heat sink assembly.

STEP 4.

Carefully lift up the heat sink assembly and disconnect the cooling fan cable from the motherboard.

STEP 5.

Remove both memory modules.

Disconnect two antenna cable from the wireless card.

STEP 6.

You remove the wireless card same way as the memory module.

Spread metal latches on both sides and when the wireless card pops up at a 30 degree angle, pull the wireless card from the slot.

STEP 7.

Remove one screw securing the CD/DVD optical driver.

Pull the CD/DVD drive from the laptop and remove it.

STEP 8.

Remove all screws from the bottom of the laptop. Do not forget two screws (yellow) located in the CD/DVD drive compartment.

STEP 9.

Remove two screws from the back side of the power switch cover.

STEP 10.

Carefully lift up the power switch cover with a screwdriver.

Continue removing the cover with your fingers.

STEP 11.

The power switch cover has been removed.

STEP 12.

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

STEP 13.

Now you can unlock the keyboard cable connector.

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

STEP 14.

Disconnect the LCD cable connector from the motherboard.

Pull the wireless card antenna cables through the opening in the top cover.

Remove four screws securing the display assembly hinges.

STEP 15.

Remove the display panel assembly.

You can remove and replace the LCD screen using this guide. It’s not necessary to separate the display assembly from the laptop base in order to replace the LCD screen.

STEP 15.

Remove four screws securing the top cover assembly.

Disconnect the touch pad cable from the motherboard.

The CMOS battery can be accessed and replaced in this step.

STEP 16.

Carefully lift up and remove the top cover assembly.

STEP 17.

Disconnect the speaker cable from the motherboard.

Remove four screws securing the motherboard.

STEP 18.

Carefully lift up the motherboard and disconnect the VGA board cable from the other side.

STEP 19.

There is nothing on this side of the motherboard except the CMOS battery.

STEP 20.

The processor (CPU) is located on the other side.

In order to remove the processor you have to unlock the socket.

STEP 21.

Remove two screws securing the VGA board.

STEP 22.

Remove two hex studs securing the VGA board on the back side of the base.

STEP 23.

Remove the VGA board.

STEP 24.

Finally, remove one screw securing the speaker cover assembly.

Remove the speaker cover assembly.

Now you can replace the damaged base cover with a new cover.