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In this guide I explain how to disassemble a Compaq Presario F700 notebook. The guide might work for some other Compaq and HP models. I think the disassembly steps will be very similar for Compaq Presario F500 and HP G6000 notebook PC. If this guide works for your notebook, please mention the model name in the comments below.
You’ll find tons of spare parts for Compaq Presario F700, F500 notebooks here. As an example I took a Presario F730US notebook.
Before you start, turn off the laptop, unplug the power adapter and remove the battery.
COMPAQ PRESARIO F700 DISASSEMBLY GUIDE.
STEP 1.
Remove three screws securing the memory cover and two screws securing the hard drive cover. Remove both covers.
STEP 2.
Lift up the right side of the hard drive by the plastic tab to disconnect it from the motherboard. Remove the hard drive.
STEP 3.
Remove both memory modules.
STEP 4.
Disconnect both antenna cables from the wireless card. Remove two screws securing the wireless card in the top left and right corners. Pull the wireless card from the slot and remove it.
STEP 5.
Remove one screw securing the CD/DVD drive and pull the drive from the notebook. Remove the drive.
STEP 6.
Remove all marked screws from the bottom of the notebook.
Yellow screws securing the switch cover (keyboard cover).
Green screws securing the keyboard.
STEP 7.
Start lifting up the switch cover as it shown on the picture below. You’ll have to work with your fingers to disengage small plastic latches holding the switch cover.
Be careful, there is a thin ribbon cable running from the switch cover to the motherboard.
STEP 8.
Now you can lift up the top side of the keyboard and access the connector underneath the keyboard.
The keyboard cable connector is located above the touch pad. Before you pull the cable and remove the keyboard you have to unlock the connector.
Move both sides of the locking tab about 1-2 millimeter up and release the keyboard cable. Now you can pull the cable and remove the keyboard.
STEP 9.
Disconnect the switch cover cable from the motherboard.
Remove the cover.
STEP 10.
Unplug the LCD cable from the motherboard.
Release the wireless card antenna cables. Pull them through a hole in the motherboard.
Remove four screws securing the display panel.
STEP 11.
Lift up and remove the display panel assembly.
In the next guide I will explain how to access and remove the LCD screen with inverter board.
STEP 12.
Remove four screws securing the top cover assembly.
Disconnect the power button board cable.
Disconnect the touch pad cable.
STEP 13.
Remove all screws securing the top cover assembly from the bottom of the notebook. Do not forget three (green) screws in the CD/DVD drive bay.
Remove two hex studs located close to the memory slots.
By the way, the RTC (CMOS) battery can be accessed when you remove the memory cover.
STEP 14.
Start separating the top cover assembly from the bottom assembly. You’ll have to work with your fingers to disengage plastic latches securing the top cover.
Carefully lift up and remove the top cover assembly.
STEP 15.
Now I’m going to remove the motherboard.
Remove one screw securing the motherboard. In other Compaq/HP models there could be more then one screw securing the motherboard.
STEP 16.
Lift up the right side of the motherboard as it shown on the picture below.
Before you remove the motherboard from the base assembly you have to disconnect the audio board cable.
STEP 17.
Remove the motherboard and turn it upside down. There are two more cables to disconnect.
These cables connect the motherboard to the USB/Power connector board.
Finally, the motherboard is removed. As you see on the picture below, the audio board and USB/power connector board are secured to the base assembly.
The motherboard has been removed. Now you can access and replace the cooling fan if you have to.
You can access and replace the processor if you remove the heat sink.
If you find this article useful, please consider making a donation to the author. Thank you!
January 31st, 2010 at 10:56 pm
Solution for the following problem (josh, jamal, others):
” … when i try to turn it (laptop) on all it does it show ( by power light only ) that it is trying to turn on & then shuts off. Just keeps repeating that step & never even turns the screen on. Anybody know where i should start to find the problem?”
I had the same problem on F700, and I fixed it thanks to this web site and this video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ctHTF3oNdxI
It shows you how to repair the Nevida GPU (using a common heating lamp) .
Good luck
January 24th, 2010 at 5:46 pm
thanks man, finally long nose pliers work
January 24th, 2010 at 3:32 pm
Replying to Hexstud post 134:
I used hemostats but I just checked and it looks like any needle nose pliers would work. They’re not very tight.
January 24th, 2010 at 1:36 pm
help pls, how do you remove the two hex stud? is there some special kind of screw to remove it? what’s the alternate way of removing it if I don’t have that special kind of screw driver?
January 21st, 2010 at 3:31 pm
Trish,
I haven’t done it myself, but I assume you have to remove the top cover assembly first. After that you should be able to access the touch pad from the bottom side of the top cover.
January 21st, 2010 at 2:46 pm
How do you remove the touchpad unit for the Presario F700? I got everything else taken off, but my touchpad doesn’t work and I want to remove it from the cover to make sure there is not damage on it or to replace it. Thanks.
January 20th, 2010 at 8:36 am
My son spilt beer all over his laptop – he’s nearlt 18 (that’s okay in the UK). Now it doesn’t work.
Your guide has helped me take apart and will help put it back together. Whether i can clean and dry it out thoroughly enough is another matter. Fingers crossed it will live again.
January 18th, 2010 at 4:54 pm
Christy,
Yes, it’s possible that the LCD cable got disconnected from the motherboard. Reconnecting the cable would be the first thing to try.
The LCD cable connector is shown in the Step 10.
January 15th, 2010 at 2:50 pm
Replying to post 128 by Christy:
Hi,
I’m not sure but it sounds as though you can see a very dim image on the monitor LCD screen. It sounds as though the backlight may have been damaged when it fell.
That being the case I Googled “F700 backlight” and found it.
I found this link on backlight replacement:
http://www.laptoprepair101.com/laptop/2007/12/09/replace-laptop-backlight-ccfl-lamp/
I’ve never changed one myself but if you attempt it I suggest taking pictures with a digital camera every step of the way.
I’m not sure how much the Shipping is but getting the backlight for $9.50 seems like a bargain considering the alternatives.
Incidentally, following the procedures outlined in this guide make removing the display panel a snap.
Good luck,
Jim F.
January 15th, 2010 at 12:43 pm
On my F700 Presario I dropped it on it side. Right after that my screen stopped working. I can plug it into a regular monitor and can see everything fine. I called support and they told me it was probably my backlight and it would cost me $400 at least to fix. Does anyone have any suggestions as I don’t know how I would check everything on my computer to make sure. Also he said it might be a cord that may have became disconnected. When I plug it into the monitor my monitor on the notebook shows up a little but not much. I have adjusted the brightness so know that will not help it. Any suggestions?
January 13th, 2010 at 7:28 pm
Hi,
After cleaning and re-assembly of my F712NR I re-installed Vista Home Premium and upgraded to Sp1 and Sp2 I was in the process of installing AVG when my computer stopped recognizing the Broadcom Wireless card.
Searching on the internet showed this to be a common problem. The card has been intermittently recognized but not for the last several days. I tried various recommended solutions but nothing has worked so far. Any ideas? Anyone?
Thanks, Jim
January 10th, 2010 at 10:33 am
is there a fuse on the motherboard anywhere mine will not charge or run with the power supply I know the supply is good it works on my other computer… thanks
January 10th, 2010 at 9:24 am
Hey i also have a compaq f700..and am wanting to upgrade for gaming. I currently try to play call of duty modern warfare 2. and the lag is terrible. i have 2gb of ram which i think is the max..and i was wondering if i could upgrade the processor and video card?
January 9th, 2010 at 4:33 pm
thankyou for the information !
my compaqs display screen turns fuzzy like a tv when i try to use it, i went to staples and they said it would be 370 dollars to repair this. Is there anything i could do to maybe fix this problem. The fuzzynes will go in and out, when i put a little pressure on the top of the screen it seems to work. Maybe the cords are loose? thankyou !
January 8th, 2010 at 8:57 am
Thank you so much for your detailed instructions on how dismantle and fix our laptop, a Compaq Presario. The instructions were excellent and easy to follow. The heat sink on our fan had gotten dirty and was causing the fan to make noise, not work properly and the computer to overheat.
After reassembling, our screen didn’t work, the problem turned out to be that I had not seated the memory modules 100%. After reinstalling them, everything worked great.
Again, thank you so much. Your site was a real life saver. I’m currently laid off and the expense of having to have the computer fixed would have been difficult. I’ll definitely donate to your site, once I’m back to work.
January 7th, 2010 at 10:19 am
tristin,
You can try reinstalling the sound driver. If it doesn’t help, backup all personal files and reinstall Windows from the recovery disc. If the sound still not working even after reinstalling the operating system from scratch, there is a problem with the sound card.
The sound card is integrated into the motherboard. It means the whole motherboard has to be replaced.
Does it work fine after you reconnect the battery? Will it run on the battery power only?
If yes, it sounds like the motherboard failure.
January 7th, 2010 at 10:14 am
Hey,
I have a Comaq Presario F700, and one day the sound just didn’t work. On the home page where the volume is it shows the volume and it just has a red x on it. I’ve tried everthing and don’t know what to do; do you have any suggestions? Also when starting my computer the screen is black and the power button flashes, and to start the computer I have to unplug it and take the battery out, I think the problems might be corrilated some how? If you have any suggestions that would be awsome, thanks a ton.