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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.
In this particular guide I’m taking apart a Presario F730US notebook.
By the way, if you have a bad/dead motherboard, check out these motherboard repair offers.
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.
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January 6th, 2010 at 12:46 pm
Rkedz,
1. The DVD drive spins, so it gets power from the motherboard.
2. The DVD drive is listed in the BIOS setup menu, so it’s detected by the motherboard. It’s not just bad connection between the DVD drive and motherboard.
Sounds like the DVD drive was damaged when your sister dropped the laptop.
January 6th, 2010 at 12:39 pm
Will not startup any CD/DVD. I see it in the boot list in bios.
January 6th, 2010 at 9:24 am
I just found this log. It reads the device, \devise\cdrom0, has a bad block
Any thoughts?
January 6th, 2010 at 9:06 am
Rkedz,
Can you see DVD drive in the BIOS setup menu?
Can you boot laptop from a bootable CD/DVD (Windows installation CD, recovery disc, live Linux CD, etc…)?
January 6th, 2010 at 8:55 am
My sister has a Presario f700. It fell off the table. The only thing that isn’t working is the DVD player. It dosen’t show up in device manager. It opens and when I put a dvd in I hear it spin for a little while and then stop. I removed it from the slot and put it back in to have PnP pick it up but nothing happens. It is running Vista. Any ideas I can try? Laptop shell is not damaged.
January 5th, 2010 at 3:11 pm
Replaced the motherboard power and hard drive lights power on normally fixing the original issue. No power to monitor. Have reseated the LCD connection to motherboard several times with no results. Could anything other than a bad mobo or bad lcd be the cause?
January 5th, 2010 at 1:06 pm
TASHA,
Maybe the AC adapter? Can you test the adapter?
If the adapter is bad and battery has no charge left, it’s possible that the single beep indicates no power coming to the laptop. Just a guess.
I would definitely test the AC adapter first.
January 5th, 2010 at 1:01 pm
Karen Tafe,
If your hubby knows how to solder, you can try replacing just the power jack. I posted a guide for that here: http://www.laptoprepair101.com/laptop/2007/12/06/dc-power-jack-repair-guide/
You know how to disassemble the laptop and access the power board.
You can buy a new DC jack on eBay.
You can always replace the power board later if replacing the jack doesn’t work.
January 5th, 2010 at 12:41 pm
i have a problem with my f700 that i really need your help with ..
when i try to turn on my laptop, the power button lights up and the light on the mouse pad lights up as well and then it is followed by a single BEEP sound and nothing happens .. the lights all end up shutting off … what can i do to fix this problem? please help me as my entire LIFE is in this computer
January 5th, 2010 at 12:36 pm
Thank you Tech. Hubby did test power adapter & gets 18.5v -18.8 volts. So its good. He removed each memory module as well one at a time too, still don’t turn on. So would it best to purchase the USB/power board connector or try the power jack 1st? Also, thank you for letting me know the power piece isn’t connected to motherboard as the man charging me to check it out told me. Being on disability its hard to just buy another. We paid over $600 w/taxes for this one. Can these parts be bought locally? I live in Canton, Ohio. Thank you so very much.
January 5th, 2010 at 11:16 am
Karen Tafe,
I hope those guys checked the AC adapter. It could be just a bad AC adapter. Most likely they did but who knows.
In this model the power jack IS NOT attached to the motherboard. It’s located on a USB/power connector board as you can see on this picture: http://www.insidemylaptop.com/images/Compaq-Presario-F700/disassemble-notebook-25.jpg
If the power jack is bad, it’s not necessary to replace the entire motherboard. You’ll have to replace just the jack (requires soldering) or just replace the entire USB/power connector board.
The power jack is less than $10 on eBay.
January 5th, 2010 at 11:07 am
I have Presario COmpaq F700. !3 months of owning, I tried to turn on & it shut right back off. It wasn’t dropped or anything like that. Paid to have checked out. Been told, its the power plug in thats attached to the motherboard & that has to be replaced to many other things. Can someone please help me. On disability & paid $600 or little more new. They want about the same amount to replace motherboard. Thank you all.
January 2nd, 2010 at 2:08 pm
Responding to Post #105 by Jim:
The Maintenance and Service Guide (c01295900.pdf) lists the part number as 449961-001in the Illustrated Parts catalog section. Googling this number may result in enough information to verify that this is correct for your computer.
Jim F.
January 1st, 2010 at 4:50 pm
Thanks Jim F. I was stuck at step 17 but I see replacing the usb/power board is the best way to go.
December 31st, 2009 at 11:49 pm
I found this guide to be extremely helpful.
I recently purchased a used Compaq Presario (Model F712NR) with a few problems. It appeared that disassembly and cleaning would be beneficial. I’ve worked on and constructed quite a few desktops but had no experience with laptops. I made a note of any points of confusion and I’d like to share these in hopes that someone else might benefit. I’m stressing that there were no errors but just several points that I had to consider, not being sure that I wasn’t about to damage something or that I had overlooked something.
Here goes:
In STEP 3 simply pressing the latches (those in the little indents in the side of the memory modules) outward, allows the module to swivel up as shown in the photo. (Pretty basic but I had to look at it for awhile to figure this out)
In STEP 4 the antenna cable connectors just snap on I wasn’t certain that they didn’t unplug sideways.
In STEP 10 the LCD cable connector disconnects by pulling straight up. Very slight rocking, parallel to the edge of the case seemed to help it come loose.
In STEP 12 there are five (not four) screws to be removed. The photo shows this correctly.
In STEP 13 there’s a reminder to not forget the three screws in the DVD drive bay. These were just removed in STEP 12.
Also, in STEP 13 the screw located in the middle of the drive bay must be removed. It’s not shown circled in the photo as are the others.
In STEP 17 I removed the screws securing the USB/Power connector board and just removed this assembly with the motherboard. I had a bit of a problem figuring out how to disconnect one of the cables so this was easier.
That’s it. Like I said just a few minor things that someone might find helpful. I found the guide to be excellent.
I was able to secure a loose key cap when the keyboard was out. I was afraid that by simply pressing it hard would cause something to break.
Unfortunately, disassembly, cleaning and reassembly didn’t correct a couple of other problems. Connection of a monitor to either the VGA or S-Video ports results in erratic operation of both the laptop and external display. This may be a software problem and as I’m going to reinstall Vista I’ll see if that corrects this.
The one other problem is that Left Shift plus V doesn’t produce a capital V (or anything else). Right Shift plus “V” works fine. When I first got the computer, about 2 weeks ago, a capital V would result occasionally but now that doesn’t happen. I hadn’t checked it recently so I’m not sure that if my actions worsened the problem or not. If anyone has any thoughts on this I’d like to hear them.
And once more: THIS IS A GREAT GUIDE!
Jim F.
December 31st, 2009 at 8:37 am
How do find out the EXACT part number for the coolong fan for a presario F762NR without taking it apart?
Where do I find a parts list?
December 30th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
Think i found the problem. The USb harness is not there. Can I buy one and place the connections or will I need a new usb/power connector board?
December 30th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
That might have been a little unclear. The connector from Step 17 (the horizontal arrow) was covered on the original mobo what can I secure the contacts with?
December 30th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
I have gotten the old motherboard out and I am trying to connect the new motherboard to the usb/power but there is no connector just loose contacts. The first squarish connection if fine the second rectangular connection has nothing to secure it. Purchased the mobo on ebay. How would I secure those loose connectors to the pins? is my mobo missing something?
December 30th, 2009 at 9:46 am
Maria,
If you want to REPLACE the cooling fan, you’ll have to disassemble the entire laptop.
If you want to get rid of dust build up, I think it’s not necessary to disassemble the laptop. Remove the keyboard and you’ll get access to the fan. Buy a can of compressed air and spray it inside the fan. This will remove most dust from the fan and heat sink. By the way, it’s not necessary to disconnect the keyboard. Simply follow steps 6-8. Lift up the keyboard and place it upside down on the palm rest. Clean the fan and install the keyboard back in place.
December 29th, 2009 at 3:16 pm
Thanks for the directions. I’m wondering if you have to disassemble the entire laptop in order to access the fan. It’s been working really hard and overheating so I want to go in and get rid of dust build up to see if that will help.
December 15th, 2009 at 9:09 am
This is great. I am glad I found this. I have a f700 with a shattered screen and needed to replace it. Thanks for posting this site.
December 5th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
Thankyou for your response.. I already told you that I changed que inversor first and then the back light, I can see the lamp is working but the screen is in black, no video. You told me to check the video cable conection and its ok. Do you think is the cable? or maybe the screen?
Thankyou again…
December 5th, 2009 at 11:18 am
im having a problem with my presario F700..! it turns on only when i dc my battery then slam it back in….then shuts off immediately!! this started when i broke my powercord while i using it. but it still worked til it went dead! i bought new cord didnt fix it! is it a battery prob or the motherboard??
December 5th, 2009 at 6:55 am
Hello everyone, I would like to say that your guide for the presario f700 was very good.I have a small problem i need some help on.I dropped my laptop and broke the screen.Using you’r guide i was able to remove screen.Before i buy a new one i was hoping to try and see if i can display image on television using the s video cord (without the laptop screen hooked up).The reason for this is to see if it is just the screen or is there a hardware problem.My question is does anyone know the button configuration to use so the laptop displays onto t.v without the lcd screen hooked up.Any insight on this would be appreciated.
PLEASE HELP ……THANK YOU
December 4th, 2009 at 1:00 pm
I am working on my son’s f700. If you push power button, it lights up for for a few seconds and then shuts off This happens about 1/2 the time. Other times it boots but nothing shows on the screen. Not sure if it’s a bad LCD screen or vid card. Are there known issues for the f700 in this respect?
November 29th, 2009 at 1:28 pm
Jeff,
Maybe memory failure? Try reseating both memory modules. Try removing them one by one and test the laptop with each module separately.
November 29th, 2009 at 12:44 pm
Jason,
1. Test the AC power adapter. It’s possible the adapter is bad and because of that the laptop will not start.
2. Make sure the memory module is seated correctly. It’s unlikely that your problem is memory related, but do it just in case. Try reseating memory modules. Test the laptop with each memory module installed separately.
3. Could be motherboard failure.
November 28th, 2009 at 4:10 pm
I have a Compaq Presario V6000 series ( V6310US ) and the steps and pictures are essentially identical.
The problem I am having is that my laptop will not turn on at all. It was turned off the night before and the next morning it would not turn on. Nothing happens when the power switch is pressed or held down. No lights, no fan sounds, nothing. The only light that is on is the blue ring around the Power Input jack when the the power cord is plugged in. I probed the leads to the power switch and found not voltage at all across the open switch. Is there a fuse anywhere on the main board that may have blown? It looks like a power supply issue. The power jack seems well soldered to the board with no cracks.
The laptop was serviced for a non-working Wi-Fi under the HP/Compaq/nVidia exteneded warranty recall in October of 2008. It has worked fine ever since until now.
Any ideas would be appreciated.
November 28th, 2009 at 2:08 pm
What an amazing site you have! Thank you so much!. Now, I have a certain problem booting my f756nr. The lights, the fan and the hard drive would turn on for only a second then it would shutdown.