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This guide will help you to remove and replace memory, hard drive, optical drive and keyboard in Sony Vaio VGN-FE series laptops. As an example I took a Sony Vaio VGN-FE855E laptop. All these parts can be removed without opening the laptop case.
If this guide works for your Vaio, please mention the model number in comments below. This will help other users with similar laptops.
STEP 1.
Turn off the laptop and remove the battery.
Remove the memory and hard drive covers from the bottom of the laptop. Each cover is secured by two screws.
If you are removing the keyboard, you’ll have to remove one screw (green) securing the keyboard.
STEP 2.
Remove two screws securing the hard drive.
Slide the hard drive to the left to disconnect it from the motherboard.
Lift up the hard drive and remove it from the laptop.
The hard drive is mounted inside the caddy.
Remove two screws from each side. These screws securing the hard drive to the caddy.
Remove the hard drive from the caddy.
In my laptop I had a 2.5″ 120GB SATA hard drive installed. This hard drive can be replaced with any other larger 2.5″ SATA hard drive.
STEP 3.
In a Sony Vaio VGN-FE laptop both memory modules can be access from the bottom.
In order to remove the memory module spread latches on both sides of the slot until the memory module pops up at a 20-30 degree angle.
Pull the memory module from the slot by the edges.
This Vaio laptop can take up to 2GB memory. You can install up to 1GB memory stick into each slot.
Use DDR2 PC2-5300 or faster SODIMM modules.
STEP 4.
Remove three screws securing the optical CD/DVD drive. Pull the drive from the laptop.
If you are replacing the optical drive, it might be necessary to transfer both mounting brackets and the face plate to the new drive.
STEP 5.
Remove three screws located in the battery compartment. These screws are securing the speakers cover.
Start removing the speakers cover with your fingers.
Carefully release and lift up the right side of the cover.
Continue removing the cover with your fingers. It might take some time. It’s harder than looks on the pictures.
The speaker cover has been removed.
STEP 6.
Remove four screws securing the keyboard.
Lift up the keyboard and place it upside down on the palm rest.
Now you can access the keyboard cable connector. The keyboard is connected to the motherboard.
Before you can remove the keyboard, you’ll have to unlock the connector and release the keyboard cable.
In order to unlock the connector, move the black clip about 2 millimeters to the direction shown by two arrows. The click must stay attached to the white base. Now you can release the keyboard cable.
WARNING! If you break the connector, you’ll have to replace the whole motherboard OR use the laptop with an external keyboard.
Remove the keyboard and replace it with a new one if needed.
Need a keyboard replacement? You can buy a brand new keyboard here.
If you find this article useful, please consider making a donation to the author. Thank you!
August 26th, 2010 at 12:02 pm
Hello,fuller9box i have same problem with sony vaio vgn-fe31h,where i cann find complete new motherboard for this laptop
August 8th, 2010 at 1:02 pm
I have a Vaio VGN-FE550G. I bought it new and it came with a 100GB HDD. The HDD died and I am trying to upgrade it to a WD 500GB. The PC does not do anything when I power it on. The caps lock, print screen, number lock buttons are lite up as is the power button. The power indicator light on the front edge of the laptop is also lite. The HDD indicator light shines for about 2-3 seconds and goes out. I am not certain the drive is spinning at all. When I put the old 100GB drive in it at least “ticks” and the indicator light is on so I know the laptop itself should be ok. What am I overlooking? I thought I researched this pretty well in advance but am stumped. Any and all help is appreciated. Thanks in advance.
August 3rd, 2010 at 12:35 pm
I have a friends VGN-FE790 who set the bios password and doesn’t remember what it is, I’ve followed your instructions looking for the cmos battery to try disconnecting to clear it. Any ideas where that battery could be and/or how to reset the bios maybe with a jumper or ??? Any help is greatly appreciated!
July 17th, 2010 at 10:03 pm
Natasha26,
Yes, I’ve come across this problem but… you cannot tell what is causing the problem until you test the laptop with a known good battery. It’s either bad battery or motherboard failure. Probably bad battery.
July 16th, 2010 at 5:04 pm
My FE has a battery problem. Basically Windows XP (SP3) shows the “plugged in” icon only, even though the battery is safely in. When I click on this icon, it tells me that i have “#1 battery 99%” present. If I then click on that blue-battery icon, I get the details of the battery. So it would seem that XP knows that I have a battery but shows the “AC plugged-in” icon only?! And get ready for this, if I remove the AC adapter, the laptop switches off.
Have you come across this problem? This is my 2nd battery within my 4 years of operating that laptop. Some suggest that there’s a faulty component on the motherboard. Others say that the BIOS or ’something’ runs a count-down before disabling the battery. I have updated my bios to R0200J3 but the problem is still here. Is Sony f*cking with us?
May 25th, 2010 at 6:06 am
Hi, thanks for the instructions, they are really useful. I have a question though. I want to clean the cooling fan, do I have to unscrew everything that is on the back to take out the case? I don’t want to mess up anything. Thanks again.
May 4th, 2010 at 9:28 am
I’ve just removed the keyboard, thanks to your photos. Someone who shall be nameless, spilt a spoonfull of Meusli in it, (bound up the cursor keys beautifully! I’m dunking it in distilled water overnight, to see if I can soak it off – followed by a very long and gentle dry-out phase. We’ll see if it works, and if not, thanks to your links, I can buy a new keyboard.
You’re warnings about removing the speaker cover carefully, (and gently,) are invaluable. Without the photographs I would have assumed I was going to break it and given up early on. A thin polythene spatula helped unfasten the many ’snaps’ under the cover. Also be carefull you don’t get anywhere near the speakers when probing underneath to unship the latches and ease the ’shoulders off the body patiently. It’s easy to rush this stage and break them ‘cos you think you’re nearly there. They have a forward facing hook which has to be released with a lifting rotating motion. It was also very nice to know which screw fastened the centre of the keyboard. As you say, if you force it you break it! THANK YOU.
March 22nd, 2010 at 11:07 am
Hi,
wonderful guide! You saved my day! My daughter threw a cup of hot chocolate in my laptop… Most the keys didn’t worked anymore since then… but today I’ve replaced the keyboard using your guide.
Thanks a lot again.
March 10th, 2010 at 5:05 am
I have an FE31H which prooved to have a faulty Wireless LAN on/off Switch. I always had to try hard to turn it on. I mean, it was moving to On position but the switch itself wouldn’t make the “contact”.
So i removed the back cover (first remover the dvd drive, hard disk and covers), i slightly lifted the motherboard at the WLAN switch point, located the switch and dropped 2 micro drops of pure alcohol. Then i switched it to on/off many times for the alcohol to do its job, left it a couple of minutes, put it all back together and the switch is finaly working perfectly now!!!
February 2nd, 2010 at 5:37 am
Thank you so much for your guide. I managed to change the keyboard of my european FE11M. It’s difficult to unlock the connector and move the black clip ! But now it works fine.
February 1st, 2010 at 5:09 pm
Hi
laptop Tech,
Thanks for the fine disassembly guide, used it to completely pull apart, a FE41M trying to find out why it will not start. Changed the on / off switch with another (not sure if known good) but the symptoms remain the same. Detected +19.5 vdc at power jack (at the point where jack enters the motherboard) but still no lights, no fan, no action. Is there a series of troubleshooting steps that i can use to determine where i have lost power? Thanks again for a fine tutorial.