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In the following guide I explain how to remove the hard drive from a Dell Inspiron Mini 10 (1010) netbook.
There is no easy access to the hard drive from the bottom of the netbook. The hard drive is mounted inside the case, under the keyboard.
You can use this guide for removing/replacing the keyboard and removing/replacing/upgrading the hard drive.
STEP 1.
Turn off the laptop, unplug the AC adapter and remove the battery.
Remove three screws from the bottom. These screws secure the keyboard.
STEP 2.
Insert a thin object between the top side of the keyboard and laptop case.
Lift up the keyboard and continue removing it with your fingers.
STEP 3.
Lift up the keyboard as it shown on the picture below and flip upside down on the palm rest.
STEP 4.
Under the keyboard you’ll find the hard drive assembly and wireless card.
It’s not necessary to disconnect the keyboard if you are replacing the hard drive or wireless card.
If you would like to replace the keyboard, you’ll have to unlock the connector and release the cable.
In order to unlock the connector, very carefully move the brown lock about 2 millimeters towards the touch pad.
The lock must stay attached to the connector base.
When the connector unlocked, you can pull the cable and remove the keyboard.
Looking for a new keyboard for your Dell Inspiron Mini 10 netbook? Search here.
STEP 5.
Remove one screw securing the hard drive assembly.
STEP 6.
Slide the hard drive assembly to the left and disconnect it from the motherboard.
STEP 7.
Remove the hard drive assembly.
Now remove four screws securing the hard drive to the caddy and separate the hard drive from the caddy.
In my case I had a regular 160GB 2.5″ SATA hard drive installed. This hard drive can be replaced with a larger 2.5″ SATA hard drive.
May 28th, 2011 at 12:29 pm
Thank you so much!!! I installed the new hard drive in less than 10 minutes. A first time replacement!!!
April 8th, 2011 at 1:52 pm
Max,
Does your laptop still boot?
If it boots, you can test hard drive with HDTune utility. Run error scan.
If the laptop doesn’t boot, you can remove the hard drive and test it on a working PC. I usually test hard drive with SeaTools utility (frim Seagate.
April 4th, 2011 at 2:05 am
What a great guide, thanks. I believe my hard drive is, for lack of a better word, f**ed. I quite experienced with the operation of computers and such, but am lacking in experience with hard drives. How would i know for sure that the hard drive is “f**ed”?
Thanks in advance
Max
March 20th, 2011 at 7:25 am
No the screen just stays the same. Its like a grayish/black color i can hear the buttons when i press the keys it beeps the moniter got wet barley by like little rain drops and thats how
March 18th, 2011 at 10:19 am
Ricky,
Can you get image on the external monitor?
March 17th, 2011 at 7:40 am
My screen got wet and faded away.. Ever since that its still the same everytime i turn it on it slowly fades away snd stays blackish/grayish.. Please how do i fix this????
February 17th, 2011 at 3:05 pm
Hey dude, thanks for posting the link to replacing keyboard keys, I couldn’t find a way anywhere else.
January 18th, 2011 at 8:45 pm
I can’t put my keyboard back on van yu plz walk me thru it
December 15th, 2010 at 5:23 pm
Dorman,
You can use this method: http://www.laptoprepair101.com/laptop/2007/03/20/key-fell-off-keyboard/
December 15th, 2010 at 4:43 pm
I have something hard under the ‘i’ key. How do I remove it to clean under it?