Home
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.
December 22nd, 2011 at 7:03 am
Hello. Great guide for removing the keyboard and replacing the hard drive. I have a Dell mini with a broken audio output jack. Do you have instructions on how to fix it?
August 29th, 2011 at 5:25 pm
Where can I find a Dell Inspiron Mini 10 Hard Drive? Can someone give me a link?
August 17th, 2011 at 4:29 am
is this a sata I or sata II
July 21st, 2011 at 5:03 am
Thanks a million Inside-Team
Your site is really awesome – Thumbs up 
July 3rd, 2011 at 5:12 pm
how can you test the dc power jack on a dell mini, we used a after market plug and it arked at the plug in wall socket, now the computer will not boot, just a black screen. the power light is on but nothing comes up. i was told it may have fried my mother board. what do you think
June 19th, 2011 at 8:31 am
the soldering for where the power switch is connected to the mother board broke apart. I re-soldered it, but the two pins ended up being soldered together in one large solder as opposed to the two small ones previously. My computer won’t turn on. Do the pins need to be soldered separately?
Thanks!
June 19th, 2011 at 7:03 am
i have a dell mini and lost the plug. i bought a aftermarket one and it made a popping noise and arked at the wall socket, now thw computer will not boot, just a dark screen
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