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In the following guide I explain how you can remove and replace keyboard, memory and hard drive in a Compaq Presario 2580US laptop. The keyboard replacement procedure is relatively simple and you can easily do it yourself at home. Proceed on your own risk!
Compaq Presario 2580US is similar to many other HP/Compaq models. The disassembly procedure should be the same (or almost the same) for the following laptop series:
1. Compaq Presario 1100, 2100, 2500
2. Compaq Evo Notebook N1010v, N1050v
3. HP Compaq nx9000, nx9005, nx9008, nx9010
4. HP Pavilion ze4100, ze4200, ze4300, ze4400, ze4500, ze4600, ze4700, ze5200, ze5300, ze5400, ze5500, ze5600
First of all, turn off the laptop, unplug the power adapter and remove the battery.
STEP 1. Remove two screws securing the keyboard/hinge cover.
STEP 2. Start removing the hinge cover with a flathead screwdriver as it shown on the picture below.
STEP 3. Continue removing the cover with your fingers. Be careful, there is a power button board attached to the cover which is connected to the system board.
STEP 4. Place the hinge cover as it shown on the picture below. As you see, there are a couple of wires running from the cover to the system board.
Remove four screws securing the keyboard.
STEP 5. Carefully lift up the keyboard.
STEP 6. Place the keyboard so you can access the flat ribbon cable connecting it to the system board. Before you can unplug the keyboard, you’ll have to unlock the connector.
STEP 7. Unlock the connector by lifting up the white tab using your fingernails. The white tab has to stay attached to the connector. Lift it up about 1-2 millimeters.
Now you can release the keyboard cable.
STEP 8. Remove and replace the keyboard with a new one.
You can find a new replacement keyboard by the Compaq spare part number located on the back side of the keyboard. In my case the keyboard part number is 317443-001. For your laptop the part number could be different.
Here are some other components you can replace in your Presario 2580US yourself.
1. Both memory slots/modules could be accessed from the bottom of the laptop.
2. The wireless card could be accessed from the bottom.
3. The hard drive could be accessed from the bottom.
In order to remove the hard drive you’ll have to remove three screws. One of the screws is hidden under the rubber seal (yellow square). Remove the rubber seal with a sharp object and remove the screw.
Pull the hard drive assembly from the laptop.
Now remove two screws on each side of the caddy and replace the hard drive with a new IDE drive.
NOTE: your hard drive has a small jumper connecting two pins. I believe this jumper sets the hard drive to “Cable Select” mode. It’s likely that you have to transfer the jumper to a new hard drive in order to get it recognized by the laptop.
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January 24th, 2010 at 7:33 am
My sister gave me her old Compaq Presario 2500. I think I know why. the 7, H,K &Y keys do not work, so I use an external keyboard, all is fine and working with the external. And, the battery will not take a charge. So, I figure my options are, get a battery and forget fixing the keyboard as it seems these compaq’s have keyboard problems if they are of a certain age. Yes, I know I can pick up a Dell for under 500 bucks, but why. I am a senior and on a fixed income. Here is another question. She had it upgraded from XP to Vista and I was told it was a nono. I have only 448 ram and the teckie said I need one gig to run vista. Should I go back to XP as it was working fine before. I do not know if I can change the ram cards and upgrade to one gig. There comes a time when the cost is not worth it. Battery, or Ram upgrade, or bite the bullet and get that new Dell. All I use the lap for is email and word, no games, no video, just email pictures of the grand kids to relatives.
January 6th, 2010 at 12:42 pm
I have a Compaq Presario V5207NR last year I had my light replace and it has gone up again is there some else wrong. I spent over a 120.00 to have it replace and it only work for a year. Should I take it some where else or try some myself. Any suggestions?
October 28th, 2009 at 4:57 pm
Oh yes, seven years! You are right. It’s time to get a new one. I know. Anyway, thank you very much for replying. I wasn’t trolling. Honestly.
October 28th, 2009 at 10:10 am
Saara,
Seven years? I guess it’s time to buy a new one. These days you can buy a good laptop for $450-500.
October 28th, 2009 at 5:47 am
Thanks for your reply, Mr. Laptop Tech.
Replacing the motherbord sounds pretty conclusive. Maybe it is time to purchase a new computer. My dearly beloved Compaq has been a faithful and reliable – and extremely loud & noisy like a vacuum cleaner – servant almost seven years now.
Yes, I did try an external keyboard. The problem is that I need to install it first in my admin account. “A new device found. You have to be a member of admin group. Please give your password.” I can’t install the keyboard in my normal user account, even though I have given my admin password. Lucky girl, I don’t have a password in this normal user account too!
I have no idea how to access my admin account because the key 6 is dead. I have tried a Linux live cd, shift+f10 and ctrl+alt+del tricks but both ctrls are those dead keys as well as f8. In safe mode it is possible to remove passwords. I know there are many other tricks too. Need to find the right one.
By the way, the keys n, b and space are occassionally working right now. But upper row 5 and 6 are still completely “out of the game”, as we put it in Finnish.
October 27th, 2009 at 8:42 pm
Saara,
It’s either bad keyboard or there is a problem with the keyboard controller on the motherboard.
1. Try replacing the keyboard.
2. Replace the motherboard.
Have you tried using an external USB keyboard? I think it should work.
October 27th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
Hi, I ended up on this page while searching an explanation why some keys of keyboard in my Compaq Presario 2516EA stopped reacting just like that. Suddenly I just couldn’t type certain characters or use certain keys. They were and still are completely dead.
The unreacting keys are at least f2, f8, §, 5, 6, +del, both ctrls, both alts, -, n, b, space and some of the arrow keys. As you can notice, the problem is symmetrical. I’m, by the way, typing this with Windows OnScreen keyboard.
I removed the problem keys, cleaned them including their base with spray normally used for wiping television and computer screens. My cleaning operation had no effect. The keys don’t react any keystroke.
I’m no expert. But I suppose even though replacing the old keyboard with a new one it would bring no help. The problem is somewhere deeper. I suspect that some connectors between the keys and the circuit are broken. I don’t know the exact terms in English (or in Finnish either).
Unfortunately it is impossible to use a usb keyboard before I have hacked my own admin account because it is protected with a password and a vitally important key doesn’t work. Also, I have no access to safe mode because f8 doesn’t work either.
August 19th, 2009 at 12:45 pm
Mike,
It sounds like you have a stuck key. It’s a hardware related problem and you’ll have to replace the keyboard.
August 19th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
..I have a Compaq Presario CQ60Z-200, and at start up it acts as if the 8 key is pressed and there is also an audible tone. Per HP tech, I have uninstalled the keyboard, updated the bios, and done a system restore. None of these helped. Any suggestions?..Thanks..