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Here are instructions for taking apart a Dell Inspiron 1720/1721 or Dell Vostro 1700 laptop.
You can use these guide for removing and replacing:
1. Laptop memory, hard drive, wireless card, modem.
2. CD/DVD optical drive.
3. Laptop keyboard.
4. LCD panel.
5. Heat sink, CPU, motherboard and other internal components.
Are you looking for spare parts for your Dell Inspiron 1720 laptop? Search here.
First of all, turn off the laptop, unplug AC power adapter and remove the battery.
Turn the laptop upside down and remove Wi-Fi, memory and hard drive covers.
Disconnect (unsnap) two antenna cables from the wireless card. Remove the wireless card.
Spread latches on both sides of the memory module and carefully pull the RAM module from the slot.
You can access only one memory slot from the bottom of the laptop. The second memory slot is located under the keyboard.
Remove three screws securing the hard drive. In order to disconnect the hard drive from the motherboard, lift it up by the black tab attached to the hard drive caddy. Remove the hard drive.
As you see, Dell Inspiron 1720 can handle two hard drives. You can increase laptop storage space by installing a second hard drive.
The BIOS (CRT) battery is located right under the memory slot. By the way, disconnecting the battery will not clear the BIOS password, don’t even try.
Now I’m going to remove the CD/DVD optical drive. Remove one screw securing the CD/DVD drive to the laptop base and open the drive with a paper clip.
Carefully pull the CD/DVD drive from the laptop.
Remove all screws from the bottom.
Remove two screws securing display hinges.
In the following four steps I explain how to remove the laptop keyboard. If you are replacing the keyboard, you can skip all previous steps.
Lift up the keyboard bezel with a flathead screwdriver. Remove the bezel.
Remove four screws securing the keyboard.
Slide the keyboard to the direction shown by the red arrow.
Lift up and remove the keyboard. Now you can replace it with a new one if needed.
As you see on the picture below, this keyboard doesn’t have a flat ribbon cable as most laptop keyboards do. The keyboard connector is a part of the keyboard base.
Unplug two LCD cables from the motherboard and remove one screw securing the grounding cable.
Remove the LCD panel.
Remove six screws securing the top cover assembly and unplug one cable pointed with the red arrow.
As I mentioned before, the second RAM slot can be accessed when you remove the keyboard.
The internal Bluetooth module can be mounted in the top right corner. My Inspiron 1720 came without internal Bluetooth module but it had the Bluetooth cable installed.
Lift up and remove the top cover assembly.
The top cover has been removed.
Loosen four screws securing the CPU heat sink.
Remove the heat sink. Do not forget to apply new thermal grease when you install the heat sink back.
Remove four screws securing the cooling fan. Unplug the fan cable from the system board. Remove the fan.
Remove two screws (blue circles) securing the dial up modem. Remove the modem.
Remove six screws (red circles) securing the PCMCIA slot board.
Remove the PCMCIA slot board.
Remove all screws securing the system board. Unplug three cables on the bottom (three red arrows). Unplug and remove the Bluetooth cable (yellow arrow).
Start removing the system board from the left side.
The system board has been removed.
In order to remove the CPU, you’ll have to unlock the CPU socket first. Turn the screw into the “Unlocked” position. Carefully lift up the CPU from the socket.
If you are replacing the system board, you’ll have to transfer the hard drive connector board to the new system board.
Static electricity can kill your laptop. I recommend wearing an anti-static wrist strap while working with internal parts of your laptop.
If you find this article useful, please consider making a donation to the author. Thank you!
December 3rd, 2008 at 12:52 am
Very very useful information , thanks and thanks of lots.
December 3rd, 2008 at 10:28 am
Really appreciate the info that is posted. It helped with us with removing defective parts of the Inspiron.
December 4th, 2008 at 4:03 pm
What i wanted to do is get the XPS 1730 keyboard and put that into my 1720. The only problem is that ribbon on the 1730 is what lights up the keyboard. I was trying to find a keyboard that would go in my 1720 that is backlit. But thanks for letting me see inside without having to take mine completely apart.
December 12th, 2008 at 11:18 am
Spectacular tutorial!!! excelent work, keep it up & THANKS
December 13th, 2008 at 11:27 am
WOW! just what I need
December 31st, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Great work – very useful, thanks a million!!!
January 2nd, 2009 at 2:15 pm
I want to replace my blue lid on my Dell Inspiron 1720 , is this just a snap on or is this screwed into the main lcd ?
January 3rd, 2009 at 4:31 pm
Shane Barker,
It’s not just a snap on. The LCD screen is screws into the display cover.
Take a look at this display diagram for a Dell Inspiron 1720 laptop for help.
January 7th, 2009 at 12:27 pm
Thanks a lot. It helped me to reach the second RAM card!!
Great job.
January 11th, 2009 at 4:08 pm
Im thinking about replacing my CPU on my dell inspiron 1720. Its intel pentium dual core 1.86ghz T2390 at the moment, so what i need to know is will a intel core 2 duo be compatible with my laptop? im not sure at all when it comes to computer stuff so any help much appreciated. Thanks.
January 18th, 2009 at 8:55 am
I have the 8600m Gt in my 1720 can i put in a 8800m gtx??
January 28th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
Great Information, never took a laptop apart before. Just finished the keyboard swap no problems, Thanks
February 4th, 2009 at 1:34 am
To fenix:
I did some research on this and although it looks like its possible to replace the graphics module in an inspiron 1720 (see here: http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/ins1720/en/sm/graphics.htm#wp1179839
I don’t think it’s possible to upgrade to a faster model, as the 8600gt was the most powerful card that model was supplied with. This website: http://www.mxm-upgrade.com/
doesn’t give conclusive proof that you cant do it – but from reading the information on mxm, I’m convinced its not possible.
February 5th, 2009 at 9:11 am
Where can I find out info on taking apart my Dell power cord? It’s fraying, and I’d rather not spend the $80 necessary for a new one. I want to reconnect the wires manually, but want to be reassured by a dissection like the one shown above.
And I wish I’d found this before taking my computer apart myself. Everything ended up okay, but I would have figured things out faster if I’d seen this site.
February 25th, 2009 at 11:38 am
Great stuff. Ugh… Certainly a little daunting.
March 14th, 2009 at 3:57 am
thanks dear ur really done well for us.
March 19th, 2009 at 5:23 am
This is great. I need to clean my laptop.I was trying to figure out how do it. This will help me.
March 21st, 2009 at 2:53 am
Thanks. You saved me hours of frustration. I appreciate all the pictures and the obvious care with which you set up these shots.
March 25th, 2009 at 10:23 pm
awesome thanx alot for the info n pics!!!!
March 29th, 2009 at 8:37 pm
it looks like i can access the ram under the keyboard with out removal of the LCD screen and the chassie …… is this true, can i just remove the keyboard and access that ram. wanted to make shure before i started taking it apart.
March 29th, 2009 at 8:45 pm
nate hale,
Yes, you can. Simply remove the keyboard and you will be able to access and remove the hidden RAM module.
April 1st, 2009 at 3:06 pm
any instructions on how to clear the bios manually or by using jumpers and how to do it
April 2nd, 2009 at 4:42 am
I want to take this opportunity to let you know how valuable is the information that you provide in this website. We need this kind of support on the internet to educate the users and people that work very close with hardware. Manufacturer should pay you guys because you are doing their job. Thanks a lot for your help and support
April 14th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
wow thanks ill probably use this later on
April 14th, 2009 at 8:10 pm
hi.i got a inspiron 1721 whiout the bluetooth the bios tell me that dam it..and i got another laptop qhit a motherbord problem…then my question is if it is possible to connect the bluetooth of the other computer in my inspiron and if yes please tell how…it really s..k they say the bluetooth come whit but not
tks a lot jonathn
ps powerfull tutorial u good u good
April 18th, 2009 at 4:22 pm
Much appreciated! I need to replace a hinge and the pictures and Dell link are awesome =)
April 18th, 2009 at 8:57 pm
Thank you so much!
My laptop was overheating and I wasn’t sure why though I had my suspicions it had something to do with my cat who constantly sits on my laptop because it’s warm. I found your site and printed off the directions and preceded to take apart my laptop. For someone who’s never replaced anything on a computer it seemed like a daunting task and I was worried the my computer wouldn’t work after I put it back together. I got down to the fan and found a big clump of cat hair stuck to the side of the fan. I cleaned it out and put the computer back together and now it works wonderfully! No more overheating and thanks to your wonderful directions and pictures I didn’t have to pay someone a fortune to do it for me.
The red circles showing you where the screws were was the best help of all, especially when it came time to putting it back together.
April 19th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
lphylosoph,
I think you can do that if your laptop with a bad motherboard is Dell and the Bluetooth card is compatible with your Inspiron 1721.
The Insprion 1721 in my example also came without the Bluetooth card but it had the Bluetooth cable attached to the motherboard. So it was Bluetooth ready. All I had to do is find a new Bluetooth card, plug in the cable and secure the card under the keyboard bezel (picture 15).
April 25th, 2009 at 3:11 am
Does the 1721 model have 2 batteries on it for clearing the cmos. I guess i didn’t see any battery locations as my friend had told me. TIA
May 5th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
I have to go inside my laptop and fix the audio/headphone jack – it has broken loose – either fix the plastic casing and/or resolder the jack on the board – will I need to break the laptop all the way down?
May 5th, 2009 at 9:09 pm
Shawn Graves,
Yes, you’ll have to disassemble the laptop and remove the motherboard.
May 6th, 2009 at 1:42 am
Hi everyone,
thanks for the nice post. I have a Dell Vostro 1700 and want to replace the optical drive with a blue-ray drive. Does a standard slim optical SATA notebook drive fit? From the pictures posted here I cannot clearly identify the shape of the removed drive. The reason why i ask is the shape of the blind of the drive, which does not look standard. Can it be mounted on the new drive?
May 16th, 2009 at 8:40 pm
I have a Verizon Wireless broadband card in my Inspiron 1720. Can anyone tell me where it is and how it may be removed?
June 3rd, 2009 at 6:56 am
Where inside is the bluetooth? I need to replace mine…
Thanks.
June 6th, 2009 at 3:05 pm
Stan,
The Bluetooth module mounts under the keyboard cover close to the right hinge. You can see the Bluetooth card location on this picture.
June 15th, 2009 at 5:58 am
I took aport my computer now the lcd doesnt work. I have some cables by the wlan i dont know where they go can you help?
June 15th, 2009 at 2:04 pm
Hey,
Thanks for this wonderful toturial webpage. It has come such a very useful source for a side needed done for a laptop I’m working on. Big props.
June 17th, 2009 at 9:37 am
please can you just tell me where is the location of the 24C02 chip. and thanks for
your appreciated help
June 19th, 2009 at 8:15 am
Hi there, To remove the wireless card, dod you actually need to snap the two wires? Can the be fixed back on without soldering or anything? And what tools do you need?
Thanks.
June 19th, 2009 at 6:15 pm
once again please how can i unlock bios for my dell vostro 1700 manually . anyone can help us please i heard about paperclip but i dont know what chip i shd short
June 24th, 2009 at 12:34 pm
Tom,
You don’t have to solder or unsolder anything while removing antennas from the card. Simply grab the small connector with your fingernails and pull up. It’s a small connector which you can unclip from the card.
July 30th, 2009 at 11:41 pm
I currently have a 1720 with a 1440×900 matte screen. Would a 1920×1200 WUXGA glossy screen directly swap with that if I wanted to upgrade?
August 6th, 2009 at 8:41 pm
I can’t remove the palm rest from my Dell Inspiron 1720. I have removed all of the screws, but something seems to be holding it down around the touchpad, it seems if I try to force it it will break the touch pad
August 9th, 2009 at 5:55 am
My second hard drive just died in my 1720, is there a secret to getting it running again, of course, it wasn’t backed up.
August 18th, 2009 at 5:59 pm
Where is the battery charger located? Where can I find a replacement? The laptop stopped charging the battery, and I have already tried to replace the battery at Dell’s suggestion.
August 18th, 2009 at 9:37 pm
Farmer_ron_99,
I assume the AC adapter works fine and the laptop gets power from the wall outlet.
If the laptop stopped charging the battery and an new battery didn’t fix the problem, you have a problem with the motherboard. The whole motherboard has to be replaced.
September 14th, 2009 at 2:06 am
hey,
so i tried taking my top part apart, but it isn’t working.
I have two questions…
do I have to take apart the bottom of my laptop, before I can take apart the top of it?
my real problem, with taking apart the top, is that I can’t remove my lcd panel… I did everything you said, but it wouldn’t work, and I have a screw, that doesn’t show up in your pictures. It is underneath and a bit to the left of the screw of the grounding cable. I can’t remove it, since it isn’t cross shaped or anything but star shaped… you think that is the problem?
September 14th, 2009 at 5:57 am
Hi, great site!
On a side issue: my vostro 1700 power adapter has gone caput! Do you know of any alternative power adapters I could buy ? Or does it have to be a specific voltage only Dell knows how to supply!
September 19th, 2009 at 6:29 am
You guys are awesome! This is so well done – thank you so much!!!
September 19th, 2009 at 2:42 pm
Bobby,
I don’t really trust third party adapters. I would suggest buying a replacement adapter from Dell.
September 19th, 2009 at 2:46 pm
Nik,
I thought my guide is pretty mush straight forward.
Yes, you have to take apart the bottom part before you can remove the top cover. Just follow the instructions step by step.
September 19th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
Nik,
For your convenience, here’s a link to the official service manual for Dell Vostro 1720.
You can use Dell instructions instead of my guide.
Let me known if I missed something in my guide.
October 7th, 2009 at 1:11 am
My audio jack is loose, and I can open the notebook easily (I have already done it earlier using your guide, thanks), my question is, is it easy to resolder the jack? What do I need for that, and do you know any good guides for that?
Just the jack in which I put my earphone plug is lose, do I have to take the entire audio thing out, or just resolder the little jack on it’s mothership?
October 7th, 2009 at 8:41 pm
Silas,
You have to have some soldering skills. It’s not difficult, but only if you have some experience.
I have a guide you are looking for. I posted it here: How to replace laptop power jack. It should be similar to resoldering the audio jack.
I don’t know. It depends on the damage. If the audio jack is broken, you can replace it with the microphone jack (if you don’t use it). Just an idea.
October 9th, 2009 at 2:31 am
Hi, thank you for your reply!
The audio jack is come loose, it still works, but I have to put the earphones plug in and move it around to get the sound in both sides (left and right). It’s just come off the main thing, where it was glued before, and where the microphone jack is glued right now. I just want to glue it back. Do I just have to solder?
/Silas
October 11th, 2009 at 8:53 pm
I dropped my Vostro 1700 laptop with a headphone jack in the jack. It landed on the floor on the jack and jammed it into the laptop. My sound does not work anymore with either a headphone jack or through laptop speakers. Any idea on a fix for this? Thank You.
October 19th, 2009 at 3:38 am
Hey im loving the tutorial, just wondering if you can help me.
My origional charger got eaten by a rabbit and so i bought a new one.
The new charger only worked if the battery was in and had charge.
The new charger wont charge the battery, and now the battery is dead the new charger wont work as the laptop needed the battery to start up the laptop before the charger would work.
Basically as the battery is now dead it wont turn on the laptop and give chance for the new charger to start working.
Any idea whats wrong? or what needs to be replaced..
October 20th, 2009 at 9:02 am
JesusLuvsU,
Did you buy the original Dell replacement adapter or a generic one? Maybe that’s the problem.
October 21st, 2009 at 12:17 am
Dell stopped making my charger but they reccomended “Kensington chargers” to me, first charger i got off ebay wasnt an origional, and the kensington one i got works on 2 other laptops we have but not mine.. so im getting some parts and things off ebay to sort it out
thanks for the reply anyway
October 24th, 2009 at 9:22 pm
Hello is there away to unlock my memory bios in my dell 1720? the specs say it can use pc-6400 but when i install them they still read pc-5400 and when i go into the bios there no option to change the settings
October 25th, 2009 at 3:22 pm
Kevin,
I checked specification Dell Inspiron 1720 and it says:
Memory type: 667 MHz SoDIMM DDR2 (PC2-5300).
PC2-6400 will work but slow down to PC2-5300 speed. You cannot make it run faster.
October 28th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
This is really helpful. I was always told that upgrading or changing laptop components was impossible. I have a question though.
I have a Dell Inspiron 1720 with an nVidia 8600m graphics card. Do you know how or if it’s possible, to upgrade it?
October 28th, 2009 at 2:56 pm
Robbie,
It depends. I don’t know if your video card is integrated into the motherboard or it’s a discrete module.
Some Dell Inspiron 1720 laptops come with a discrete video card. Not sure if Dell makes better cards for this model.
November 1st, 2009 at 6:42 am
You can replace the graphics card only if your laptop doesn’t have integrated graphics like the “Mobile Intel(R) Graphics Media Accelerator X4500MHD”
November 13th, 2009 at 9:41 am
Hello,
I found very useful your article. I want to add an extra hard disk to my 1721, what do I need besides the new HDD?
Thanks in advanced,
Esteban
November 13th, 2009 at 9:48 am
esteban,
You’ll need a hard drive caddy connector kit for Inspiron 1720.
This kit included the hard drive caddy, SATA connector and screws.
Check out this post. It explains how to install a second hard drive.