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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.
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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?
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
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 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 18th, 2009 at 4:22 pm
Much appreciated! I need to replace a hinge and the pictures and Dell link are awesome =)
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 14th, 2009 at 4:25 pm
wow thanks ill probably use this later on
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 1st, 2009 at 3:06 pm
any instructions on how to clear the bios manually or by using jumpers and how to do it
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.
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 25th, 2009 at 10:23 pm
awesome thanx alot for the info n pics!!!!
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 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 14th, 2009 at 3:57 am
thanks dear ur really done well for us.
February 25th, 2009 at 11:38 am
Great stuff. Ugh… Certainly a little daunting.
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 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.
January 28th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
Great Information, never took a laptop apart before. Just finished the keyboard swap no problems, Thanks
January 18th, 2009 at 8:55 am
I have the 8600m Gt in my 1720 can i put in a 8800m gtx??
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 7th, 2009 at 12:27 pm
Thanks a lot. It helped me to reach the second RAM card!!
Great job.
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 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 ?
December 31st, 2008 at 5:33 pm
Great work – very useful, thanks a million!!!
December 13th, 2008 at 11:27 am
WOW! just what I need
December 12th, 2008 at 11:18 am
Spectacular tutorial!!! excelent work, keep it up & THANKS
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 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 3rd, 2008 at 12:52 am
Very very useful information , thanks and thanks of lots.