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In this guide I’ll explain how to take apart an Acer Aspire 5100 laptop. I’ll show how to remove and replace major laptop components such as CD/DVD drive, memory, hard drive, wireless card, cooling fan and keyboard.
In the next article I’ll explain how to remove LCD screen and replace inverter board.
First of all, make sure the laptop is turned off, the power adapter is disconnected and the battery is removed.
Both memory modules, wireless card, cooling and and hard drive can be accessed from the bottom. Remove four screws marked with red circles and loosen two screws marked with green circles. Remove both covers.
You can search for Acer Aspire 5100 spare parts here.
Removing DVD drive:
1. Remove one screw (red circle) securing the drive.
2. Push the drive from the laptop with a flathead screwdriver.
3. Pull the drive form the laptop.
Removing hard drive:
1. Pull the hard drive to the right side until it’s disconnected from the motherboard.
2. Lift up the hard drive.
If you are replacing the hard drive with a new one, you’ll have to transfer the mounting bracket to a new drive.
My laptop had a 80GB 5400RPM SATA hard drive installed. You can upgrade it to a larger and faster SATA drive.
100GB, 120GB, 160GB and 250GB SATA drives should work just fine in this laptop.
Removing laptop memory:
1. Carefully spread latches on both sides of the memory module until it pops up at a 30 degree angle.
2. Pull the memory module by the edges.
Acer Aspire 5100 has two memory slots. You can install up to 4GB RAM total. Up to 2GB memory module into each slot. You should use PC2-533 DDR2-667MHz 200pin SODIMM RAM modules.
Removing wireless card:
1. Disconnect both antenna cables. Grab the antenna cable connector with your fingers and unsnap it from the connector on the wireless card.
2. Spread latches on both sides of the wireless card same way as you did with RAM modules.
3. When the wireless card pops up at a 30 degree angle, pull it from the slot by the edges. Remove wireless card.
Removing cooling fan:
1. Remove two screws securing the fan.
2. Carefully disconnect fan cable from the motherboard.
3. Lift up and remove the fan.
My laptop had a lot of dust trapped between the fan and heatsink. This dust buildup kills normal airflow inside the cooling module and causes laptop overheating. You can blow off dust using canned air.
Here’s how you can replace thermal paste between the heatsink and CPU.
Removing laptop keyboard.
In the following steps I’ll explain how to disconnect and remove the keyboard.
1. Lift up the keyboard bezel with a flathead screwdriver as it shown on the picture below.
2. Remove keyboard bezel.
3. Remove two screws securing the keyboard.
4. Carefully lift up the keyboard, it’s still attached to the motherboard.
5. The keyboard is connected to the motherboard via a flat ribbon cable. Before you can remove the keyboard, you’ll have to unlock the connector and release the cable.
6. Carefully move the black tab about 1-2 millimeters up with your fingernails as it shown on the picture below.
DO NOT SEPARATE THIS TAB FROM THE CONNECTOR, IT HAS TO STAY ATTACHED TO THE CONNECTOR.
If you break the keyboard connector, you’ll have to replace the whole motherboard. Be careful.
7. Now you can release the cable and remove the keyboard.
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April 1st, 2010 at 11:17 am
Eddie,
If you replaced the power adapter but the problem still exists, there must be something wrong with the DC-IN power jack or motherboard itself. Replacing the motherboard should take care of the problem.
April 1st, 2010 at 9:51 am
rajko,
Do you have only one memory module installed? It’s possible that this module is bad, so moving it to another slot will not help.
You’ll have to find another known good memory module and test the laptop.
If new module doesn’t help, most likely this is the motherboard failure.
April 1st, 2010 at 2:18 am
.Hi again,
i tryed with external monitor but screen is black. Tried to remove memory module and put in second slot, also nothing… still cant boot
Maybe this will help: when my laptop ”died” i connected external HDD and maybe some electrical shock happened :S so my guess is that motherboard is problem. In computer service said me also that but i think that they didnt checked that at all. this is second time when my screen was blank, first time i removed battery and left laptop for 1-2 hour and than all was ok. but now it isnt !
help please
March 31st, 2010 at 11:11 am
rajko,
Take a closer look at the laptop screen. Is is completely black or you still can see a very faint image?
Test your laptop with an external monitor. Can you get video on the external monitor? If not, it’s possible you have memory failure.
Try reseating memory modules. Try removing memory modules one by one and test the laptop with only one memory module (either one) installed.
March 31st, 2010 at 10:56 am
Tanya,
Not sure 100% but possible memory (RAM) failure.
Do you have two memory modules installed? Try removing them one by one and test the laptop with each memory module separately. It’s very unlikely that both modules failed at the same time.
The laptop might start properly when the bad memory module is removed.
March 30th, 2010 at 4:57 am
I have an acer aspire 5100 when i turn it on i either get 2 short beeps and i get a blk screen saying some message with f1 and f2 as an option or it will go to a blank blk screen. every now and a again i can get it running. what is going on with this thing?
March 29th, 2010 at 6:05 am
Hi,
i have same problem as ” DOJA”. laptop is acer aspire 5101 ANWLMi and when i turn it on the screen is black!!! fan and main light are working. any suggestions?
March 28th, 2010 at 6:00 am
Am very thankfull to u ur screen shots solved my problem. Thank u very much.
March 24th, 2010 at 9:54 pm
I having problem with my acer 5100, they said they changed the mother board which is the problem, acording to them. but still dealing with it. it does not pass power to the unit, neither charges the battery, but some times works ok, I change the power cord as well. also gets overheating even with a cooling pad under the pcu and when this happens I have no control over the mouse, actives different comands by itself, may you have an idea what’s going on?
March 18th, 2010 at 6:46 am
I have been given a 5100 (neighbour was gonna heave it out the window) told me of a problem on the left mouse-button and keyboard. I checked the laptop for damage, and then confirmed the ribbon-cable on the keyboard was seated properly – zero response from the keyboard on boot (neighbour kept his SATA HD) – is there a way to confirm it’s the keyboard that’s in need of replacement? dont wanna start throwing money at this if the keyboard isnt the problem.
March 18th, 2010 at 4:41 am
Hey
I have a Acer Aspire 5100 running on Windows XP Home Edition. Left my laptop on for a few days ( i know this not a good idea). Came back to it and when I moved the mouse to get it off the screensaver, the whole thing froze. Resorted to switching it off by the on/off button. On reboot, it got as far as the windows xp loading icon and then screen went blank. Noticed that the edges of the keyboard was extremely hot, felt like I’d burnt my finger it was so hot. Anyway, checked the hdd in another computer and it seems to be fine, however on loading the computer again after checking the hdd, there was nothing, just a blank screen. I think it could be the motherboard that has gone. If so, could you tell me whether or not it is worth getting it repaired or simply to get another laptop
cheers
March 17th, 2010 at 3:45 pm
hi i have an acer 5680 and when i turn it on the screens white with colored lines on it cant see anything else have had the screen tested and changed the inverter but still the problems the same
do i need to change the whole of the motherboard or can i just change the graphics card as i have been told that would sort it many thanks in advance
March 17th, 2010 at 3:19 pm
I HAVE A ACER ASPIRE 5100 LAPTOP WHEN SWITCH ON THE SCREEN IS BLACK . I HAVE IT OVER 2 YEARS, NO PROBLEMS UNTIL 2 DAYS AGO. THE MAINS LIGHT IS ON & FANS SEEMS TO BE WORKING, APART FROM THAT IT WILL NOT BOOT UP. PLEASE HELP ME
March 16th, 2010 at 4:01 pm
Re: media test failure
In my experience, if you have confirmed there are no loose connections, the cause is usually due to a faulty HDD.
You might want to try these other tests first, before comfirming the worst…
http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000229.htm
Hope this helps.
March 15th, 2010 at 7:13 am
I’ve got exactly same problem Jeff…
“intel undi, pxe-2.0 (build 082)
copyright (c) 1997-2000 intel corporation
for realtek tyl8139(x)/8130/810x pci fast ethernet controller v2.13(020326)
then it blinks
pxe-e61: media test failure, check cable
pxe-m0f: exiting pxe rom.”
But I can’t find solution to it… I took my laptop apart to llok for some loose connectors or liquid damage of some kind but i couldn’t find anything. There’s something wrong with connections from hdd to motherboard definitely.
March 14th, 2010 at 2:58 pm
CONTINUATION OF PREVIOUS POSTS:
After lots of research and dismantling, days, I have found that ATI IXP 460 must have gotten hot at some point – the clear plastic above it is partially melted/glued to it and there is even a small melted dent at the bottom edge of the keyboard, to the left of the touchpad.
So, the chip is the culprit.
I spent all my money on this laptop… is it really GONE?? is there any way how to make it work?? If not – can I make the laptop work partially at least? (with some very old system, or external keyboard, etc…)
THanks a lot
Petr
And, Thank You guys for having such a wonderful forum – I have found here info I never dreamt existed.
March 13th, 2010 at 6:25 pm
Hello i have had my aspire 5100 for a few years now i bought it brand new from circuit city after i graduated high school and its worked fine but lately it has had a problem with starting up when i power it up it shows the aser loading screen then goes to a black screen that says
intel undi, pxe-2.0 (build 082)
copyright (c) 1997-2000 intel corporation
for realtek tyl8139(x)/8130/810x pci fast ethernet controller v2.13(020326)
then it blinks
pxe-e61: media test failure, check cable
pxe-m0f: exiting pxe rom.
Was just curious if anyone had a clue what was wrong with it or how i could fix it. i had my brother in law look at it and he said one of the soter points was broke on the board and there was probably no fixing it but i was just curious if anyone had experienced this before and if they were able to fix it or if im outta luck and am going to be in search of a new laptop. thanks for the help.
March 13th, 2010 at 6:29 am
If it can help… SuSE version was 7.1, and it froze when installing glibc, The Shared Libraries. Petr
March 13th, 2010 at 4:56 am
THank You SO MUCH for the reply! Unfortunately, I did not look here, I though I’d get a notification email… Stupid me. So, I did by the laptop, and indeed I am lost now.
Again, it is Acer Aspire 5100. When I got it, it booted XP SP2, but froze fully after about 20 seconds after displaying desktop. DUring that time, I could move the mouse, open programs etc – everything looks perfect… but after that, nothing, freeze. It did this every single time, even in safe mode.
I tried to install new windows. First XP SP3, then SP2. In both cases, it started loading things from CD, and froze exactly at the moment when it showed a message: starting windows now… (so it was installing for about 2 minutes). Then, it froze completely again.
THen, I tried to install perhaps 8 years old linux (SuSe 7). It formatted the disk… and froze later during the installation. I tried to boot – it shows a nice picture of a penquin, starts booting, checks the disk… and freezes later on again.
Now with the formatted disk I tried to install windows again – and it freezes in 2 minutes again. Exactly at “starting windows”.
Help! THank You, Petr
March 11th, 2010 at 2:09 am
Hi,
I’m looking to buy a used motherboard for a 5101AWLMi – do you know whether a board advertised as HCW51 L02 will fit?
Any help will be much appreciated.
Thanks.
March 3rd, 2010 at 10:04 pm
Petr,
I wouldn’t buy this laptop. Sounds like a possible problem with the motherboard/video card. Safe your money for a working laptop instead.
March 3rd, 2010 at 2:52 pm
I read with a hope Your responses – You might know how to help me…
I want to buy ACER ASPIRE 5100. They say that it hangs during the welcome screen of XP. THey reinstalled the XP (that means that the RAM and HD are OK, right?) – and it does the same thing. SHould I buy it? Any chance to fix it?
THank You A LOT!!!!
Petr
March 2nd, 2010 at 12:04 pm
ritesh said:
Chris said:
According to Windows developer center, physical memory limit for Vista 32-bit is 4GB, take a look here:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa366778%28VS.85%29.aspx
I’m not sure why you can see only 2GB, maybe some kind of Software/hardware limitations.
Are you running Service Pack 1? If not, try upgrading to SP1.
March 2nd, 2010 at 10:42 am
i upgraded my 2gb ram to 4gb – 2X2gb ram same kinds…..well it sees 3800mb in bios but will only see 2gb in vista 32bit….anything that you know might help me….thanx
32bit only supports up to 2, you need to get a 64 bit version or try updating your BIOS. Or just switch to windows 7 and solve a lot of problems
March 2nd, 2010 at 7:45 am
I need the drivers for akhter computer laptop m621 uc can you help me please? thanks
February 27th, 2010 at 11:43 am
Jason,
From my experience, CPU failures are not as common as motherboard failures. If you don’t know which one is causing the problem, I would definitely try replacing the motherboard first.
But first of all, check the memory. It’s possible one of the memory modules is bad on not seated correctly.
Here’s what I would try:
1. Try reconnecting memory modules, try installing them one by one in different slots and test the laptop.
2. If you have only one memory module installed, try replacing it with known good memory.
If reseating/replacing memory modules doesn’t help and the laptop doesn’t start, most likely this is the motherboard failure. Try replacing the motherboard.
February 26th, 2010 at 10:59 pm
If the fan isn’t spinning and your screen does not come on, only the green power light, the likely cause is a fried processor. When the fan stopped spinning, the processor overheated causing failure. There is a chance the motherboard circuitry could have been damaged in the process as well.
February 19th, 2010 at 5:05 pm
Hey,
my Acer Aspire 5000 fan doesn’t spin. When i turn it on the green button light comes on but my screen is completely blank and my fan doesn’t spin my sister said the fan melted a bit but i don’t know. Do you know something that might help me?
February 19th, 2010 at 11:08 am
i upgraded my 2gb ram to 4gb – 2X2gb ram same kinds…..well it sees 3800mb in bios but will only see 2gb in vista 32bit….anything that you know might help me….thanx
February 15th, 2010 at 7:08 pm
There is a small piece of hard rubber inserted between an air inlet and the fan. How important is it that the rubber piece be kept in place? Is that so large items are not introduced into the computer or for another reason?