Learn to take apart your Dell laptop.
Just like any laptop, at some point your laptop's hardware may have to be upgraded or replaced. This means you must have a solid understanding of dismantle your laptop correctly. Most of the basic hardware in your Dell laptop can be accessed without disassembling your laptop too much. If you plan on removing anything major, such as the processor or video card, you will have completely take apart the computer.
Instructions
1. Shut down your laptop using its current operating system. Most Dell laptops operate a Windows OS of some sort. Close the display panel. Disconnect all cables and devices from the laptop. Remove the battery pack. It is never a good idea to work on your laptop with any type of power source connected. Allow 10 to 20 minutes for your laptop to cool down before proceeding.
2. Place your laptop face-down. Remove the hard drive from its compartment. The hard drive's location varies from laptop to laptop. It will be in one of the four corners on the bottom casing assembly, and will be secured in place by two Phillips screws.
3. Remove the memory compartment's plastic cover, and its retaining screws from the center of the bottom casing. Remove the memory modules from inside the compartment. Each module is secured in place by two retaining clips.
4. Locate and remove the modem/wireless card compartment on the laptop's bottom casing. Remove the screws securing the modem card inside the compartment. Lift it out of the compartment slightly, and then disconnect its cable from the motherboard. Remove the modem from the laptop.
5. Disconnect the two antenna cables from the wireless card. Spread the retaining clips on each side of the card. Tilt it upward, and remove the card from the laptop.
6. Remove the Phillips screws securing the CD/DVD drive in place. In a few Dell models, there is a release lever inside the memory compartment that ejects the CD/DVD drive from its compartment. Pull the drive from its compartment. Remove all unmarked screws from the laptop's bottom casing.
7. Place the laptop face-up, and open the display panel as far as you can. Pry the plastic keyboard strip from the laptop with a flat-head screwdriver. The keyboard strip is a thin piece of plastic spanning the width of the laptop above the keyboard.
8. Remove the screws securing the keyboard in place. The screws are above the keyboard's top row of keys. Place the keyboard face-down on the laptop's surface. Unplug the keyboard's ribbon cable from the motherboard. Remove the keyboard from the laptop.
9. Disconnect the cables extending from each side of the display panel to the motherboard. Generally, the LCD video cable extends from the left side of the screen, while the camera, Wi-Fi antenna and/or microphone cables extend from the right. Remove the Phillips screws from each display hinge. Carefully remove the display panel from the laptop's base.
10. Remove the EMI shield, and its single retaining screw. The EMI shield is a thin sheet of metal covering the motherboard. Remove the Phillips screws securing the video card to the center of the motherboard. Grasp the pull-tab extending from it. Lift the video card straight up and out of the motherboard.
11. Remove all Phillips screws securing the laptop's top casing to the base. Disconnect the touchpad cable from its connector above the touchpad device on the motherboard. Carefully lift the top casing from the laptop's base.
12. Loosen the four Phillips screws securing the fan assembly to the motherboard. Disconnect the fan's power cable from the computer. Lift the fan from the processor chip, and set it aside.
13. Wipe the excess thermal grease from the processor's surface. Unlock the processor from its motherboard socket. Most Dell processors are secured in place by a single locking flat-head screw. Remove the processor from the motherboard.
14. Repeat this procedure in reverse to reassemble the laptop.
Tags: from laptop, your laptop, Phillips screws, screws securing, bottom casing, cable from, display panel