- 1). Ensure your computer is backed up onto the Flash BIOS update program CD. Shut down the computer. Unplug the electrical cord. Unplug any attached devices, such as a mouse or Ethernet cable. Remove the battery by sliding the battery bay release and removing the battery from the laptop. Place the Dell Inspiron 1501 onto the clean, flat work surface.
- 2). Remove the hinge cover. Open the hinge cover 180 degrees until the back of the display (the laptop's version of a monitor) lies flat against your work surface. Insert your scribe into the right side of the hinge cover. Being as careful as possible, pry the hinge cover loose. Pull the hinge cover up, shifting from left to right. Place the hinge cover out of the way on the work surface.
- 3). Remove the keyboard. Unscrew the two tiny screws you will find located at the top of your keyboard, one toward the right and one toward the left of the keyboard. Place these screws by your hinge cover. Be very careful not to lose them.
Gently lift the keyboard up. Move it forward. Locate the keyboard connector--a thin ribbon-like silver and green object that connects the keyboard to the laptop. Disconnect this cable by lifting the connector latch located by the point where the cable inserts into the laptop's system board and gently pulling the cable from the laptop. Place the keyboard on the work surface by your side. - 4). Remove the Display. Close the display and place the Dell Inspiron 1501 laptop upside down onto the work surface. Unscrew the two tiny screws located on the bottom of the computer. Unscrew the two tiny screws that secure the display from the back of the computer. Place these four screws with the previously removed screws. Ensure you do not lose these screws.
Turn the laptop right side up. Open the display. Unscrew the two tiny screws from the display hinge. Place these screws with the other screws. Remove the two antenna cables located in the display's right lower notch from the antenna cable channel. Unscrew the captive screw from the grounding wire, which is attached to the long black cord that runs from the display's lower left notch. Pull the pull tab up. The pull tab is attached to the black cord that runs from the display's lower left hand notch, and is located to the left of where you found the grounding screw. Pull the display off of the laptop. Place it to your side on the flat surface. - 5). Remove the palm rest. Turn the laptop over, so that it is upside down. Remove the remaining 11 screws from the laptop. Place them with the other screws. Turn the computer over so it is right side up. Remove the palm rest's captive screw, located in the upper center of the laptop, next to the location from which you removed the pull tab.
Remove the touch pad connector located on the upper right of the laptop. Remove the standby switch connector from the system board. The system board is the revealed circuit board in the center of the laptop. Place the touch pad connector and standby switch connector on the flat work surface. Gently lift the palm rest up and remove it from the laptop. Place it on the flat surface. - 6). Unscrew the two tiny screws securing the fan to the laptop. (The fan is the black fan located in the lower corner of the laptop.) Unplug the fan cable connector from the fan system board connector. The fan cable connectors are the red and yellow wires that run from the fan and attach to the laptop.
- 7). Place the new fan in the area where the old fan was located. Screw two screws back into the fan, securing the fan to the laptop. Insert the new fan's cable connector into the fan system board connector.
- 8). Put the laptop back together in the reverse order that you took it apart.
- 9). Turn the laptop on and let it run for a few minutes. You should hear the fan start up to cool down the system.
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