- 1). Put on an antistatic wrist strap.
- 2). Power off your laptop and close the display panel. Disconnect all cables and external devices from the laptop. Place the laptop face down on a flat surface. Orient the laptop with the front edge facing toward you. Remove the battery pack from the bottom side of the laptop. The battery pack will be held in place by a release lever.
- 3). Remove the two Phillips-head screws securing the hard drive to its compartment in one of the laptop's four corners. Pull the hard drive out of its compartment, and set it aside.
- 4). Remove the Phillips-head screw securing the memory compartment cover to the center of the laptop's bottom casing. Remove the cover from the laptop. Spread the retaining latches on each side of each memory module inside the compartment. Tilt each module upward at an angle, and then pull each module from its memory slot. Store the memory modules in a static-free plastic bag.
- 5). Remove the Phillips-head screwdriver securing the CD/DVD drive to the right or left side of the laptop. Remove the drive from the laptop and set it aside.
- 6). Remove the wireless card/modem module cover from the laptop's bottom casing. The cover is held in place by one or two Phillips-head screws. Use a pair of tweezers to disconnect the two antenna cables from the wireless card. Spread the latches on each end of the card, tilt it upward and then remove the wireless card from the laptop.
- 7). Remove the two Phillips-head screws from the modem module. Lift the module out of its compartment slightly, and then disconnect the modem's cable from the motherboard. Remove the modem from the laptop.
- 8). Place the laptop face up and open the LCD screen as far as possible. Pry the keyboard's plastic bezel from the laptop with a flat-head screwdriver. The keyboard bezel is a plastic strip situated between the keyboard and display assemblies.
- 9). Remove the Phillips-head screws from behind the top row of keyboard keys. Lift the keyboard out of the laptop, and place it face down on the laptop's surface. Unplug the keyboard's large ribbon cable from the motherboard. Remove the keyboard from the laptop.
- 10
Remove any Phillips-head screws from the laptop's back panel where all the data, power and networking ports are located. Disconnect the LCD video cable extending from the right or left side of the display panel to the motherboard. Remove the Phillips-head screws from each display hinge, and then lift the display panel from the laptop's base and set it aside. - 11
Remove the EMI shield from the laptop, if present. The EMI shield is a thin metal sheet covering the motherboard. It is usually held in place by one or two Phillips-head screws. - 12
Locate the video card near the center of the motherboard. Remove the two Phillips-head screws securing it to the motherboard. Grasp the plastic tab protruding from the video card. Lift straight up on the card to disconnect the card from the motherboard. Remove the video card from the laptop. - 13
Flip the laptop's base over and then remove all screws from the bottom casing. Place the laptop's base face up again, and then remove all screws from the top casing. Then disconnect all cables attached to the motherboard from the upper casing. Carefully remove the upper casing from the laptop's base to reveal the entire motherboard. - 14
Locate the cooling fan assembly on the left or right side of the motherboard. Disconnect the fan's cable from the motherboard, and then remove the four Phillips-head screws securing the fan in place. Remove the entire fan assembly from the processor and out of the motherboard. - 15
Turn the processor's flat-head locking screw in the counterclockwise direction to disconnect it from the motherboard's processor socket. Lift the processor out of the motherboard and set it aside. - 16
Disconnect all remaining cables from the motherboard. Remove any devices that are obstructing access to the motherboard. Remove any screws or bolts from the back panel that are securing any of the power, data or networking ports to the laptop. Remove the remaining screws securing the motherboard in place. Lift the motherboard out of the laptop, and then carefully set it aside on a flat surface. - 17
Reverse this procedure to install the new motherboard and reassemble the laptop.