There are many reasons to open up your Dell Latitude laptop, including hardware replacement, component upgrades, curiosity, and cleaning. Learning how to disassemble your laptop can help you understand how your system functions and how components fit together. Although taking apart a Dell Latitude laptop is a complex task, it can be accomplished with minimal frustration by keeping organized, using the right tools, and carefully following the instructions.
Things You’ll Need:
Phillips screwdriver
Slotted screwdriver
1 Turn off the laptop and unplug the power Dell inspiron 9400 adapter, along with any external keyboards, mice, or speaker systems. If the laptop is connected to a docking station, disengage it and set the docking station aside.
2 Remove any installed PCMCIA cards from the PCMCIA slots, located on the side of the laptop. Disconnect any other attached devices, such as external hard drives or CD-ROM units
3 Close the display and turn the laptop upside-down. Slide and hold the battery-bay latch, and then slide the battery out of the laptop. Use the Phillips screwdriver to remove all screws, starting with the screws holding the square memory module/modem cover in place. Remove the cover. Remove the memory module (the green and black chip that is 6.7 cm by 3.1 cm) by spreading apart the securing clips with your fingertips until the module pops up, and then pull out the module. Remove the screw holding the modem (the white plastic-covered card labeled “MODEM”) in place and lift up on the pull-tab to disconnect the modem from the system board. Disconnect the small cable on the side of the modem and set the modem aside. Remove the two screws that hold the hard drive in place (located along the same edge as the battery bay), and then slide the hard drive out of the computer.
4 Turn the laptop back over and open the display so it lies flat. Using the slotted screwdriver, carefully lift up the notched edge of the control cover and gently pry it loose from the laptop. The control cover is the strip of plastic that runs above the keyboard and has the power switch on it.
5 Remove the two screws that hold the keyboard in place. Use the pull-tab to pull the sony np-fs11 battery keyboard up and away from the laptop. The keyboard will still be attached to the system board by a ribbon cable. Rest the keyboard face-down on the palm rest, then pull straight up on the pull-tab that is attached to the end of the keyboard ribbon cable, disconnecting it from the system board. Set the keyboard aside.
6 Remove the two screws next to each display hinge (four screws total). Remove the two screws that attach the display ribbon cable end onto the system board, then pull up on the display ribbon cable pull-tab, disconnecting it from the system board. The entire display assembly can now be lifted up and pulled away from the laptop.
7 Turn the computer over so it is upside-down and remove the nine screws located near the edge of the laptop. Remove the two screws located in the battery bay.
8 Turn the computer back over again and remove the four screws that hold the palm rest in place. These screws can be tricky to find. The first screw is located just above the touchpad. The second screw can be found just to the right of the Mini-PCI card. The third screw is at the top-right corner of the memory module that sits under the keyboard (which is just above the touchpad). The fourth screw is in the top-left corner of where the keyboard normally rests.
9 Disconnect the speaker connector, touchpad ribbon cable, and ZIF ribbon cable from the system board.
10 Turn the laptop upside-down again. There are four tabs located in the battery bay that clip the palm rest assembly to the bottom case and system board. Disengage these clips with the tip of the slotted canon bp-511 battery screwdriver.
11Turn the laptop over again, so the palm rest faces up. The entire palm rest assembly should easily detach from the bottom casing, enabling access to the system board and all other major system components.
