Learn to correctly replace your Dell Latitude D600 laptop's motherboard.
Your laptop's motherboard is the single most important piece of hardware inside your computer. It is the main circuit board where all hardware devices and components are connected to your computer. Without it, you don't have a computer, but a pile of computer parts. Replacing your Dell Latitude D600's motherboard is a task that should not be taken lightly. You will have to locate and remove all hardware connected to the motherboard. It is easy to damage your computer's most delicate hardware in this process.
Instructions
1. Turn off your computer, and then disconnect the AC power adapter. Locate and disconnect all remaining cables and/or miscellaneous external devices from your laptop. Close the LCD screen until it snaps shut. Place the laptop face down over a flat work surface and position it with the front edge facing forward.
2. Locate the battery compartment in the bottom left corner of the bottom casing. Slide the battery release latch to the left. Remove the battery pack from its compartment. Set it to the side.
3. Locate the small CMOS battery compartment inside the empty battery pack compartment. Press on the CMOS compartment's locking latch, and then remove the cover from inside the main battery compartment. Pull the CMOS battery out of its compartment, while disconnecting the battery cable from its connector inside the compartment. Set the CMOS battery to the side.
4. Locate the memory compartment cover near the center of the laptop's bottom casing. Remove the single Phillips-head screw securing the cover in place. Remove the cover from the laptop. Remove the two RAM modules from inside the compartment by spreading the retaining latches on either side of each module. Then tilt each module at an angle, and pull each module out of its respective memory slot.
5. Locate the wireless card cover next to the empty memory compartment. Remove the Phillips-head screw securing the cover in place, and then remove the cover from the laptop. Disconnect the two antenna cables from the wireless card, and then remove it from its slot the same way you removed the RAM modules.
6. Locate the hard drive compartment in the upper left corner of the bottom casing. Remove the two Phillips-head screws securing it in place, and then pull it out of the hard drive compartment and set it aside.
7. Place the laptop face up and open the LCD screen until it is in the 180-degree position. Insert a small, flat-head screwdriver into the keyboard cover's right side. The keyboard cover is a thin protective plastic strip spanning the width of the laptop between the LCD screen and keyboard. Pry the cover from the laptop's upper casing and set it aside.
8. Remove the two Phillips-head screws revealed by the keyboard cover. Grasp the top edge of the keyboard assembly and tilt it upward until the keyboard's ribbon cable is visible on the keyboard's bottom side. Disconnect the ribbon cable from its connector on the motherboard. Remove the keyboard from the laptop.
9. Locate the LCD video cable extending from the screen's left side. Disconnect the cable from its connector on the motherboard. Remove the Phillips-head screws from each LCD hinge. Carefully lift the LCD screen assembly off of the laptop's base and set it aside.
10. Place the laptop's base face down. Remove all Phillips-head screws from the laptop's bottom casing. Place the laptop face up again, and then remove the remaining Phillips-head screws securing the top casing in place. Locate and disconnect the touchpad cable from the motherboard. The touchpad cable is a small, ribbon cable connected to the motherboard just above the touchpad device. Remove the top casing from the laptop base and set it aside.
11. Locate the cooling assembly in the upper left corner of the motherboard. The heat sink is a large piece of metal with two copper pipes coming out of it. Remove the four Phillips-head screws securing it to the motherboard. Lift the heat sink out of the motherboard and set it aside. Removing the heat sink will reveal the processor chip.
12. Turn the processor's flat-head locking screw in the counterclockwise direction until the processor is unlocked from its socket. Remove the processor from the motherboard and set it aside.
13. Remove the two remaining Phillips-head screws securing the motherboard in place. Carefully lift the old motherboard out of the laptop's base, and set it aside.
14. Repeat this procedure in reverse to install the replacement motherboard.
Tags: Phillips-head screws, from laptop, Remove Phillips-head, battery compartment, bottom casing