Taking laptop apart

[JFTS]

Hi! I have a decade-plus laptop that I'm trying to fix either for salvaging parts from it or using it as "test" platform.

The system presents all the usual traits of laptop failing, like overheating, excessive noise and random shutdowns. Also, the battery seems to have gone dead as it can't last more than 4-5 minutes. I don't have the original power cable, so I used a similar that "fit". I don't what kind of DC it used (I was lucky it didn't blow up). Nothing happened however. The laptop still shuts down. I'm going to buy an appropriate power cable and use it without the battery.

And here is my first question. I have never opened a laptop before and I'm kind of lost here. First of all, I don't know how to take the battery out without damaging the connector. Furthermore, the screw in the down, right circle is too stripped to remove with a screwdriver. How can I take it out?

Closeup on the battery. I tried to remove this plug, but it has something like a clip. How can I do this properly?

The laptop as whole:

Sorry for the large pictures. I'm not sure how can I resize them without losing their details.

I would appreciate a general "guide" to identify all the parts I see there. If such a guide already exists, please do point me there. From what I understand, older laptops like these have a different layout than more recent ones.

I plan to clean the fan and its components but I don't know how to remove them from the case frame.

 

[vskid3]

The stripped screw doesn't look bad in the picture, unless it was stripped after the picture. If it still looks like the picture, you probably just need to use a different screwdriver, one size doesn't fit all. Battery connector will probably just pull out, they look more complicated than they are.

Try googling the laptop model and see if there are any disassembly guides for it. Laptop disassebly varies with each model, so it would be difficult for us to help much with the specifics. I would just take out all the visible screws, try to remove the keyboard (they generally snap in somehow and have a couple screws from the bottom holding them in) and then remove all the screws under the keyboard. Then the edges might have snaps to hold them together, which you'll have to pop apart.

 

[JFTS]

I managed to take off the battery after I wrote the previous post. You are right. It just needs some gentle force.

As for the screw, it was damaged beyond repair. I actually tried several methods, one of which included soldering a nail on top of the screw to use it as a grip. After several attempts I gave up and just cut the plastic around it to remove the plate. I'll use electrical tape to cover the opening.

Searching for the laptop model the first thing I did, but I found nothing. I think I'm advancing quite well considering I have never done this before.

Now I will add some thermal past on the CPU, but on top of it there was this thing with the copper shielding. Is that the heatsink? Do I need to apply thermal past on it too?

Any other suggestions about this topic will be greatly appreciated.

 

[BoFoSho]

Watch and listen to that video,
Explains how to apply thermal paste well for most situations, such as yours.

 

[JFTS]

Thanks for your answer.

From what I understand, the paste doesn't need to cover the entire CPU, but it has to be spread evenly.

 

[BoFoSho]

Just put a dab on the CPU and let the pressure of the heatsink spread it.

You do not need to put any on the heatsink either, just put a tad bit on the CPU.
Make sure to clean off the previous thermal paste from both the CPU and heatsink before you apply the new.

 

[JFTS]

Okay. So, I cleaned the thermal paste and the fan, put some new paste and got a new cable to run the laptop without the battery.

When I put everything together, it work perfectly albeit it made the same noise as before. I tested a few programs and all were working without a problem. Then, I tested some DVDs to see if the drive is alright and again everything was fine. However, after 20 minutes of DVD playing, the computer shut down by itself. I turned it on again and it shut down again just after the boot screen. The same happened once more. All this time the laptop was very hot and noisy.

What is happening exactly? What couldn't go well and it still overheats? Is it something that every electronic device more or less presents after many years of use?

 

[kylerock96]

Did you plug the fan back in?

 

[kylerock96]

Did you plug the fan back in?

 

[JFTS]

Yes, I did. And it just makes the same loud noise.