DIY hp laptop repair

In detail: do-it-yourself hp laptop repair from a real wizard for the site my.housecope.com.

Previously, having a laptop at home, in addition to an ordinary stationary PC, was considered almost a luxury. Today this is a common thing, but lately one can observe a slight decline in interest in laptops in favor of tablets and smartphones ...

However, contrary to all forecasts, it is still too early to “write off” portable computers, but it’s not a pity to repair them, but sometimes you have to ...

Any technique tends to become outdated and break down. And the more complex it is, the more often it will demand attention to itself. Unfortunately, laptops are no exception in this regard ...

clogging of the cooling system with household waste and (as a result) overheating of the processor;
mechanical damage to the motherboards and LCD matrices of the monitor as a result of drops or sudden changes in voltage in the network (if the laptop is used as a stationary working PC powered from an outlet);
chafing or burnout of loops of the keyboard, touchpad and monitor;
the ingress of liquids into the laptop (as a result of a short circuit, anything can burn out);
failure of any components (hard drive, RAM, WiFi module, etc.).

As you can see, there can be quite a few reasons for repair. In addition, the need to open the laptop may also be caused by the desire to make a planned upgrade with the addition of, for example, a new RAM strip or a more powerful processor.

To disassemble a laptop at home, we need at least two screwdrivers: a small Phillips screwdriver for unscrewing the screws securing the case and parts, and a thin flat one for neatly opening the case.

Step 1. It is worth starting disassembling any laptop by disconnecting it from the network, turning it over and disconnecting the battery. So, firstly, we will completely de-energize the device (accordingly, we will avoid a short circuit), and secondly, we will open access to the case locks (in some models, a pair of case screws may be hidden under the battery). To remove the battery, you usually need to simultaneously pull the floating clips in different directions and pull the battery towards you.

Video (click to play).

Step 2. Next, we carefully study the location of the screws that hold the case and keyboard. Usually the latter are marked with the inscription "kbd" and there are from three to seven of them. The rest of the screws (which are not marked in any way) will be body screws and they will need to be unscrewed in order to disassemble the laptop.

At this stage, the main thing is to remember which screw and where it was, since they come in different lengths and with different thread runs! For this, a special plastic sorter with several compartments would be ideal. However, the cogs can be easily arranged in groups and on an ordinary white sheet of A4 paper. The main thing is that you remember where each of them comes from!

Step 3. When everything is unscrewed, we take a flat screwdriver with a thin sting in our hands and find a place where you can insert it into the gap between the bottom and top covers of the laptop case. We do this carefully so as not to gouge the plastic. When the place is found, push the screwdriver slightly up and down alternately to create a lever. As a rule, after pressing in the right direction, the plastic clips inside are released and the case will begin to open.

In the same way, we go through the entire perimeter of the case with a screwdriver. As a result, we should get a neatly removed undamaged bottom cover and access to the motherboard and laptop parts.

In order not to damage the cover, you need to remember one single rule: "DO NOT USE HIGH FORCE when pushing the screwdriver."

Step 4. After removing all large parts, carefully inspect the motherboard and unscrew the screws that remained unscrewed. At the same time, you do not need to unscrew the screws of the heatsink that cools the processor (unless you are going to change it or lubricate it with new thermal paste).

Step 5. When everything is unscrewed, the last step remains - disconnect the loops.

In our experimental netbook, after unscrewing all the screws that held the motherboard, the only "fasteners" were the cables:

monitor cable;
sound loop;
touchpad loop;
keyboard loop.

The easiest way is to turn off the audio and video loops. They are simply pulled out of the socket with a flat screwdriver (pulling by the wires is undesirable). Gently pry on alternately on both sides and slowly pull it out.

The situation with the touchpad loop is a little more complicated. It is pressed by a plug that needs to be pulled out. However, this plug has two small tendrils on the sides that hold it in position. So as not to break these antennae, first slightly drown them, and only then pull them out.

The last step is to disable the keyboard. In principle, this can be done without disassembling the entire laptop. It is enough just to unscrew the screws marked "kbd" and the keyboard can already be pulled out. First, you need to pry it off with a thin screwdriver from above. Then, when the top edge is free, slightly pull the keyboard upward until the bottom edge pops out of the tabs. Now, everything is held only by the cable, which must be disconnected from the motherboard:

The fastening of the keyboard cable may be different on different laptops. These can be plugs (as described in the case of the touchpad), pressure plates or simple plugs. In order to properly disconnect and not break, always use a search query such as "how to remove the keyboard on a laptop (your model)".

In the case of the Samsung N145 netbook, we are dealing with a tricky clamping mechanism that is very similar to a regular plug. To open this mechanism, you just need to pull it up, after which the cable will be released and we can pull it out.

When the cover is safely removed, you can take a closer look at the internal structure of the laptop:

Inside, the following components will definitely be present:

motherboard to which all parts are attached;
hard drive (usually 2.5-inch SATA or SSD);
one or several strips of RAM (in modern systems, most often DDR3 of a reduced form factor);
a processor with (most often) an air cooling system under a copper radiator;
speakers.

Optionally may also be present:

video card (usually in laptops of middle and higher price categories);
WiFi, Bluetooth, NFC and / or infrared module for wireless connection of peripherals and devices;
various expansion cards, such as card readers, additional USB 3.0 or FireWire ports, etc.

Already at this stage of disassembly, we have access to almost all components that can be replaced, so we can no longer disassemble. Just change the part that requires it and you can collect everything as it was.

Before disassembling the laptop completely, please note that in some models, special revision holes may be provided on the back of the case to access components such as RAM, hard drive, expansion ports, etc. These openings are usually covered with a small cover that attaches to the case with just one screw and allows easy access to the part without having to open the entire case.

The memory card itself can be held in laptops either using a special clamping bar (which needs to be pushed aside), or (as in our case) due to two clamping metal plates on the sides. The latter are rigidly fixed, but can slightly bend away from the memory bar. Accordingly, to release it, you must simultaneously squeeze out both pressure plates. The board is inserted back with light pressure until the latches click.

The BIOS battery can be of interest if you begin to notice that your laptop does not start up the first time or even stops loading beyond the startup black screen. In this case, it may well be that the problem is in a dead battery that needs to be replaced.

Alas, replacing the BIOS battery in a laptop is much more troublesome than in a regular PC, since it is not connected directly to a special socket, but through an adapter. The easiest, but also the most expensive way is to buy a similar fully assembled battery with an adapter and an adhesive part to fix it on the motherboard. But there is also a more budgetary solution.

If there is no ready-made battery or it is indecently expensive, you can make it yourself. To do this, remove the old one and free it from the black insulation to gain access to the wiring. Next, take a new battery of the same type and attach the removed wiring to it (red is usually a plus, and black is a minus).

To keep the wires and to insulate the battery itself, it is best to place the resulting structure in a heat-shrink tube of a suitable diameter. So we get an almost perfect adhesion of contacts without soldering and an appearance, almost like in the original. It is easiest to glue the resulting structure to its rightful place on thin double-sided tape.

We take a close look at our motherboard for the screws that still hold it in place. Two of them are found on the hard drive brackets. We unscrew them and carefully take out the hard drive itself:

In laptops, hard drives are usually attached to the motherboard using a special "basket", which is fixed to the case with four screws, and connected to the motherboard using a special ribbon cable. To, for example, replace the hard drive with a new one (more productive or capacious), you just need to disconnect (again carefully) the cable plug from the old one, after which, when the old hard drive is already in our hands, remove it from the "basket" and replace on new.

Another screw that might prevent the motherboard from being removed can be located on the WiFi wireless module. Even if the retaining screw is not there, then this module will still have to be disconnected, since two wires go from it to the antenna, which is located in the display case.

When assembling, we repeat all our actions in reverse order. This is where the photos that you took during disassembly (if you took them) and correctly sorted screws can come in handy. When you put on the case cover, do not rush to immediately screw it on. Tighten only the screws holding the keyboard and try to start the laptop.

If the operating system boots, then try turning on the regular Notepad and test the keyboard's operation by typing all the letters on it one by one. And only if everything works as it should, you can turn off the laptop and tighten the rest of the screws. Congratulations on your successful build!

As you can see, everyone can disassemble, replace the part and reassemble their laptop!
If you work carefully and thoughtfully, then everything will work out for you!

Solar power plant - a modern way of supplying electricity to our home. The question of using alternative energy sources arises for many. And this is not surprising, because the constant rise in electricity prices makes people think about it more and more often.So the question arises: why not use free inexhaustible natural resources - wind, sun, water? Let's talk today about solar energy, or rather a solar power plant.

So the fermentation ended ... the mash turned into a wash. Now it is necessary to distill the mash and separate the alcohol from other substances.

The process of separating alcohol from the wash is called - distillation or alcohol stripping process. (article for persons +18!)

When building any circuits (transmitter, receiver, metal detector, etc.) for radio amateurs, it is necessary to make a coil. In foreign circuits, wire sizes (and not only wires, but also pipes, rods, etc.) are often found in obscure units in SWG, AWG, BWG, In.

To convert readings to more familiar millimeters for us, you can use the tables below:

You can fix most common laptop problems yourself. A collection of articles-guides on electronics repair will help to eliminate various breakdowns and solve a number of problems without contacting a service center.

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It is a pity, but even the most modern and technically advanced device cannot work flawlessly all the time. Even with proper and careful operation, your computer or laptop can break down.

Then the time comes to think about the question: "Is it possible to repair an hp laptop with your own hands?" It is indeed possible to fix some breakdowns on your own, but keep in mind that if your laptop is under warranty, then with this type of repair, the warranty period will automatically be canceled.

One of the first "disease symptoms" of this technique can be periodic "freezes" or shutdowns. The reason for this malfunction usually lies in an OS failure, which you can reinstall yourself. Just take care of a high-quality and licensed installation disc in order to avoid malware infection of your laptop and ensure it works correctly. If the installation of the new OS has not yielded results and malfunctions continue, it is possible that the clogging of the cooling system with dust and small debris is to blame. The process of cleaning the laptop fan can be done by yourself, at home. The main thing is to do everything carefully and slowly. This will be the key to a successful “patient rescue operation”.

Almost any laptop repair involves disassembling the case. Here it is necessary to act with the utmost care and precision. Be sure to remember the location of each screw and screw! If you tighten them incorrectly during assembly, you can damage the motherboard or ribbon cable. Once you have disassembled the case, you can start removing the hard drive or keyboard. With your own hands, it is really possible to purge the internals of the laptop from dust, clean or completely replace the cooler. You can replace a sunken key on the keyboard or carry out resuscitation measures after pouring tea or coffee.

For any repairs, be sure to turn off the power and remove the battery from the device. This will protect you from electrical shock and protect your laptop from possible system short circuits. Don't try to repair the battery! At home, this is almost impossible. And in the service center, they often offer to replace the battery with a new one. If you have any doubts about your own abilities, contact a specialized company for help, where experienced craftsmen will provide you with quality assistance.

A failed laptop does not always need to be taken to a workshop.Some minor faults can be repaired by yourself, and the professionals will advise what you should pay attention to.

Laptops are increasingly outperforming conventional PCs. They are so popular due to the fact that the whole computer with all the peripherals and the battery is housed in a compact case. However, the laptop's high degree of integration makes it more prone to crashes and makes repairs difficult.

The situation is aggravated by the trend of creating thinner and lighter laptops: instead of standard elements, special or soldered to the motherboard components are used, the screws loved by repairmen are replaced with glue, and the lightest design is rarely durable. That is why many laptop owners do not dare to repair their devices on their own. Considering the significant costs and significant repair time performed by the manufacturer's service department, you will often think about purchasing a new device.

In this case, many faults can be eliminated independently or contact one of the many workshops that can be found in any city via the Internet. If a workshop has few negative reviews, it might be worth checking out its website. If the conditions suit you, then it makes sense to call the foreman or come to the office yourself: it is easier to explain the essence of the malfunction in personal communication, when you have the opportunity to see the interlocutor.

The loyalty of the workshop to the customer is evidenced by free diagnostics or provision of preliminary cost estimates. If the workshop takes payment for them, then it, at least, should be taken into account in the subsequent calculation of repair work. We visited the Zeklink workshop in Munich, looked at the work of professionals and now reveal the best tips for home repairs.

Typical faults, diagnostic methods and chances of repair are listed in the table above. If, for example, your device does not work at all - there is no image, the cooler does not make noise, and the LEDs do not light up, the reason may be a faulty power button or problems with the power supply system (battery / connector). Whether the problem can be solved at home or whether you have to carry the laptop to the workshop depends on the cause of the problem.

The tasks facing the workshop are very diverse, from refurbishing a five-year-old retailer-branded laptop that a user has customized and still wants to use, to a near-new MacBook Pro that has been treated to a latte. and which the owner needs in the shortest possible time.

The manufacturer's service department is often slow to act, and the warranty may not work. “The most common failures are hard drives, displays and hinges,” says Padrek McGrath, owner of the Zeklink workshop. Nevertheless, some people come to the workshops, for example, because of a faulty battery, which is very easy to replace yourself.

Finding the right service workshop

The advantage of a workshop located in your area is that you get an immediate picture of it, and the technician can directly inspect the device in a personal conversation and determine the malfunction. In addition, you do not have to pay for shipping and the repair time is reduced.

If the conditions are attractive, the consultation was carried out at the right level and there are few negative reviews on the Internet (treat them with caution, such reviews can be left by competitors), then why not place an order. If your hard drive contains sensitive or important data, talk with a workshop technician whether you should back up yourself or remove and save the drive if the problem is not with the drive.

Michael Tucempski, Chief Technology Officer at Zeklink, explains that there is a huge difference between the propensity of laptops to malfunction and their repairability: “Business devices such as Lenovo ThinkPad, Dell Latitude and HP EliteBook, as well as Apple MacBook Pro released before 2015 years, are durable, maintainable and have established channels for the supply of spare parts. "

On the other hand, there are problems with a whole series of devices: for example, the Asus UX31, which has excellent performance, is very thin and prone to various malfunctions. Also, Lenovo laptops with new flat connectors (as opposed to standard round connectors) and Samsung X900, which often fail display hinges, often come to workshops.

Any laptop that ends up in Zeklink is logged with a precise description of the problem. Let's consider a typical problem of a four-year-old laptop: the cooler is constantly working, but the system "slows down" and hangs and reboots when performing resource-intensive tasks. It is likely that the cooler is clogged. Cleaning it is similar to a cardiac surgery, as it requires completely disassembling and reassembling the internal mechanisms.

When a computer lands on the desk of Chief Technical Officer Michael Tucempski, he starts in much the same way as a layman. However, he has fifteen years of rich experience behind him and thousands of refurbished laptops. In addition, he has a large arsenal of tools and measuring devices on his "workbench". The workplace is the first thing to pay attention to when carrying out repairs at home: the surface must be free of dust (no cloth tablecloths) and well lit.

It is recommended that you touch the radiator, window handles or similar objects several times before and during repairs to avoid damaging the electronics from static electricity. Along with the appropriate set of tools (Phillips screwdrivers of various sizes, guitar pick or flat plastic spatula), a small amount of thermal paste is also required.

Determining the method and sequence of dismantling, a professional relies on his own experience, which you, as an amateur, do not have. Therefore, before starting the repair, it is necessary to collect as much information as possible. There are video tutorials available on YouTube for repairing a wide variety of laptop types, which can be found for model name and disassembly. If there are no instructions, approach the repair with special care: to dismantle the case, remove the bottom cover and the battery, remove all visible screws that hold them in place.

Locate the screws under the rubber pads (eg support feet). Padrek McGrath recommends that you remove all parts together with the screws that secure them, and place them on the work surface separately from each other, as well as record the removal sequence.

Michael Tucempski is forced to correct again and again such amateurish mistakes as a result of an unsuccessful attempt to open the device, such as deformed screws: even if the screwdriver is only slightly larger than the slot, it easily twists and destroys the screw head.

In such a case, the professional tries several methods in sequence: a special tool for unscrewing the screws, soldering the second head, and finally drilling out the screw. Since the screws in laptops are tiny, this is just a piece of jewelry. To prevent this from happening, Tuchempsky advises: use a suitable screwdriver and never a screwdriver. Also, do not press hard: rotation requires a gentle dose of force.

Often, along with the screws, the housing elements are additionally held by latches.An experienced specialist will quickly figure out which of them he should squeeze out first, and what kind of effort they can withstand without collapsing, while the amateur is left to act very slowly and carefully. It often requires inserting, for example, a credit card between the latches that have already been squeezed out in order to prevent them from snapping into place during further dismantling of the case.

Damage caused by liquids leaves traces of corrosion that can be removed by workshop technicians in some cases (depending on material)

Depending on the laptop model, you need to remove either the bottom or the keyboard together with the surrounding panel. When removing the keyboard, there is the following danger: after unscrewing the screws and unscrewing the latches fixed with the screws, some customers of the Zeklink workshop remove the keyboard too quickly and damage the ribbon connecting it to the motherboard.

So, after the keyboard fasteners are released, it must be carefully lifted, then the position of the cable is determined and properly removed from the connector. It has either a latch that must be pushed upward from the cable, or a connector along the cable. In this case, remove the ribbon cable from the socket using flat tweezers. Similar actions should be performed with respect to the touchpad cable.

In order to gain access to a clogged fan, it must be removed from the motherboard. In some laptops, it is located on the inaccessible side of the motherboard, as a result of which it must first be removed. After that, the heatsink can be easily (and carefully!) Unscrewed and removed from the CPU and GPU. To remove old thermal paste, the professional also turns to the usual home remedies: cotton pads, moistened with pure alcohol, if necessary. If the heatsink is really dirty, you can see a fringe of dust that lays between the fan and the cooling fins.

In most cases, they can be accessed by opening the heatsink housing. It is good if the case is connected with screws; it is bad if rivets or glue are used: in this case, you will have to make a little effort to remove it for subsequent cleaning of the dust "plug" with tweezers and blowing the plate using a can of compressed air or a hand-held vacuum cleaner. Then the fan housing must be glued back, depending on the material, using instant or two-component glue.

Anyone who was able to overcome all the steps described will easily cope with the assembly. In this case, one part is again attached to the other in the reverse order.
After each step, non-professionals must make sure that there are no screws or loose ends of the cables, otherwise they will face unpleasant surprises after the repair is completed. When installing the heatsink, apply a small amount of thermal paste to the CPU and GPU (if necessary). It will be evenly distributed when pressed during installation.

Cleaning a clogged fan is indeed important and costly, but it is not the only problem. The most common "real" defects in the practice of the Zeklink workshop include malfunctions of hard drives - from a few bad sectors to complete unusability as a result of the so-called "head crash". Michael Tucempski primarily captures an image from a still working hard drive. This practice before doing any home repair work is also a good idea; it is implemented using a program to create an image.

For standard devices and business notebooks, replacing the hard drive is a breeze, as in most cases the storage medium is located under a removable cover.But in ultra- and chromebooks with a specially fitted SSD-drive or a soldered eMMC-drive, you need to install either an original spare part from the manufacturer, or even replace the entire motherboard.

Repairing mechanical damage is a difficult task. Most often, professionals are faced with broken displays or broken display hinges. Defective panels can be replaced with replacement parts that professional repairmen purchase from eBay, other online retailers, or directly from Chinese manufacturers. The biggest challenge, however, is finding a panel that is exactly the right fit for a given model.

In general, the work carried out on the laptop display is rather difficult, since many elements are located in the extremely small space of the thin cover - for example, fasteners, cables, backlighting elements and wireless transmitters. First of all, if the display is located behind a glass plate, dust should not get between them, as otherwise it will cause damage in the future. If this breaks the flat display cable to the motherboard, in most cases no help is possible as it is extremely rare to find a replacement cable.

Bottom line: Working with the display is best done in a workshop. The same goes for a common and misdiagnosed problem: faulty display hinges. The hinges are made of metal and will not break, however they often break from the soft plastic base plate to which they are attached with multiple screws. The specialists of the Zeklink workshop re-glue the screw threads to the plastic using a high-strength two-component adhesive, then install the hinge and, after tightening the screws, fix them with glue.

After each repair, Michael Tucempski turns on the computer and checks all the hardware. If, for example, the sound / headphones, USB ports, or hardware buttons are not working, they are probably not properly connected. It happened in a workshop or at home - it doesn't matter, everything should start over. For this, there is one last piece of advice from a professional: if you can't get ahead in your work, you need to postpone it and continue the next day with a fresh mind.

PHOTO: Juliane Weber / CHIP Studios; CHIP (2); Juliane Weber / CHIP Studios (2); Zeklink

Laptop repair and even the most common diagnostics begins with laptop disassembly. Let's disassemble the laptop together.

Disassembly begins by removing all the bolts on the bottom of the laptop. In the process of extracting bolts from the holes, try to distribute the bolts into groups according to their length, later this will be useful for you during assembly and will simplify the task of finding the right bolt.