Replace the Motherboard on a Dell Inspiron 1525 Laptop
You need to replace the motherboard on a Dell Inspiron 1525 laptop if the computer starts to work improperly and you have ruled out the possibility of any of the other components being the issue. Several components are connected directly to the laptop (such as USB ports). If these components become damaged or stop working, you need to replace the entire motherboard. Replacing a motherboard requires almost complete disassembly of the laptop.
Instructions
1. Turn the laptop over so the bottom is facing up and the hinges are facing towards you.
2. Remove the battery located in the bottom right corner by pushing the latch above the battery to the right, and then pulling the battery down to remove it.
3. Trace the right side of the laptop up from the battery to find the outline of the optical drive. Follow from the center of the optical drive in towards the center of the laptop to find a single screw holding in the optical drive. Remove the screw. Using a flat head screwdriver, push the notch where the screw was to the right. This will cause the optical drive to stick out of the side enough for you to grip it and pull it from the laptop to remove it.
4. Remove the hard drive from the laptop. In the top left corner, there are two screws in sunken in holes. Remove these screws using the Phillips screwdriver, and then pull the plastic piece to the left of the screws on the left side of the laptop. The plastic piece is connected to the hard drive. Pull the hard drive to the left to remove it from the laptop.
5. Remove the plastic cover in the center of the laptop. You can see the outline for a single plastic cover on the bottom of the laptop. Remove the eight screws that go around the edges of the cover using the Phillips screwdriver, and then lift the cover up to remove it.
6. Disconnect the black and white cables on the mini-pci card located at the top of the slot you just uncovered. Lift up on the gold connectors to disconnect the wires, and then lift the right side of the card (the side where you just disconnected the cables) slightly and pull the card to the right to remove it from the laptop.
7. Remove the memory modules. The memory modules are located below where the mini-pci card was on the right side. Push the metal clips at the top and bottom of each memory module away from each other, causing the memory module to pop up at an angle. Pull the memory module away from the laptop. Repeat this step if there are two memory modules installed.
8. Remove the thermal cooling assembly, located to the left of the memory modules, from the laptop. There are five screws with numbers etched into the metal next to the screws. Remove the screws using the Phillips screwdriver, in numerical order, and then lift the thermal cooling assembly out of the laptop.
9. Remove the processor that is under the thermal cooling assembly. Use a flat head screwdriver to turn the screw located above the square processor. Turn the screw counterclockwise until it cannot turn anymore, and then lift up the processor to remove it from the laptop.
10. Remove all of the screws from the bottom of the laptop using the Phillips screwdriver. There are four along the top edge, three more along the left edge, five more along the bottom, and one just above the upper right corner of where the processor is located.
11. Turn the laptop over and open it as wide as it will go.
12. Remove the central control cover. The central control cover is the plastic piece above the keyboard that has the power button on it. Insert a flat head screwdriver on the right side of the central control cover between the cover and the laptop. Pry the right side up gently, and then pull the cover from right to left. Disconnect the cover from the motherboard by pulling down on the connector on the cable connecting the cover to the motherboard, and then lifting the cover away from the laptop.
13. Remove the keyboard from the laptop. Unscrew the two screws located above the F5 key and the Scroll key using the Phillips screwdriver. Lift the keyboard up slightly, and then disconnect the cable connecting the keyboard to the motherboard. Lift the latch on the motherboard side, connector up, and then down, and lift the cable up out of the connector. Once the keyboard is disconnected, remove it from the laptop.
14. Disconnect the display and camera cables from the laptop. The camera cable is located in the center of the laptop. Disconnect the cable by pushing the two sides of the motherboard side connector up, and then sliding the ribbon cable out of the connector. Removing the keyboard left an open space on the leftside of the computer, towards the top. The display cable is located in the bottom right corner of this space. Pull up on the tab to disconnect the cable.
15. Remove the display from the laptop. Unscrew the four screws on the hinges of the display (two on each hinge) using the Phillips screwdriver. Lift the display up and away from the laptop, making sure to pull the black and white cable through from the bottom of the computer.
16. Remove the palm rest from the laptop. Remove the two screws located at the center of the laptop, and then disconnect the touch pad cable by pulling it down and out of the connector. The touch pad cable is just above the touch pad. Also disconnect the status lights cable located in the space directly to the left of the touchpad connector. Carefully separate the palm rest from the laptop, running your fingers between the palm rest and the bottom piece of the laptop.
17.Remove the ExpressCard cage, located in the bottom right corner of the laptop. Remove the three screws holding the ExpressCard cage using the Phillips screwdriver, and then lift it away from the laptop.
18. Disconnect the cables from the motherboard. There is one cable in the upper left corner of the motherboard. Pull it to the right to disconnect it. There are two others along the top edge of the motherboard near the center of the laptop. Pull these cables up to disconnect them.
19. Unscew the motherboard using the Phillips screwdriver and lift it out of the laptop. There are four screws: one in the upper left corner, one in the upper right corner, one that is roughly two inches below the one in the upper right corner, and one about two inches above the bottom right corner of the motherboard.
20. Place the new motherboard into the laptop and screw it in using the Phillips screwdriver. Reconnect the three cables from Step 18, then reverse steps 1 through 17 to reassemble the computer.
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