Repairing your HP laptop's motherboard involves replacing it with a working motherboard.
Motherboard repair is a tricky procedure. Motherboard diagnosis is time-intensive, and often the diagnosis equipment is too costly for the average computer user. In fact, many laptop repair technicians will advise you to replace the entire motherboard. Fortunately, you can perform this procedure yourself without much electronics experience. Replacing your HP laptop's motherboard is a matter of dismantling the computer and removing all components that attach to the motherboard. However, doing so will void your computer's warranty.
Instructions
1. Shut down the laptop, and close the LCD panel. Unplug the power cable, and disconnect all external devices. Place the laptop face down, with the front edge facing forward. Slide the battery release button downward, and remove the battery from its compartment in the upper-right corner of the laptop.
2. Loosen the two Phillips-head screws fastening the hard drive to the upper left corner of the laptop. Pull the hard drive from its compartment, and set it aside. Remove all Phillips-head screws from the laptop's base enclosure. Flip the laptop over, and open the display panel all the way.
3. Loosen and remove all Phillips-head screws from the laptop's rear panel. Rotate the laptop so the front of the screen is facing you. Remove the keyboard cover, which is the plastic piece above the keyboard assembly. Loosen the single Phillips-head screw fastening the exposed speaker assembly to the laptop. Unplug the speaker cable from the motherboard. Remove the speaker assembly from the laptop.
4. Remove the Phillips-head screws fastening the keyboard to the laptop. Lift the keyboard out of the laptop, and unplug the ribbon cable from the motherboard. Remove the keyboard from the laptop. Unplug the LCD video cable from its connector in the upper left corner of the motherboard. Remove the Phillips-head screws from each display hinge. Remove the display panel from the laptop.
5. Loosen and remove all Phillips-head screws securing the top cover to the laptop. This is the main plastic piece concealing the top side of the motherboard. Lift the top cover off of the laptop's base, and unplug the touchpad's ribbon cable from the motherboard. Remove the top cover from the laptop.
6. Locate the heat sink device in the upper-left or right corners of the motherboard. This is the metal device with copper pipes coming out of it that also sits directly on top of the processor. Remove the spring-loaded screws fastening the heat sink to the motherboard. Remove the heat sink from the laptop. Turn the processor's flat-head locking screw in the counterclockwise direction. Remove the processor from its socket, and set it aside.
7. Unplug all cables from the motherboard, and remove any remaining devices attached or fastened to the motherboard. Remove the remaining Phillips-head screws fastening the motherboard to the laptop's base enclosure. Lift the motherboard out of the laptop, and set it aside.
8. Repeat this procedure in reverse to install the replacement motherboard.
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