How to Replace the System Board in an HP Business Laptop

After hours of troubleshooting, sometimes the system board itself is to blame for computer instability or malfunction. If this happens to you with an HP business laptop, here’s how you can replace it yourself.

Instructions

Difficulty: Challenging

Things You’ll Need:

• Laptop with a RAM bay underneath the keyboard
• T-8 screwdriver (star shaped)
• Small Phillips head screwdriver
• Something small, pointy and nonconductive, such as a toothpick or plastic pick
• Correct system board for your laptop
• ESD wrist strap

Prepping the System Board for Extraction

1. Make sure the laptop is turned off. Then unplug it from the wall, and take out the battery for safety precautions.
2. Take out the hard drive, optical drive and rear RAM sticks.
3. Remove all of the screws on the bottom and sides of the laptop with the correct screwdriver (mostly with a T-8). Keep them organized so you can replace them in the proper place.
4. Remove the keyboard from the laptop. Most HP business models have plastic hinges holding it in place, but a couple still use screws underneath plastic. Carefully lift the pegs holding the connector ribbon in place and lift the keyboard out. You may have to remove several plastic pieces beforehand; carefully remove those with a plastic pick or small, nonconductive object before proceeding.
5. There may be some electronics surrounding the inner keyboard screws (if it has any). Carefully lift it out if you can, but you may have to do this after you remove the screws that hold in the keyboard itself.
6. Remove any RAM sticks you see underneath the keyboard.
7. Remove the outer plastic pieces that cover the rest of the system board. They should snap off with a little careful prodding.
8. You may even have to remove the screen if it’s in the way. Pop out the plastic hinges and unscrew it from the metal hinges, then trace the wireless antenna wires to the system board and disconnect them. Then lift the screen up and off the rest of the laptop.
9. Carefully remove the inner components attached to the system board. These include the heat sink, wireless networking adapter, modem, touch pad and processor.

Removing and Replacing the System Board

10. Carefully pull the system board out of the computer. You’ll need it intact to send it back to HP if you can get credit for the defective part.
11. Place the new system board inside the laptop, lining it up with the grooves for the USB ports and various other peripherals on the sides.
12. Replace the processor. Don’t forget to clean off the thermal grease from the top of the processor and replace it when placing it back into the new system board.
13. Replace the heat sink, wireless networking adapter, modem, touch pad and anything else that was directly attached to the system board, such as the RAM if there was any.
14. Snap the outer plastic pieces back together, and put the screen back in place if it needed to be removed.
15. Place the keyboard back into the laptop; make sure you slip the connector ribbon back into its proper place on the system board.
16. Replace the hard disk drive, optical drive and rear RAM sticks.
17. Finally, replace all of the screws on the bottom and sides of the laptop. Make sure everything is held tightly in place, then plug the battery back in.
18. Power on the system; if everything was successful, then your laptop should be fully operational.

Tips & Warnings

• Make sure you are wearing an ESD anti-static strap, or are in an anti-static environment, before working on the inner parts of any electronic device.
• It takes the right amount of pressure to detach plastic parts from a laptop. Make sure you aren’t warping the plastic when pulling up on anything, and make sure you have removed everything connected to it beforehand.
• Not all HP Business laptops are the same, regardless of the fact that they all use similar design features. Some don’t have RAM underneath the keyboard, and some have speakers attached to the system board rather than the frame. These drastic internal discrepancies appear even several model numbers apart.
• It’s very difficult to work on laptops, and any damage done internally may void your warranty. Work on laptops with discretion, and if you have any reservations, consult a professional.
• Replacing a system board is the most labor intensive and difficult work you can physically do to any computer. If you don’t have a lot of time, patience and skills with electronics, it would be advisable to leave this work to professionals.

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