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If I need to take apart or service the inside of my laptop, where can I find manuals and other information on how to do this?

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Please edit your post to include make and model – Moab Jan 22 '11 at 22:55
@Moab, he did originally specify the exact laptop. I specifically edited his post to be a more generic question to make it into a Community FAQ, as this is the sort of question which could come up frequently, and there's no need to have hundreds of different questions on "where is the service manual for xxxxxxx?" when we could have one question on how to find those documents for many common brands. Please feel free to add your info to my CW answer. – nhinkle♦ Jan 22 '11 at 22:59
Some manufacturers make if very difficult to find service manuals for specific models, HP has many missing manuals on their site and so do other brands, wiki's don't help in these cases. – Moab Jan 23 '11 at 15:30
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4 Answers

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Grab the Maintenance and Service Guide from HP: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/manualCategory?lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&os=2100&product=3562306&sw_lang=&

That will have full dissasebly instructions.

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up vote 3 down vote

Some manufacturers provide very specific information about how to service your computer. Here is how to find manuals for some common brands:

  • HP: Go to support.hp.com. Enter your laptop's model number. On that device's page, click on "Manuals", then choose the "Maintenance and Service Guide". HP manuals are usually very detailed, and will probably have all the information you need.

  • Dell: Go to support.dell.com. Choose whether you are a home or small business user, then click "drivers and downloads". If you know your laptop's service tag, enter that, as you will be guaranteed to get the right results. Otherwise, choose your model number from the list. On the left navigation bar, find "Manuals" and click on it. The exact steps vary by laptop, but find your way to your language version of the service manual, then choose "view". Dell service manuals tend to be very detailed.

  • Asus: Go to the Asus downloads page and select your computer model. Click the + by "Manuals" and find the version for your language. Download and unzip it. These manuals are pretty minimal, but usually at least have enough info for you to figure out how to replace basic components like RAM and the hard drive.

  • Lenovo Thinkpad: All ThinkPad service manuals can be found on this single page on Lenovo's website.

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up vote 1 down vote

Some service manuals are not available at HP for some older models, you can find them here

http://www.tim.id.au/blog/tims-laptop-service-manuals/#toc-compaqhp

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up vote 0 down vote

iFixIt.com has repair manuals for PCs, Macs, and many other devices. The instructions are well illustrated with photographs and usually quite clear. It's a community edited site so you can contribute your own instructions or improve articles that are there.

They also sell tools and parts to support the site.

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