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Upgrading your hard drive.
One of the more memorable things you'll do with your mini-note is install a new hard drive.
Because of the design, there are no access panels therefore the only recourse is a complete stripdown.
Disclaimer - you could - like me - break something if you're not very careful doing this.
You do this because you want to and this is only a guide to help you out and steer you in the right direction- ok?
The first time I did this, everything worked out fine - yet all it took was one slip and "ping" the volume control spring
disappeared forever across the room.
Pay particular attention to the left side of the JVC when stripping down and splitting the cases - I cannot emphasise
this enough - try not to touch the volume and LAN switch as there's next to no support for these switches and
they can come apart very easily..! At the very least make sure that the LAN switch is already on before you take the unit apart.
Tim Churston has also carried out a 160 gb swap and has kindly allowed me to add his comments.
Right - Ready? Here we go..
1. Turn the unit over onto a soft cloth and remove all the screws in the red circles highlighted.
2. Note exactly which screw goes where as you can see they're virtually all different.
Tim's comments: After unscrewing the screws on the bottom of the case I slipped the DVD drive out straight away.
Using experience with taking apart motorcycles, I found a bit of card, put small holes in it in roughly the positions for the
removed screws, and poked them through the holes as I took it to bits. I then knew exactly where each one went back.
3. Now comes a tricky bit, at the front of the keyboard there are 3 tabs that need releasing - take a small sharp
blade insert between the keyboard and case surround then gently twist the blade to lever out the front of
the keyboard - there will be a snap sound as it's released - try not to slip eh?
Tim's Comments: Looking at the keyboard, there are little holes in the metalwork. I slipped a small screwdriver in these to
hook them up while pressing the little tabs that lock the keyboard in. I started at one end and and worked my way along.
4. There you go - the keyboard's released - don't pull it as you'll break the ribbons underneath.
5. See the two ribbons here? The white one - the mouse, can be left attached but it is easier if you unclip it - I didn't
as it's a PITA to reconnect again (- you need fingers like ET). The black one will need to come
apart though as it's too short to allow the cases to be split.
Tim's Comments: I removed the keyboard completely.
6. Gently lever / slide each end of the white retaining bar away about 1 or 2mm - no more than that towards
my finger - away from the metal plate - the bar does not come apart, it only comes undone.
If the white bar detaches then you have gone too far and you might as well stop reading now..!
7. There you go - to reassemble, simply slide the ribbon back in and gently close each end of the white bar..
8. You can peel back the yellow tape to free off the cables below if you wish.
9. Remove the three screws holding down the speaker assembly..
10. Ok, now you can turn the unit around and lever apart / unclip the back of the speaker assembly from the case.
Careful here - it scratches very easily..
Tim's Comments: In step 10 I didn't prise it apart, but I leaned the screen back and wiggled the silver plastic until it came loose.
I had undone all connectors to this, so removed it completely.
11. Now lift up - but don't disconnect the assembly.
The yellow tape holds the cables in place - that's why we removed it earlier - to allow better access..
12. These 2 screws need to come out..
13. So do these 2 as well - careful, they also hold the screen on, so things are about to get a bit floppy..
Tim's Comments: I unplugged all connectors to the screen and lifted it out completely (- See Tim's image below..)
These screws will also need removing - the ones in the circles.. Note the screw lengths..
Tim's Comments: I removed the wireless card after disconnecting the connectors to it.
I was going to change it to an Atheros chipset one anyway.
14. Now it gets stressful - using a couple of sharp blades, gently start to prise apart the two case halves - I started
form this point here. Again gently twist until you hear it snap open then work your way around the case -
be EXTREMELY careful around the volume and LAN switches.
15...Else this will happen - not nice, (that's part of the volume switch - another part is in the ether somewhere) I cannot
describe the feeling - gutted doesn't come close.. Be careful and you'll be ok.. The unit will still work without this however.
16. Now you should be at this stage with the cases separated.. Looks scary doesn't it.. It gets worse... Sorry.
The hard drive is under the motherboard so now we have to remove all the screws holding that in place..
Tim's Comments: I undid all connectors and separated the top part of the laptop from the rest completely.
The clips in the DVD bay caught me out for a while. At this stage, on re-assembly, I noticed that I hadn't aligned the WiFi switch with
the slider on the case. It was a simple matter to put it right at that stage. If done this way - no stubby screwdrivers needed to remove screws.
17. Remove these screws(plus those in circles..) The BIG headed screws hold the hard drive in place under the motherboard.
There's another one here which is a sod to get at - use a stubby screwdriver....
And then a couple more on the left side
Make sure that the Docking port flap is down - otherwise it clamps the motherboard in place.
Another one at the rear right corner - you'll need to move the upper case and screen around to gain access to this.
18. Now put the unit on it's side and push out the CD drive unit using your finger.
It pops out easily - if it doesn't then you have left a screw in somewhere.
19. OK - finally we have access to the hard drive - it can now be swapped, by far the easiest part of the whole job
Tim's Comment : Motherboard came out completely.
There's a bracket on the drive that needs to be transferred to the new one
Now all you have to do is reassemble and then reload windows - When the bios first appears you'll be amazed at
the amount of checks that it makes to get initialized - just let it do it's stuff and if you have reassembled ok then all will be fine.
Tim's comments: I used Norton Ghost and a couple of 3 1/2" drive to 2 1/2" adaptors on my main machine to transfer the data and operating system
from one drive to the other. I started it up and it works great! No re-install of operating system or any of that hassle - it just worked.
That's it - reassembly is a reversal of the above.
Thanks Tim..!