Added Memory to Laptop
I had just finished adding a new additional 8gb memory card to my desktop computer and now it was time to swap out the RAM on my laptop computer for a new 8gb memory card. I use this little laptop whenever we are on the road or at the lake house for music, editing photos, updating my blog, and any other internet activities. Because I use this laptop for editing photos, I needed more RAM than the stock 4gb's.
Wow... this 'little' task which was a piece of cake on my desktop computer was significantly more complicated on this little laptop! I had to dismantle the entire laptop to gain access to the RAM card. To say this made me nervous is a gross understatement.
First off... just figuring out how to open the case was a pain in the butt! There are about 17 tiny screws holding this thing together... most plainly visible but some were hidden under rubber feet and flush covers.
Next... everything on this little laptop is miniscule and I have big hands and rather poor eyesight... put two and two together. This is a bad combination for working on most things but terrible for working on tiny electronics.
Once I opened the case, I quickly realized that I was looking at the wrong side of the main motherboard. "Uggg." This meant that I would need to remove all the tiny ribbon cables... very carefully... then remove all peripheral components (battery, hard drive, fan, keyboard, touchpad, etc)... then remove another dozen or so tiny screws. "Oh, fun times..."
I finally gained access to the RAM card and was easily able to remove this 4gb card and then snap in the new 8gb card.
At this point, I hoped I would be able to remember to assemble everything I had just disassembled. Just as importantly, I hoped I would be able to accurately reconnect all the thin, delicate ribbon cables with my big mitts and poor eyesight. Just disconnecting them was a tedious, delicate task. Trying to perfectly line up these tiny connectors was going to be difficult.
After snapping the bottom cover back onto the top keyboard, I opted to hold off on installing all 17 of those screws holding the case together in case I screwed up the reassembly... I booted up the laptop... it ran through bootup diagnostic testing when it noticed the new RAM card... and, fortunately, it seems to be working just fine!
I shut the computer down again and then installed all 17 screws holding the case together. I booted up again... everything seemed fine so I decided to test it out by writing this blog post.
Although this upgrade on my laptop seems to have worked out just fine, I don't ever want to have to open this laptop case ever again... nor any other laptop case!
Wow... this 'little' task which was a piece of cake on my desktop computer was significantly more complicated on this little laptop! I had to dismantle the entire laptop to gain access to the RAM card. To say this made me nervous is a gross understatement.
First off... just figuring out how to open the case was a pain in the butt! There are about 17 tiny screws holding this thing together... most plainly visible but some were hidden under rubber feet and flush covers.
Next... everything on this little laptop is miniscule and I have big hands and rather poor eyesight... put two and two together. This is a bad combination for working on most things but terrible for working on tiny electronics.
Once I opened the case, I quickly realized that I was looking at the wrong side of the main motherboard. "Uggg." This meant that I would need to remove all the tiny ribbon cables... very carefully... then remove all peripheral components (battery, hard drive, fan, keyboard, touchpad, etc)... then remove another dozen or so tiny screws. "Oh, fun times..."
I finally gained access to the RAM card and was easily able to remove this 4gb card and then snap in the new 8gb card.
At this point, I hoped I would be able to remember to assemble everything I had just disassembled. Just as importantly, I hoped I would be able to accurately reconnect all the thin, delicate ribbon cables with my big mitts and poor eyesight. Just disconnecting them was a tedious, delicate task. Trying to perfectly line up these tiny connectors was going to be difficult.
After snapping the bottom cover back onto the top keyboard, I opted to hold off on installing all 17 of those screws holding the case together in case I screwed up the reassembly... I booted up the laptop... it ran through bootup diagnostic testing when it noticed the new RAM card... and, fortunately, it seems to be working just fine!
I shut the computer down again and then installed all 17 screws holding the case together. I booted up again... everything seemed fine so I decided to test it out by writing this blog post.
Although this upgrade on my laptop seems to have worked out just fine, I don't ever want to have to open this laptop case ever again... nor any other laptop case!
Comments
Post a Comment