Step 1: WHAT YOU NEEDShow All ItemsIf you’ve had your laptop for a year or two, it may be full of dust. Dust clogs fans, vents, and heat sinks, preventing your PC from cooling down properly. You can remove a good amount of this dust, even if you can’t open your laptop. Dust build-up can prevent a PC from cooling down properly, and that heat can even cause hardware damage. Your laptop’s fans may also run at full blast, draining your battery. Your laptop may even reduce its performance to stay cool. Most laptops, especially newer ones, aren’t designed to be opened by their users. This presents a serious problem. On a desktop PC, you’d power down your PC, open the case, blow it out with a can of compressed air, and close the case. You could dust out a laptop in a similar way– if only there was a way to open it up and get inside. Your laptop may have a bottom panel (or several bottom panels) you can unscrew to access the internals. Check your laptop’s manual, or look up a special “service manual” for your specific model of laptop online.

Power down the laptop, remove the battery, and unscrew the panel to get at the laptop’s insides. If a service manual is available for your laptop, it will walk you through the process. Depending on your laptop, opening the panel may or may not void your warranty. After it’s open, take the laptop somewhere you don’t mind getting dusty — like your garage, or even outside. Use a can of compressed air to blow out the internals of your laptop. Ensure you’re blowing the dust out of the laptop’s case, not just moving it around inside. For example, you could blow more toward your laptop’s vents so the dust would be blasted through the vents and out of the laptop. Be careful when blowing air at the fans in the laptop — if you make the fans spin too quickly, they could be damaged. Blow at the fans from many different angles, using short blasts of air. We recommend compressed air — also known as canned air — for a reason. Don’t use a vacuum, and be extra careful if you opt to use an air compressor instead of a can of compressed air.

When you’re done, you can screw the panel back on, plug in the battery, and power the laptop back on. It’ll run cooler, and its fans should spin up less often. Whether you want to upgrade your laptop’s hardware or just dust it out, manufacturers don’t want you to open most laptops. But dust does build up inside a laptop, whether you can open it yourself or not. Even if you can’t open your laptop, you can still attempt to dislodge some of that dust. First, take the laptop somewhere you don’t mind getting dusty. You probably don’t want to blow dust all over your desk or bed. Get a can of compressed air, point it at the laptop’s cooling vents, and give them a few short bursts of air. With any luck, the jets of air will knock some of the dust loose and it will escape the laptop’s vents. You won’t get all the dust out of the laptop, but at least it will stop plugging up the vents, fans, and whatever else it’s stuck to. This isn’t the ideal way to dust out a laptop, but it may be all you can do.

Exercise caution when doing this. If you aim a blast of compressed air directly at a cooling fan inside a vent, you could cause the cooling fan to spin too quickly. Don’t aim the air directly at the fan and give it a long blast. Instead, blow air in short bursts, waiting in between to ensure you’re not spinning the fan too quickly.best buy hoover vacuum cleaner If your laptop has serious problems with overheating and you can’t clean it yourself, you may have to contact the manufacturer for service. best way to clean wood floors with vinegarIf it’s still under warranty, they should hopefully help you.best buy hoover vacuum cleaner If you’ve had your laptop for a year or two, there’s probably some significant dust build-up inside its case.

Cleaning your laptop on a regular basis is a good idea, but you don’t need to go overboard and do this all the time. How often you need to clean your laptop depends on the laptop itself and how dusty your environment is. Image Credit: nick@ on Flickr, Rick Kempel on Flickr, Although on Wikimedia Commons, Cheon Fong Liew on FlickrHP Pavilion dv6000 Fan Replacement HP Pavilion DV6000 Fan Available for sale on Amazon Replace or clean the cooling fan in your HP Pavilion dv6000. First, put the laptop on a flat surface and make sure the battery side is up. Remove the battery to prevent any electrical damage to any of the components. Remove the following screws: There are five(5) 5.8 mm Phillips screws located in the battery compartment, where the battery formerly resided. There are fifteen(15) 7.2 mm Phillips screws that secure the lower case to the upper case of the laptop. These screw locations and sizes apply for the part number RG274UA#ABA.

Loosen the two captive screws on the right hand side of the hard drive cover. The screws will remain attached to the cover. Remove the hard drive by lifting it up vertically on the right hand side. There is usually a plastic pull tab to help. If this does not work, gently pry it out with a flat head screwdriver. Remove the one screw under the hard drive. This will help release the motherboard for later steps. Remove the screw above the RAM access cover that holds the CD drive in place. Then, slide the drive to the left out of the case. Be careful not to pull the front off of the tray itself. Remove the three(3) screws along the edge that are revealed after removing the CD drive. These screws hold the top bezel to the bottom frame. After taking out the three(3) screws, flip the laptop over so that the keyboard side is up. Carefully lift speaker grille / button panel away from the upper case by pulling up on the two corners closest to the keyboard. If caution is not taken, permanent damage may occur.

Remove the center cable from its connector on the button panel. Then, gently release the friction locks that secure the left and right ribbon cables by pushing them away from their connectors. The ribbon cables will slip out of their connectors. After completing step 4, flip the laptop over again, making sure the battery side is up. Remove the two screws securing the RAM shield to the lower case. Lift and remove the RAM shield up from the lower case; The screws will remain captive within the shield. Remove the black Philips screw marked with a Keyboard icon. After finishing step 5, turn the computer over and gently lift the keyboard at the top corners, sliding it upward and towards the screen. The bottom tabs will slide out from below the palm rest and the keyboard may be turned over to reveal the connection cable. Disconnect the keyboard ribbon cable (highlighted in red) from its socket on the motherboard. Remove the four (4) 5.8 mm Phillips screws securing the top cover to the lower case.

Use a pair of tweezers to disconnect both antennas from their sockets on the wireless card. These are snap-on connectors, so simply pull them straight up to snap them off the studs on the card. Be careful to pull on the contacts and not the wires. The crimps used to hold them to the wires are delicate. Remove the two(2) 3.7 mm Phillips screws securing the wireless card to the motherboard. Upon removing the Phillips screws that secure the wireless card to the motherboard, the wireless card should pop up from its top side. Grasp the wireless card and pull it straight out of its socket on the motherboard. The LCD needs to be removed to proceed. Start by disconnecting the marked cable from its socket and disconnecting the cables from their clips in the palm rest. Proceed to pull the two WiFi antenna cables through the motherboard. Remove the screws that hold each LCD hinge cover in place. There is 1 screw for each cover. Gently pry each cover off its hinge.

Remove the Video cable by grabbing the ribbon and lifting up. Next, remove the 2 screws securing the LCD hinge mounts to the bottom frame(in blue). Hold the LCD with one hand and unscrew with the other. Do not leave the screen unsupported or it may bend or fall off abruptly and be damaged . Lift up the LCD and its three cable bundles and set it aside. Use a pair of tweezers (or 3/16 nut driver) to remove the two 5mm hex screws secured to the logic board. You will need to remove the bezel under the LCD hinge to finally pull the top palm rest free. Remove the screw on the far top right hand side. Then carefully pry the bezel free. Pull the final cable connections from their sockets on the motherboard. Then gently lift the palm rest towards you starting back to front(in orange). Remove the two(2) 3.8 mm Phillips screws securing the left edge of the expansion port board to the motherboard. If present, remove the plastic "dummy card" from the expansion port.

Remove the two 3.8 mm Phillips screws securing the right edge of the expansion port board to the motherboard. Lift and remove the expansion port board out of the lower case. Remove the final screw holding the motherboard in place. Then gently lift the motherboard up vertically. Remove the two marked cables. These will be tight. Do not pull by the wires. Carefully wiggle the connectors only. Remove the final data cable near the front of the system board. The motherboard will be free. Lift up and towards the left to remove from the base. Carefully bend the left edge of the lower case outward to make sure the input ports (USB, Serial, etc.) on the motherboard are free. Lift and remove the motherboard from the lower case. Carefully set the motherboard on a non-conductive and level surface. The motherboard is static sensitive and permanent damage can occur if static electricity is transferred to it. To remove the heat sink,remove the marked screws and remove the fan's power cable.