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Thanks to Thomas Palmer, we have a winner in the contest for user-submitted disassembly guides. Here is Thomas’s disassembly guide:
Taking apart a Compaq Presario R3000
Background information: I have two Compaq Presario R3000’s. The screen on my first one broke, so instead of spending a crap load of money, I bought a second of the same laptop (cheaper model) and swapped the screens. I never took apart a laptop before and because of the lack of instruction on the Internet (like this), I had no guidance. Naturally I approached the problem the wrong way and almost messed up my laptop. Well, I finally figured it out and now I take it apart sometimes just for fun!
Since I am writing this on my good laptop I will demonstrate on the laptop without the screen. Oh, both laptops work, I just have to plug a monitor into the one without the screen.
The Screen!
Step 01: The Screws
The screws are located in the corners underneath the rubber/friction pads. Those can be removed by using your finger nails and pulling them out. Unscrew those screws with a medium sized Phillips head screw driver.
Step 02: The Faceplate
Once the screws are out you can remove the faceplate by sticking your finger nail between the plastic and the screen and pulling. Once that section is pulled out you can run your fingers around the faceplate to completely pry it away.
Step 03: The Screen Itself
There are six screws that need to be removed now, they are circled in red. These six places are at the top of the screen, the bottom of the screen and where the metal “arms” are attached to the plastic casing. Please note that when I did this originally I lost some screws, that is why you don’t see a few of them were there are circles.
Step 04: The Screen Connections
There are two things that need to be disconnected before completely removing the screen. The first item is the video cable which can be removed by pulling it out from the back of the screen. The second item is the power cable which can be removed by pulling it out from the power module thing. Both places are noted by red boxes.
An Overview of the Screen Deconstruction
The screen is pretty simple to take apart. If you really wanted you could remove the latch, but what is the purpose of that? Oh, I forgot to mention that on the sides of the “arms” there are screws connected to the screen. You might want to removed those too 
.
The Back Where All The Important Components Are Located!
Step 01: The Removal of the Battery and Hard Drive
To remove the hard drive, unscrew the two screws noted in the upper-right of the laptop. Please note that these two screws are attached to the case so they will not come out. Once those two screws are unscrewed, use your finger nail and place it in the groove and pull out. To remove the battery, slide the button up. When the battery ejects, remove it completely.
Step 02: The (Many) Screws
I counted 30 screws! That’s a lot! Anyways, all of those screws can be removed with a medium sized Phillips head screw driver. Please note that if you with to put this laptop back together you need to figure out some way to remember which screws go where. (There are two different length screws.)
Step 03: The (One) Screw
Once you loosen all the screws as shown in Step 02, you need to pull out the disc drive to access and unscrew the last screw to remove the back cover.
Step 04: The Speakers
To remove the speakers, unscrew the noted screw and unplug the wire where noted.
Step 05: The Heat Sink
To remove the heat sink you need to remove the four screws. These are special screws which have springs or shocks on them, why? I have no idea. However I suggest taking them off and putting them on in order as they are numbered. (Off: 4, 3, 2, 1; On: 1, 2, 3, 4)
Step 06: The CPU
To remove the CPU, get a small flat head screw driver and unscrew the screen on the CPU mount counter-clockwise one-half rotation. Now you can use your finger nail and place it between the CPU and mount to pull it away.
An Overview of the Back Deconstruction
The back was a little harder to take apart. If you really wanted you could remove the motherboard, but my head hurts and it’s late, plus you have no reason to remove it anyway. Actually, the only reason you might have to remove it is if it trash, and at that point I’m sure you could have a lot more fun that using a screw drive to take it apart 
.
Nice FAQ, needed it for a laptop at our IT dept.
Just like thanks for your effort!
The technical parto of the main information included in this web are really not
useful since you can see the pictures but it can not be used for further trouble
shooting.
It would be better to show the power supply pictures for the computer but please
explain in detail how to repair the differents modules respect the power supply.
For example which devices should be checked if there is a shocrtcut in the computer??
This kind of information is very important for 99% of the people who is using your web.
I hope you can include this information in the future , since the pictures itself are really not
useful.
Best Regards
Daniel
Daniel,
I understand your concern for the technical aspects of the TakeItApart.net manual, however my intention for when I originally took apart my laptop was to replace a part. The screen was broken and there was no way (at least within my power) to fix it. The ideas you offer of repairing individual components is intriguing, however that pulls away from the original purpose of TakeItApart.net. As suggested by the name this website is dedicated to taking things apart, not necessarily fixing things; it just happened I took the laptop apart to fix it. However, thank you for your input, it has broadened my thoughts for future posts.
Daniel just doesn’t get it I don’t think. Sounds like he should solve his own problem and then post *that* on this site versus trying to degrade the value that you offer. It no doubt took you a lot of time to create this post in the hopes of saving someone time in the future and for that your efforts are appreciated even if some don’t see it that way.
The ‘power module thing’ is called an inverter and is VERY dangerous. It converts low voltage DC current to HIGH voltage AC. If your skin were to come into contact with this while the computer was on it would not only shock you but burn you as well. Please do not meddle with things if you don’t know what their function is.
FYI: compaq has nice pdf guides for disassembling the laptops. Look for service manuals in the support section of their website.
I’d have to agree with Nuggets comment above, I actually repair HP/Compaq laptops in my job (field engineer) so have plenty of experience taking these laptops apart. If you look for servive and maintanance guides on the HP website they explain quite clearly how to disassemble all the HP laptops. The guide above is quite good, I haven’d read all the text but I was wondering why he had gone to the trouble of disassembling the screen when I would just usually replace the WHOLE screen, including the surround, which is fairly quick on this model, once the button panel above keyboard is removed you can unscrew the hinges, then remove the keyboard to get to the wireless lan anteana!
Better than my 10lb hammer method,( must remember to get anger management next time computer bugs me) well done now how about those awful Emachine 2210 desktops.
nice work….. do u know how to put it back?
Yeah, I realized it is called an inverter, especially after I *tried* to use eBay to get a replacement screen. It is possible, but in my opinion, not worth it. Hmm… I never tried making contact with it and my skin WHEN turned on… I hope other people have enough common sense to unplug things before taking them apart
Hmm… Compaq had a guide for taking their laptops apart? If anything I would guess it would be for the user servicable parts such as memory and the such. But hey, I could be wrong. Please post a link if you can, as I could not find anything during my initial serch for a manual (which is why I wrote this one).
LOL, and yes, I did put it back together and it does work… I just need to plug a monitor into it if I have any hopes in using it. (When I take things apart I take great care in placing all the pieces carefully in a patern so that I know where they go when I want to put it back together.)
this is very helpful beacause now i ca easily disassemble my laptop sa many thanx to you …
Compaq Presario R3000 Service Manual:
http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c00212209.pdf
Hey guys,
My A/C adaptor socket is VERY loose. I’ve heard you can take the thing apart and resolder it or something. Neither of the manuals c00072829.pdf or c00212209.pdf give details of how to go about doing this. Does anyone have any idea where to start?
Thanks
Jeff
I too have a loose AC adapter socket (have to plug it in many times before getting a good connection to the computer). I notice that the connectors are plentiful on eBay, so I assume this may be common problem. I’ve just been muddling through for a month or two. Then, last week, yet another issue - when on AC power, the screen dims dramatically (works great on battery power). Does this sound like an inverter issue? (Inverters also seem to readily available on ebay). I hate to spend hundreds if I can repair this myself. Any help would be very much appreciated!!
I have the same issue with my laptop too. It started about a month after I bought it and through a deployment in Iraq it just got worse and worse. I had to wiggle the power cord until the ‘charging light’ came on and then use a book or anything else to brace it in place. Finnally it got to be a complete nightmare to get charged so this morning I took it completely apart and removed the motherboard to get to the bottom where the pins on the DC power jack are. They were all completely loose and I could wiggle the jack around and see that it was completely loose from the solder. I pulled out the soldering iron and touched up the pins but my lunch break went fast and I only got halfway done reassembling it before I had to get back to work. Seems like everything should work OK as long as I didnt screw up the soldering job but I havent gotten a chance to test it yet.
Does anyone know where I can find some schematics for the R3000?? I’ve been looking but cant seem to find any.
This site has seems pretty useful for this issue
http://www.mortifiedpenguin.com/node/37
Hi Nick,
could you please tell me how you get to the jack or remove mother board I get
to the diagrams on this page but cake loosen the motherboard.
Thanks
Heath
All,
II think the Heat Snik on the CPU has 4 spring loaded screws is because the Heat sink must be tourqued down with a percise pressure ( Pound inches )
ti get maximum of heat transferwithout cracking the CPU chip.
Joe
the video cable on the screen can that be rigged to take a standard NTSC analog video signal such at that from the yellow RCA plug on a video game system? and the speakers can they be modified into a portable set of speakers for an ipod
Thanks alot for documenting and sharing your experience - i was able to replace a broken hinge with the help of your guide here.
I need to replace the thing that holds all the pictures… because I don’t want to loose all the pictures on there and thought it would be better to just get a new one anyways. But I have no clue about the pieces of a computer… Could you tell me where in the lap top it is located?? And how to remove it safetly? Thank you
Mikie
I need to remove the mother board because its a piece of trash so can you give me a guide on how to do it
I need a part # or a website to buy a replacement motherboard for my Presario r3000..Please advise
sorry for the duplicate
Hi, good work on the article, here is the manufacturers manual for complete disassembly and troubleshooting of the Compaq R3000, Hp Pavilion Zx5000, Zv5000, and the Compaq Nx9100. I am a service technician and thought I’d share
Good luck and Happy New Year to all.
http://h10032.www1.hp.com/ctg/Manual/c00212209.pdf
Hey, thanks alot for the instructions. I to have taken apart a compaq R3000 and at first it was a great computer but a month after the warrenty expired there was problems. I took it some where too have it looked at and was told that it was the AC power inlet hole in the back were you put the charger it had a short or something and I dont want too pay big money to have it fixed. If you would please get back with me and tell me if there is a way to fix it at home or is it even worth the time?
I also hear that this is a common problem and that this computer is notable for alot of problems.
Here are HP videos of disassembly instructions:
http://h20181.www2.hp.com/plmcontent/NACSC/SML/results.htm?SID=384511&MEID=F2DAF231-84E4-4AE7-BE71-BB1CA8A20D6A
This guide is mentioned at the Repair4Laptop upgrade and repair guides for COMPAQ laptops and notebooks section.
Thanks much for putting this on the net. Came in handy.
quite useful , i’ll have to fix the solderings of my presario’s dc connector, and it’s a quest for the holy grail to find any documentation about it. unlike toshibas, the compaqs ares a real chinese puzzle !
keep it up, all !
I went into a similar project on an HP laptop with no guidance at all. I removed the entire screen panel from a laptop with a crashed drive and replaced a cracked screen on a working model (same). I saw no need to disassemble past the mounting screws and ribbon cable. Worked for me. Of course, the object of this site is to show “taking it apart’ so the extra steps are not necesaarily portrayed as “the way” to do a screen repair.
Thanks again for another detailing project!
people are stranger
hi, my laptop wont charge the battery. i can only use it with the power cord pluged. i thought it might be the battery so i bought a new one, but still wont charge, the LED is blinking always. anybody knows about a cold solder related to this issue? what could be happening?
thanks…
This site was linked to …
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/50946-2-compaq-presario-r3000-power-cord-issue#bas
This is what I wrote there, and where to find a replacement connector…..
Here is the problem most of us are having - the charging stops working. The power cord is wiggled, wedged, whatever, and the charge light will come on again - for a while.
As stated above, the problem is the power receptacle connection. I finally looked for an answer, and found this great site. I found I could take the unit apart minimally, canting the top CCW to get to the solder connections. After I resoldered, it seemed to work fine. But that didn’t last too long. When I went to resolder, I took the upper trim off and Dremeled through the plastic. [a series of small holes would also work] There is a hard piece of steel just below, so you can’t drill too far. The metal can be bent out of the way to get to the solder points, but it is hard metal.
When the second try didn’t work, I looked for a new receptacle, as suggested above. Mine was ruined. I found prices ranging from $25-85, shipping from $15-25. What crooks! On ebay, I found .. http://cgi.ebay.com/DC-Power-Jack-Toshiba-Satellite-A70-A75-M35X-1400-1800_W0QQitemZ220131417785QQihZ012QQcategoryZ116333QQcmdZViewItem
[this is not the seller I used. My seller was- http://myworld.ebay.com/parts_lee/ . But any should be OK]
for $8, $3.50S/H, and it arrived in a week from Hong Kong.
[the issue seems to be cold solder joints from the factory. I found a site that mentioned the problem was the poor air intake for the cooling fans - which exhaust under the power connecter, and the excess heat causes the solder to fail. Not too sure about that, but it was an interesting take. The repair was $90.
I also got nowhere with an Indian supervisor, but got to someone at Corporate tech support. I mentioned 'known issue', and he gave me all the arguments the other guy did. But he offered to put in a new motherboard for half price ($200). I guess it was a good deal, but passed (I should have asked if a new battery was included).]
I can fix this for $15 bucks! I thought. Well, now I have to do it - meaning I have to take the thing fully apart, eating the cost in time to strip it. (someone mentioned it took 8 hours, and I got it apart the first time in 40 minutes - but I removed as little as I could. Now I have to strip it to get the old connector out. grrrr)
There are great, illustrated photos above to fix this thing. Basically, there are 2 screw sizes. I marked the long ones with a silver marker. There are 4 extra short ones that hold the keyboard on. A few screws go under another piece of plastic, so if things aren’t flat, it must be redone. I haven’t taken the frame off yet, so there may be other tips I haven’t seen yet.
I’ve recieved my 1st laptop from my boss who gave me his old one for nothing (great boss) since I know next to nothing about laptops or PC’s for that matter where is a good place to start to find out information, he gave me a Compaq Presario R3000 I would like a simple way to obtain and learn information (think really dumb) need easy to understand information.
I am having the same power connector problems on an HP ZV5227wm.. I haven’t done the fix yet, since I am waiting on a replacement power connector to arrive. I found a site that has them listed for almost every major laptop brand and model number for $5.99 plus shipping. I can’t vouch for them as of yet, but anyone looking for the connector may want to look at http://www.dcpowerjacks.net.
Hope this helps someone out. I am going to use the information here to help me fix this computer. I love the laptop but was a bit too rough on it.
Kevin
Has anyone successfully downloaded the HP/Comaq manual for the R3000 that’s cited above? Each time I click the link I get a message saying the file is corrupted and cannot be repaired. Any ideas? Anyone already got the file downloadable from somewhere else?
I’m having the ’screen goes black’ problem. For a while I could just tap or jiggle the little button that senses when the lid is closed but no longer. I’ve also not had battery power for a year or more and after reading these posts I’m guessing the problems are both related to loose connections.
Thanks
I have a Presario R3000. At all at once the desktop screen started to break up. It shut down I try to get it to boot up again but it won’t. The hard drive doesn’t register at all. Can anyone help? What is the possible problem? Mahalo
These posts have been vary helpful. Saved me about $100.
It was my first time soldering and taking apart a laptop. It worked perfictly though.
not even a left over screw.
I see everyone is having trouble with the DC jack. I bought a new one on e-bay. A lot of people are just soldering the old one on, but mine was so loose, one of the prongs was bent too far. I used the compaq website mentioned to disassemble the R3000. Just follow the directions until you get to the exposed motherboard. When you are there, you can see the DC jack. There are 4 prongs that connect it to the motherboard. Solder these. To get mine out, I wiggled the thing until the whole jack came out. I had to use wire cutters to get the first prong off. Then I soldered out the factory solder job and inserted the new DC jack. I put it together and it worked AMAZINGLY.
*Reminders*
Don’t forget to lock your processor
Make sure your hard drive is out when you plug the AC cord in to see if it worked (it wont erase your data).
If you leave the hard drive off, it will boot up with a memory read error.
Make sure you plug in the clips again.
I just wanted to thank you Thomas. My sisters bf screwed up her hinges on her laptop. This helped me take the monitor apart to fix them. :).
If anyone has any q’s, you can e-mail me at Nerdstock2005@yahoo.com
Thanks, I wanted to take my R3000 apart to just repaint the covers. (it’s from 2004 and used as a pickaxe). soooo, was needed. It’s always hard to find out which screw are to be loosened and which should remain where they are if you want to use it again.
My R3000 was running very loud, and would shut off suddenly after a few hours. So I followed the above directions through Step 5, the Heat Sync. My heat sync was covered in a layer of dusty grossness. I removed this layer, reassembled, and she’s running like a dream now.
Thanks for these instructions, very helpful.
I too am having the Power Socket Problem, but it’s not severe enough for me to get a soldering gun just yet, but I’ll come back here when the time comes.
Also - Circuit City recently released their Black Friday (day after Thanksgiving) sales information, and a new version of this laptop is going for $300 after mail in rebate.
But I need to know how to remove it because I need to replace the DC jack in the back. I do thank you for the instructions on how to remove the screen though. Because this may help me further. Please continue with the disassembly. Oh, my head is killing me becasue of this laptop as well.
Hi, I’ve been having a backlight problem - figured it’s the inverter. Bought it and am trying to replace it at the very moment. That’s where I need an advice - i can’t remove the strip cover!!! I removed 2 screws on the bottom, used the flat surface knife and screwdriver to lift the edge off as it was suggested here, was able to lift the middle part of it. However, the very corners of the cover seem to be either attached or really stuck - can’t lift them up!!!! Help!!!
P.S. Just to clarify - middle portion is detached, the corners that are closer to keyboard also detached, just the rounded corners closer to the screen are stuck…
Hi. Is the dc jack hard to replace. Is it soldered on there and do you have to take the motherboard out to do so, or can you just take the back cover off and swap it out. Thanks for the help
TO ANYONE installing a new recepticle - epoxy the part to the board. JB Weld would be an excellent glue. It will hold the part in place against the stress that will get transferred from the plug, and possibly mess up the solder joints. Remember to keep the contacts clean.
i droped my laptop, campact presario, v200, now when i tilt my screen it cuts out, flutters , what do u think the problem is, do i need a new screen, it works fine if i dont move it
I’m getting one of htese laptops 2nd hand, I’m just itching to get it apart and clean it out, do a few mods to it (like repaint) and fix that power connector.
Thanks to this site, it’ll be that much easier
Oh, does anyone know up to what CPU this will support?
The one I’m getting has a 2.8ghz in it so I believe is Socket 478, and I do believe that there are some P4-M out there that are the same socket but have the power scaling and so forth.
Oh…while I’m at it, I also see 2 places for memory, 1 under the keyboard and 1 on the underside of the laptop, when I go to upgrade which once should I put the memory in that I’ll be using as the primary memory?
Great! Save me a lot of time.
Thanks
the laps are verrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrry sweet
Hi, just joined the forum and used Thomas Palmers excellent guide to take the back of my Compaq Presario r3000 laptop. I noticed while putting it back together that there isnt any need for a guide template for the screws, as they are in two uniform sizes, the small ones go into the holes which appear to have an outer ring of raised plastic and the battery / hard drive enclosures. This will help you to take it apart and put it back together much faster. Hope this is of help, I thought this would be a nice addition to Thomas`s guide. Keep up the good work! Kind regards. Alan
Thanks for the site. I had to strip my R3000 laptop as I had the seemingly standard power supply problem.I used your site to strip my laptop, along with the instructions on the Compaq site.
I took it right down to the motherboard and then re-soldered the jack connection where the power supply connects. Like many others report, this was a dry connection that made my battery charging intermittent - almost to the point of making he laptop unusable.
I stripped it down, re-soldered and the problem has gone - yippee!!
Thanks.
This has been a great read! I recently picked up an HPzx5040us, had to spend a lillte for a new hard drive and power cord, and I’m using it right now to write this.
I still have the issue of the shorting screen that someone mentioned above. I thought it was the switch, then the screen itself, now I just want to get it right so I don’t have to lug a monitor with me. It seems the whole concept started with this “portability” factor….
It makes a nice desktop, but it would be good to solve the last remaining real issue with these HP’s. If anyone has fixed the shorting monitor problem, let me know how.
And don’t forget to post it up somewhere. Thanks.
I’m trying to replace the power socket on a Presario R3000 as well, but I don’t think I have a simple soldering problem. My daughter accidentally pulled it off the table, and when it landed it bent the power cable plug and cracked the socket. It’s such a problem that the cable connects at the corner, which is the most likely place to suffer damage in a fall. The laptop I’m using to type this has the cable connecting at the centre rear, which I think would be less likely to suffer as much damage.
Anyway, thanks for the tip about the 4 screws on springs around the heat sink. I was wary of removing it anyway, because I’m waiting until I get a strap tomorrow to reduce static discharge. I don’t want to fry anything sensitive inside!
WOW and THANKS.
It did not 100% help but what a great page. My R3000 had a loose power plug and I used this to take my laptop apart. And no I could not get the motherboard out. 4 extra screws to remove but could not dislodge the board. BUT this was great as I now know how to clean out the fan area which had lots of dust bunnies in them. FYI, the springs on the heat sink screws help keep torque on the screws so they do not come loose from the fan vibrations.
I recieved an r3000 as a christmas gift and it has the power cord problem. The screen works fine - does anyone have an r3000 with bad screen that wants to sell, so I can just switch screens?
Nice write up, quite helpful! A question though:Did your screen connector also have a ground wire that is screwed to the chassis base? The HP video tutorial shows a ground wire screw that needs to be removed but my R3000 doesn’t have one. It was given to me non-working and someone had been into it so I don’t know if it was missing or never there. It’s a 3.0 P4 R3000, PL986UA.
Thank you.
I lik eyour effort, NOTE: on the external pieces the shorter screws have marks around the screw holes, and once inside the unit, screws that should be removed on each level of dismanteling has a triangular arrow pointing at the screwa to remove.
I AM LOOKING FOR A MOTHER BOARD…please contact me at mickey_motta@yahoo.com
This is great infro as I need to give my r3430 a good cleaning. I would like to know if the on board memory is replacable (the un-accessable slot) I seem to get conflicting infro about that fact.
Dear Author of this site,
I am worthless with electronics and I could help my 7 year old tear my dead laptop apart. This was extremely useful and made for a nice hour with my son. thanks, Dave
Joshua says - “it was fun”
I have a 3000 model compaq and a common problem is the power jack goes out. You have to remove jack from motherboard and Solder another one on. Once you break the computer down to the point showing above it seems to be much harder to go further. The jack in the top left corner of the picture has medel around it. I think it glue or something. Anyway I wonder how to take the monitor apart.