By Sydney Tung

Image Credit: Lyn Swyryd-Smith

On July 22, 2020, EqOpTech hosted a virtual tech workshop for computer interns and volunteers learning how to refurbish donated laptops. The workshop features Trevor Smith, President of EqOpTech who will demonstrate how to replace hard drives and add memories for different types of laptops.

Smith kicked off the meeting showcasing the materials, the different laptops he will be demonstrating, Dell PCs, Macbook, RAM memory, SATA and solid state drives (SSD). In this workshop, our student interns will learn the following:

  • put in a new SATA or SSD as donors, often companies policies require them to physically destroy hard drives prior to donation
  • add RAM to the memory slot to meet school’s requirement
  • reinstall Windows operating system with a product key
  • recover missing product key
  • wipe clean hard drives with DBAN

Materials:

Replacing hard drives and add memories for laptops by Trevor Smith

  • 64 Screwdriver bit kit (or a small-sized screwdriver)

Replacing Hard Drives:

Dell Latitude - 2010

Start by unscrewing the screws on the bottom right-hand corner of the computer. Make sure to keep all of the screws organized as they are removed! Then slide out the tray with the hard drive and separate it by unscrewing the latch that is on the side. Finally, reassemble the computer by reversing the steps.

Bigger version of Dell Latitude 2010

The screw orientation is different but the steps are the same as above.

Macbook 2010

There are two tabs located on the computer, pull those and the battery should pop out, exposing the interior screws. Unscrew the screws, keeping them organized, and remove the protective metal. Then, the memory should appear, pull the two tabs on the slide to remove it. Next, remove the Torx screws which are hexagonal, and unscrew all of the remaining screws. Once all of the screws are removed, turn the computer around and open it from the top; be careful when dealing with the interior of the computer. Next, in the bottom left-hand corner, gently remove any obstructions to the hard drive. Pull out the SATA ribbon cable and replace the hard drive by aligning the SATA ports and plugging the ribbon cables back. Finally, close the computer back up and re-screw everything.

Memory

Windows and PC

First, unscrew the two screws at the bottom edge of the computer to access the memory. Pull on the two tabs on the side and that will release the memory (there are two). Then reverse the process to replace the memory.

Windows/PC Number 2

Remove the screws (same ones as before), pull on the tabs on the edge and remove it. Then unscrew all of the remaining screws and open the computer up. Locate the memory and remove it by pulling on the two tabs to release it.

Q&A and web resources:

What is the difference between hard drives and Solid State Drives (SSD)?

  • SSDs are faster, newer, last longer, thinner, and less expensive than hard drives
  • They both connect to the same slots

Wiping hard drives and factory resets

Can you use DBAN to clear hard drives? https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-wipe-a-hard-drive-2624527

What is the best way to preserve the product key when wiping the hard drive?

  • Depends on the computer, but usually, with Dell, the product key can be found underneath the battery on a sticker. Trevor says to take a picture of the product key in case the battery power runs out during the clean install.
  • Magical Jellybean product lookup or Produkey can also help to find the product key. https://www.wikihow.com/Check-Your-Windows-Product-Key

EqOpTech team would like to thank Trevor Smith for an informative tech workshop. The session has been recorded and shared with students in this post. For further questions, please reach out to Trevor via Slack.