Dell Vostro 3450 Disk Removal Sticking Point

[jeff_rix]

Hello, Step 5 Carefully Remove The Keyboard, I got that far using two plastic credit cards in seems and verified all screws are out, but there seems to be something hanging onto the middle of the keyboard near the space bar. The keyboard near the center, near the space bar, is too tight, still seems connected somehow - yet there are no screws near there, within an inch or more - nothing. I also pressed down on the License Keys paper tag, etc. for any paper covered hidden hole(s) and found nothing. Any suggestions ?? More force might break the KB

 

[WR2]

Hello jeff_rix;

You might drop this question into the Dell Vostro community forums.
You're a lot more likely to find someone who's already been down the road you're on.
Or maybe the SSD's community forums if you're upgrading with a SSD?

 

[jeff_rix]

Hello, Step 5 Carefully Remove The Keyboard, I got that far using two plastic credit cards in seems and verified all screws are out, but there seems to be something hanging onto the middle of the keyboard near the space bar. The keyboard near the center, near the space bar, is too tight, still seems connected somehow - yet there are no screws near there, within an inch or more - nothing. I also pressed down on the License Keys paper tag, etc. for any paper covered hidden hole(s) and found nothing. Any suggestions ?? More force might break the KB

I figured out Step 5 eventually. The Keyboard referred to in Step 5 is in the upper half of the laptop, adjacent to the LCD screen and above the touch-pad. The mistake I was making was trying underneath the touch-pad, instead of the upper half where the chrome 1/8 inch plastic trim surrounds the KB. Taking a credit card to that area pops the KB out just as described in Step 5. Step 10 is optional if you do not pull on the monitor cable. Step 10 is required if you are not good at working in tighter spaces.
Step 12 for me was a two step process, where there is a smaller daughter card attached to the larger, main motherboard with CPU etc. After the daughter-card sockets are pulled apart, there are 2 of them about a 1/4 inch apart, the motherboard easily comes out when all screws removed. The daughter-card has about 2 or more hard to get to screws, one behind the LCD hinge, so I found it better to separate the daughter card.

 

[jeff_rix]

I figured out Step 5 eventually. The Keyboard referred to in Step 5 is in the upper half of the laptop, adjacent to the LCD screen and above the touch-pad. The mistake I was making was trying underneath the touch-pad, instead of the upper half where the chrome 1/8 inch plastic trim surrounds the KB. Taking a credit card to that area pops the KB out just as described in Step 5. Step 10 is optional if you do not pull on the monitor cable. Step 10 is required if you are not good at working in tighter spaces.
Step 12 for me was a two step process, where there is a smaller daughter card attached to the larger, main motherboard with CPU etc. After the daughter-card sockets are pulled apart, there are 2 of them about a 1/4 inch apart, the motherboard easily comes out when all screws removed. The daughter-card has about 2 or more hard to get to screws, one behind the LCD hinge, so I found it better to separate the daughter card. - Jeff_Rix