Manuals

Drive Assemblies: Dell™ Inspiron™ 3500 Portable Computer System Reference

	Hard-Disk Drive Disassembly		CD-ROM/DVD-ROM Drive Disassembly
	Diskette Drive Disassembly		Zip Drive Disassembly

Hard-Disk Drive Disassembly

CAUTION: The following procedure should be performed only by depot repair technicians.

1 Plastic tab 2 Flex cable 3 Plastic pull 4 Hard-disk drive connector 5 Plastic retainer 6 Plastic carrier 7 4-mm screw 8 Hard-disk drive

To disassemble the hard-disk drive, perform the following steps:

1. Remove the hard-disk drive from the base of the computer.
2. Remove the 4-mm screw from the side of the hard-disk drive.
3. Lift up the large plastic tab that the screw had previously secured.
   There are a series of small plastic tabs along the three sides of the plastic carrier.
4. Unsnap the plastic carrier along three sides.
5. Turn the carrier over in your hand so that the hard-disk drive partially falls into your hand.
   The 9.5-mm hard-disk drive uses a spacer inside the plastic carrier for proper fit.
6. Slide the hard-disk drive connector out of the plastic retainer inside the plastic carrier and remove the drive completely from the carrier.
7. Use the plastic pull to remove the flex cable from the hard-disk drive.

NOTE: Although the connector may not be as wide as the set of pins, it is keyed so that it can only fit one way on the pins.

Diskette Drive Disassembly

CAUTION: The following procedure should be performed only by depot repair technicians.

1 4-mm screws (2) 2 Metal bracket 3 Lower plastic 4 Diskette drive 5 Upper plastic

To disassemble the diskette drive, perform the following steps:

1. Remove the diskette drive from the media bay.
2. Remove the two 4-mm screws from the top of the diskette drive assembly.
3. Carefully unsnap the upper plastic from the lower plastic.
   The upper plastic is held in place by a series of internal plastic tabs around the edge of the holder.
4. Lift the diskette drive out of the lower plastic.
   The metal bracket for the connector may lift out as you remove the diskette drive.

CD-ROM/DVD-ROM Drive Disassembly

CAUTION: The following procedure should be performed only by depot repair technicians.

1 Metal plate 2 5-mm screws 3 Mounting bracket 4 3-mm mounting bracket screw 5 Lower plastic 6 3-mm drive assembly screws (2) 7 CD-ROM drive or DVD-ROM drive 8 Upper plastic

To disassemble the CD-ROM drive or optional DVD-ROM drive, perform the following steps:

1. Remove the CD-ROM drive or the optional DVD-ROM drive from the media bay.
2. Remove the 3-mm screws from both sides of the drive assembly.
3. Insert a flat blade into the slots on the side of the upper plastic and carefully pry the upper plastic away from the lower plastic.
   A series of internal plastic tabs holds the plastic in place.
4. Remove two 5-mm screws securing the drive into the lower plastic.
5. Turn the drive assembly over so that the drive falls out of the lower plastic into your hand.
6. Slide the metal plate off of the end of the drive.
7. Remove the 3-mm screw holding the mounting bracket to the drive, and then remove the bracket.
8. Remove (and save for installation) any Kapton tape securing the drive cable.
9. Disconnect the cable.

NOTE: To remove the media from the CD-ROM drive or DVD-ROM drive once the power to the drive is off, insert a small, thin object (such as one end of a paper clip) into the pinhole near the drive’s LED. This ejects the media tray so that you can retrieve the CD or DVD.

Zip Drive Disassembly

CAUTION: The following procedure should be performed only by depot repair technicians.

1 5-mm screws (2) 2 Metal bracket 3 Lower plastic 4 Zip drive 5 Upper plastic

To disassemble the optional Zip drive, perform the following steps:

1. Remove the optional Zip drive from the media bay.
2. Remove the two 5-mm screws from the top of the drive assembly.
3. Carefully unsnap the upper plastic from the lower plastic.
   The upper plastic is held in place by a series of internal plastic tabs around the edge of the holder.
4. Lift the Zip drive out of the lower plastic.
   The metal bracket for the connector may lift out as you remove the Zip drive.

NOTE: To remove the media from the Zip drive once the power to the drive is off, insert a small, thin object (such as one end of a paper clip) into the pinhole in the drive’s LED. This ejects the Zip disk.

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