Installing MacBook Core 2 Duo Hard Drive Replacement

Add Note Introduction

You can install hard drives up to 9.5mm thick.

Paginated Single Page Steps

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Add Note Step 1 — Battery

  • Use a coin to rotate the battery-locking screw 90 degrees clockwise.

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Add Note Step 2

  • Lift the battery out of the computer.

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Add Note Step 3 — Memory Cover

  • Unscrew the three evenly-spaced Phillips screws from along the rear wall of the battery compartment.

  • The screws are captive to the metal memory cover.

Add NoteNotes: Step 1

ServiceDocs's avatar
Flag Reply by ServiceDocs Nov 7 @ 12:08 PM

I used this guide plus the Thermal Paste guide to resolve my MacBook RRS (Random Restart Syndrome) issue. My MacBook would randomly restart after the fan kicked into high speed. When I removed the heatsink I discovered an an irregular patch completely free of thermal compound of about 15-20% of the area on one of the processors. I removed and re-applied the thermal paste. I ran a memory test utility overnight that previously caused a restart after a couple of hours, and the probelm seems to be solved. TIme will tell.

skraggle's avatar
Flag Reply by skraggle Nov 13 @ 1:58 PM

This guide was seriously helpful, so thanks for putting this together. I found a thick ribbon of dust/muck whatever between the fan outlet and the exhaust port that was almost as dense as felt. My fan must have been fighting like crazy trying to pass air through that blockage, which explains the high temps and excessive fan noise. Wish I'd done this sooner...

Thanks again!