Installing MacBook Core Duo Upper Case

This is a difficult project. It is imperative that you read the entire guide before you proceed. Have a system in place to keep track of the screws so you know what goes where. Budget several hours for this.

[quote|jonathan55]This is a difficult project. It is imperative that you read the entire guide before you proceed. Have a system in place to keep track of the screws so you know what goes where. Budget several hours for this.[/quote]

I found this to be the easiest upgrade I have ever done. New HDD and memory in ten minutes, start to finish. The hardest part was getting the #8 Torx screwdriver. Booted from the OSX disk, formatted the drive, (use the GUID scheme) and we're screaming along.

This is a great guide.

[quote|steve52]I found this to be the easiest upgrade I have ever done. New HDD and memory in ten minutes, start to finish. The hardest part was getting the #8 Torx screwdriver. Booted from the OSX disk, formatted the drive, (use the GUID scheme) and we're screaming along. This is a great guide.[/quote]

Brilliant guide from you guys. I tackled a cd drive replacement on my Dad's MacBook a little while ago, but my skills were really tested when I accidentally stood on my laptop - new LCD needed. A visit to Ebay (don't forget duties when importing!), and this LCD Display replacement guide are all I needed. Yes it took a while (2-3 hours), but as long as you remember you need to do everything backwards then it's straightforward. I wouldn't have known where to start without this guide so thanks for creating them.

Laurence

[quote|lglew]Brilliant guide from you guys. I tackled a cd drive replacement on my Dad's MacBook a little while ago, but my skills were really tested when I accidentally stood on my laptop - new LCD needed. A visit to Ebay (don't forget duties when importing!), and this LCD Display replacement guide are all I needed. Yes it took a while (2-3 hours), but as long as you remember you need to do everything backwards then it's straightforward. I wouldn't have known where to start without this guide so thanks for creating them. Laurence[/quote]

The guide is fantastic and the Airport Extreme Card upgrade took me less than an hour to complete. It wasn't very difficult. Some pointers: read the entire guide before undertaking the project; keep the screws from each step separated in labeled containers; buy a spludger if you don't already have one; keep a tweezer handy for the tiny screws; and take your time separating the keyboard from the computer so as to not crack/break the plastic bezel.

[quote|bvancott]The guide is fantastic and the Airport Extreme Card upgrade took me less than an hour to complete. It wasn't very difficult. Some pointers: read the entire guide before undertaking the project; keep the screws from each step separated in labeled containers; buy a spludger if you don't already have one; keep a tweezer handy for the tiny screws; and take your time separating the keyboard from the computer so as to not crack/break the plastic bezel.[/quote]

Quote from jonathan55:

This is a difficult project. It is imperative that you read the entire guide before you proceed. Have a system in place to keep track of the screws so you know what goes where. Budget several hours for this.

Nonsense! Even a non-technical person could follow this guide and do the job in 15 minutes. Anyone who's done any work on any kind of computer will be able to do this in 5-10 minutes.

[quote|eflyguy]Nonsense! Even a non-technical person could follow this guide and do the job in 15 minutes. Anyone who's done any work on any kind of computer will be able to do this in 5-10 minutes.[/quote]

Quote from eflyguy:

Nonsense! Even a non-technical person could follow this guide and do the job in 15 minutes. Anyone who's done any work on any kind of computer will be able to do this in 5-10 minutes.

i agree, me and my friend (both) 14, took this underway to clean out the inside of my computer for recreational purposes, piece of cake!

[quote|keeganmerom]i agree, me and my friend (both) 14, took this underway to clean out the inside of my computer for recreational purposes, piece of cake![/quote]

This nontechnical person took about two hours to get the optical drive out and stripped down enough to take it apart and look for fragments of a CD. and then reassemble it. I'm sure other people are faster than me, they usually are, but newbees should set aside the time just in case. Also, jonathan55 is right about those screws, keep track of them and the other in which they come out as there are several different lengths.

[quote|adamorth]This nontechnical person took about two hours to get the optical drive out and stripped down enough to take it apart and look for fragments of a CD. and then reassemble it. I'm sure other people are faster than me, they usually are, but newbees should set aside the time just in case. Also, jonathan55 is right about those screws, keep track of them and the other in which they come out as there are several different lengths.[/quote]

Umm, that's the ORDER in which they came out. Sheesh.

[quote|adamorth]Umm, that's the ORDER in which they came out. Sheesh.[/quote]

Great guide. Very easy to follow. I put in a replacement hard drive in less than 30 minutes.

[quote|prax5487]Great guide. Very easy to follow. I put in a replacement hard drive in less than 30 minutes.[/quote]

Extremely useful guide. Just replaced the topcase/trackpad/keyboard assembly in ~15 minutes. I've had a moderate amount of previous experience with computer repairs, but even so, anyone should be able to do this project successfully.

[quote|snharris]Extremely useful guide. Just replaced the topcase/trackpad/keyboard assembly in ~15 minutes. I've had a moderate amount of previous experience with computer repairs, but even so, anyone should be able to do this project successfully.[/quote]

The replacement takes about 10 minutes from start to finish. The longest part is the OS Backup/Restore...

BTW, you might want to know before you begin: if you have a similar size backup hard drive that you originally have in your computer, you should "Restore" the contents of the original hard drive onto it before starting this manual, using the Disk Utility. (Yes it's called Restore. You restore the original to the backup. lol.)

Your other alternative is to get an external enclosure for your SATA Laptop hard drive that has a Firewire port on it.

After the swap, you connect either the backup drive or the original drive in the external enclosure using Firewire, then boot while pressing the Option key. The backup drive will show up (possibly as the only boot option.) (In fact, now that I think about it, you might not even have to press the Option key, since the external drive should be the only boot option unless there is something in your DVD drive...)

Boot to the backup drive, then "Restore" its contents to the new internal hard drive using the Disk Utility. You should be set with your original OS, settings, etc.

[quote|ordody]The replacement takes about 10 minutes from start to finish. The longest part is the OS Backup/Restore... BTW, you might want to know before you begin: if you have a similar size backup hard drive that you originally have in your computer, you should "Restore" the contents of the original hard drive onto it before starting this manual, using the Disk Utility. (Yes it's called Restore. You restore the original to the backup. lol.) Your other alternative is to get an external enclosure for your SATA Laptop hard drive that has a Firewire port on it. After the swap, you connect either the backup drive or the original drive in the external enclosure using Firewire, then boot while pressing the Option key. The backup drive will show up (possibly as the only boot option.) (In fact, now that I think about it, you might not even have to press the Option key, since the external drive should be the only boot option unless there is something in your DVD drive...) Boot to the backup drive, then "Restore" its contents to the new internal hard drive using the Disk Utility. You should be set with your original OS, settings, etc.[/quote]

Overall I'd say this was easy if you've taken apart any computer-like device before. Total time was a little less than hour for me, and the most difficult part was getting all of the tiny screws back in; fan installation was a breeze.

[quote|paul46]Overall I'd say this was easy if you've taken apart any computer-like device before. Total time was a little less than hour for me, and the most difficult part was getting all of the tiny screws back in; fan installation was a breeze.[/quote]

There is a simpler way of installing the operating system than described in the notes. First do a time machine backup to a new external drive. This will force a total back-up and prevent problems of restoring everything as it was. Follow steps 1-8. Instead of quitting disk utility as described in step 9, go back into disk utility menu and on the very last line you will see the option to restore the operating system and all its files via the time machine option. It was a breeze, and I did not have to deal with steps 10-28

[quote|newsletter68]There is a simpler way of installing the operating system than described in the notes. First do a time machine backup to a new external drive. This will force a total back-up and prevent problems of restoring everything as it was. Follow steps 1-8. Instead of quitting disk utility as described in step 9, go back into disk utility menu and on the very last line you will see the option to restore the operating system and all its files via the time machine option. It was a breeze, and I did not have to deal with steps 10-28[/quote]

I am so grateful for this website! This is the first time I have opened a computer and the instillation is now done, 45 minutes later.

The key, as many others have written is the organization of the screws. It was very helpful for me to print out the individual pictures of the steps to follow. I then laid the screws, as I took them out, on the printed pictures that I placed on a table.

The key is a little mindfulness...relax... and it is fun! Enjoy!

[quote|juztino]I am so grateful for this website! This is the first time I have opened a computer and the instillation is now done, 45 minutes later. The key, as many others have written is the organization of the screws. It was very helpful for me to print out the individual pictures of the steps to follow. I then laid the screws, as I took them out, on the printed pictures that I placed on a table. The key is a little mindfulness...relax... and it is fun! Enjoy![/quote]

Quote from jonathan55:

This is a difficult project. It is imperative that you read the entire guide before you proceed. Have a system in place to keep track of the screws so you know what goes where. Budget several hours for this.

I am so grateful for this website! This is the first time I have opened a computer and the instillation is now done, 45 minutes later.

The key, as many others have written is the organization of the screws. It was very helpful for me to print out the individual pictures of the steps to follow. I then laid the screws, as I took them out, on the printed pictures that I placed on a table.

The key is a little mindfulness...relax... and it is fun! Enjoy!

[quote|juztino]I am so grateful for this website! This is the first time I have opened a computer and the instillation is now done, 45 minutes later. The key, as many others have written is the organization of the screws. It was very helpful for me to print out the individual pictures of the steps to follow. I then laid the screws, as I took them out, on the printed pictures that I placed on a table. The key is a little mindfulness...relax... and it is fun! Enjoy![/quote]

This is a terrific guide. Thank you very much for providing it.

Some of the screws may be different sizes in different 'books. Keeping them separated, or measuring as you remove them, helps. Also, a few of the rubber spacers, etc are not the same in mine as in the photos, and some connectors also differ. I found it helpful to take notes at each Step when they differed from the picture. A guitar pick helps when trying to get the top case free.

[quote|RichR]This is a terrific guide. Thank you very much for providing it. Some of the screws may be different sizes in different 'books. Keeping them separated, or measuring as you remove them, helps. Also, a few of the rubber spacers, etc are not the same in mine as in the photos, and some connectors also differ. I found it helpful to take notes at each Step when they differed from the picture. A guitar pick helps when trying to get the top case free.[/quote]

Quote from jonathan55:

This is a difficult project. It is imperative that you read the entire guide before you proceed. Have a system in place to keep track of the screws so you know what goes where. Budget several hours for this.

Not quite sure what this guy is smoking, but he didn't share with the class. The hard drive replacement takes less than 5 minutes and is absolutely within the ability of anyone over the age of 7.

[quote|paul9]Not quite sure what this guy is smoking, but he didn't share with the class. The hard drive replacement takes less than 5 minutes and is absolutely within the ability of anyone over the age of 7.[/quote]

I found the Phillips #000 screwdriver better suited to this task. Additionally there is an issue with scredriver clearance in the battery compartment. You need a stubby screwdriver or something short to get a good angle on the screws.

[quote|cknausen]I found the Phillips #000 screwdriver better suited to this task. Additionally there is an issue with scredriver clearance in the battery compartment. You need a stubby screwdriver or something short to get a good angle on the screws.[/quote]