Introduction
This repair guide will aid you in taking apart your IBM ThinkPad T41 laptop to reach and replace its CPU.
What you need
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Close the screen and turn the closed laptop over.
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Remove all 17 screws on the bottom of the computer.
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The yellow marker at the rear denotes the UltraBay device retaining screw. This screw is optional as the UltraBay mechanism will hold the drive or battery in place anyway. The yellow marker at the front denotes the hard disk caddy retaining screw.
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Turn the laptop right side up and open the screen.
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Lift the keyboard, using a spudger at the seam between the keyboard and trackpad.
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Unplug the keyboard’s ribbon cable, by lifting up the edges of the plug.
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Remove the keyboard.
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Close the laptop and turn it over.
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Remove the five plastic stickers covering the screws on the front edge of the case.
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Turn the computer right side up and open the screen.
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Lift the trackpad assembly by placing hands on both edges and then pull towards you till it is free of the case.
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Pull off the one black and one white coaxial cables by lifting the tabs labeled main and aux (for auxiliary).
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Remove the screw on the left hand side of the case, above the expansion slot.
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Lift the black plastic border by lifting on either side.
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Once the sides are up, pull the border towards you and away from the screen.
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When lifting up, there are two pairs of plastic clips hooking into the fan grill. If you pull hard enough the border will come away, but it's better to push the clips with the spudger.
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Lift out the expansion slot by starting at the entrance hole and pulling upward.
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Remove the three screws holding down the modem in the upper left corner of the laptop.
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Pull out the wire that connects the modem to the screen.
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Unplug the other cable that attaches the modem to the motherboard
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Close the computer screen.
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Remove the four screws on the back of the laptop, near the right and left hinges.
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Open the laptop screen.
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Remove the single screw that secures the left hinge to top of the computer.
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Carefully pull up the long antenna cables that were attached to the wireless network card.
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Remove the rubber microphone cover in the upper left hand corner by lifting up the gray metal frame.
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Remove three screws near the edge of the computer, holding the optical bay and HDD covers.
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Remove three other screws on the other side of the covers.
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Turn the CPU retaining screw 90 degrees counterclockwise.
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Carefully pull the CPU out of its socket.
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To reassemble your device, follow these instructions in reverse order.
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Team
Cal Poly, Team 7-8, Maness Spring 2010 Member of Cal Poly, Team 7-8, Maness Spring 2010
CPSU-MANESS-S10S7G8
4 Members
29 Guides authored
1 Guide Comment
The disassembly of the machine goes way too far. Due to my experience it’s enough to remove keyboard, palm rest/ touchpad unit (only unscrew it and set a bit aside from fan) and fan (there are different versions, long/ short). Then you can exchange/ replace the CPU an reassamble all the stuff. This shortens the time needed to about 10 to 15 minutes. Don’t forget to add some thermal compound to assure heat flow between CPU and fan. I needed to replace a Banias with a Dothan CPU to have the NX CPU flag available. NX is a prereq for Windows 10.
