The make and model number is often printed on the bottom of the laptop, but is sometimes also printed above the keyboard on the inside of the laptop.
You can also go directly to the manufacturer’s website to get your laptop’s manual or maintenance guide. If it’s available, download the laptop’s service and maintenance guide, because it will have detailed information about the specific hardware you can use to upgrade your laptop.
For more information, click More Info, and then click the Memory tab.
Your laptop manual will likely have a safe-handling section. This might be labeled something like “guidelines to working inside your laptop. ”
Stay away from materials that generate static electricity (e. g. carpets and rugs). Ground yourself by touching a piece of uncoated metal before starting the upgrade. Wear an anti-static wrist strap if you have one available. Keep new components in their ESD-safe packaging until you need them. Use tools that are ESD-safe.
Hold the power key on your keyboard for 5 to 10 seconds to discharge any remaining electricity.
Discharging an internal battery below 25% lowers the chance of a fire or toxic fumes in the event of battery damage.
Internal batteries are often connected to the rest of the computer by a multi-cable plug. However, battery connectors can vary. Refer to your laptop manual for information on disconnecting the battery.
If you can’t find the information in the laptop manual, there are tools online that will show you the correct RAM for a specific make and model of laptop. Click here for an example of one of these tools. You can check out our standalone guide on increasing laptop memory for more info.
If you’re using more than one RAM memory module, you need to make sure that they’re each the same size. For example, you can’t use a 2 GB RAM module with a 4 GB RAM module. They’ll both need to be 2 GB, for example.
Your laptop maintenance guide will have very specific instructions on how to do this.
The make and model number is often printed on the bottom of the laptop, but is sometimes also printed above the keyboard on the inside of the laptop.
You can also go directly to the manufacturer’s website to get your laptop’s manual or maintenance guide. If it’s available, download the laptop’s service and maintenance guide, because it will have detailed information about the specific hardware you can use to upgrade your laptop.
In a search engine, search for the specific models of hard drives that are compatible with your laptop. If the hard drive isn’t the right physical size, it won’t fit in your laptop. Some laptops can replace their hard drive with a solid state drive, a faster type of storage. They tend to cost more than hard drives, but the speed boost might be worth it if opening applications and loading files feels slow on your computer.
On Windows 8, System Image Backup is the program you can use to backup your hard drive. On Windows 7 and earlier, it’s called Backup and Restore. [4] X Research source On Mac OS X 10. 5 or newer, you can use Time Machine to back up your hard drive. You can also use the Disk Utility to back up your hard drive to CD or DVD. If you want to start fresh with your new hard drive, don’t backup to the new hard drive. Install your operating system, and then install and copy over any files that you need.
Clonezilla is a multi-platform, free, open source disk cloning utility. [5] X Research source There is a large number of cloning software for all of the major operating systems. [6] X Research source
The cloning software will check to make sure the new hard drive is large enough to clone the old hard drive to it.
If you’re not sure how to get to the hard drive for you laptop, refer to the user manual or maintenance guide for your laptop.
For general information, go to our guide on formatting a laptop hard drive!
The make and model number is often printed on the bottom of the laptop, but is sometimes also printed above the keyboard on the inside of the laptop.
You can also go directly to the manufacturer’s website to get your laptop’s manual or maintenance guide. If it’s available, download the laptop’s service and maintenance guide, because it will have detailed information about the specific hardware you can use to upgrade your laptop.
For more detailed info, see our guide on installing a wi-fi card.
The make and model number is often printed on the bottom of the laptop, but is sometimes also printed above the keyboard on the inside of the laptop.
You can also go directly to the manufacturer’s website to get your laptop’s manual or maintenance guide. If it’s available, download the laptop’s service and maintenance guide, because it will have detailed information about the specific hardware you can use to upgrade your laptop.
In a search engine, search for the specific video or sound cards that are compatible with your laptop. See our guide on swapping out your laptop’s video card for more detailed upgrade info. Your laptop might support using an external graphics card. This can often be easier than installing a new one, since you just plug it in to the laptop!
For some high-end laptops, removing a panel on the bottom will provide access to the graphics card. For the rest, you’ll need to follow the remaining steps to get to the graphics card slot.
In order to keep track of the different screws, use clear adhesive tape to tape related screws to a piece of paper or cardboard, and then label them. Some laptops secure the keyboard with latches that let you detach the keyboard without having to unscrew it.
On a Mac the processor is soldered to the mainboard. [7] X Expert Source Luigi OppidoComputer & Tech Specialist Expert Interview. 31 July 2019. Video chips and sometimes the hard drive is soldered to the mainboard. [8] X Expert Source Luigi OppidoComputer & Tech Specialist Expert Interview. 31 July 2019. Macs are usually the least customizable and least upgradable machines. [9] X Expert Source Luigi OppidoComputer & Tech Specialist Expert Interview. 31 July 2019.
