Vostro 1540 HDD dead - How to dissasemble and replace?

Hi,

my Vostro 1540 took a dive this morning. It doesn't detect the HDD, starts to boot from network and outputs the error PXE-E61. So, either my HDD is a goner or hopefully the cables are the culprit.

The problem is I just can't disassemble it. The bottom and top seem to be in one part - i's like the whole part with the hardware was just lid in between them, I can't find a way to pull them apart. I took out the keyboard and the two screws under it, but that's it.

Can anyone help? Notebook is about 5 months old, used for school, regularly maintained and there's no reason for the HDD to fail, unless it was a lemon from the start.

 

Dell computers almost always have a great service manual publicly available.

Link: http://support.dell.com/support/edocs/systems/vos1540/en/SM/sm_en.pdf

 

Thanx! I did manage to open it, and to my surprise, the HDD had fell out of the slot completely

So, I seated it back in, reconnected it back, and now it won't turn on. Not a peep.

Cleared the CMOS and it booted immaediately after I plugged in the power cable and worked, but the power button doesn't eork at all. I can only start it by clearing COMS.

Local hardware guy tells me it's probably something with the motherboard and that it can only be repaired by the Dell service and it's probably gonna cost as much as the notebook itseld. Is that true?

 

if your out of warranty then a motherboard can cost 200 - 300 hundred dollars to replace.