[GUIDE] Replace HDD in an ASUS U36JC/SD (WITH PICS!!)

I just thought i might make a guide on how to replace the hdd with an ssd because there isnt really a proper guide that i could find. To the extent of my knowledge, this will work for both the U36JC and the recently released U36SD from which i will be swapping the hdd out of .

This is my 1st guide so if anyone has any suggestions for improvement i will be open to them.

*******************************EDIT*******************************************

I got my u36sd back from warranty repair for the touchpad. I put the original hdd back in before i sent it in, and they didnt seem to notice/care. No problems at all!

Here we go!!

1. Unplug laptop and remove the battery. Flip the laptop onto the lid and locate the one plastic plate (for ram) in the middle of the laptop. Remove the lone screw and remove the plate.

2. Remove the remaining 10 screws from the bottom of the laptop as circled in the picture below. Note that there ARE screws underneath the rubber feet. (Don't worry about mixing screws at this point. All 10 screws are identical)



3. Once all the screws have been removed from the bottom, remove the RAM. This can be done by moving the metal clips away from the RAM chip on both sides. It should just pop up and then you can remove it.

4. Now remove the ribbon cables for both the touchpad and the keyboard. For the touchpad, lift up the black plastic tab and gently pull the ribbon cable out of its slot. Let it hang, but do not attempt to pull it out of the laptop. For the keyboard, pull the black tabs on the sides of the ribbon cable as arrowed in the picture below with your nails or a flathead screwdriver. Now you can safely remove the keyboard ribbon cable from its slot. Again do not attempt to pull the cable out of the laptop.



5. Flip laptop back over onto its rubber feet and open the lid. Take a flathead (put some scotch/electrical tape to avoid scratching) or a safe pry tool (which i used) and slide it between the upper case and lower case of the laptop. Start from the corner where the U36 sticker is located. Slide the tool all the way around the border of the laptop till you release all the clips.

6. Now if you released all the clips and both the ribbon cables, you can now take the upper case off. It is now only held in with a couple pieces of double sided tape.

7. Once the upper case is off, locate the hdd. There are 5 screws holding the hdd carriage in place. Locate them in the picture and remove all 5. Once all 5 have been removed, slide the carriage back using the black plastic tab provided.



8. The hdd carriage can now be removed from the system. There are 4 screws holding the hdd to the carriage. Remove those 4 screws and take off the electric tape from the bottom of the hdd. The hdd can now be removed from the carriage.

9. Place the replacement hdd/ssd in the carriage and follow steps in reverse order for assembly.

All pictures were taken with a samsung galaxy s2!

Let me know if this worked for you and how easy this guide was to follow. Feedback is appreciated.

 

Thank you for the very thorough guide! I'm amazed by the photo the Galaxy S2 takes.

On #5, you can always use credit cards to pry it out. I used 2 of them by the corners and used them as if I'm using a screwdriver. Insert one in, then use the other to guide. Repeat. It won't make any scratches.

 

thanks for the tip about the credit card. i never actually thought of using one =)

 

Hi!

Thanks for the guide I got my HDD replaced all by myself thanks to you! I just have one problem though I can't get the touchpad cable back in place and can't get the little black plastic piece back in there with the cable. In your picture it seems like the plastic pin goes under the cable? And I can't remember exactly how it's supposed to go back in there. Any advice?

Thanks!

 

the tab for the touchpad connector should open upwards and then the cable should go inside the connector. Once the cable is in it should lock by pressing the tab down. It should be pretty simple. I think i had already took the cable out when i took that picture. =)

 

Hello!

Does anyone have any suggestions for which HDDs that are suitable for this operation? I have no doubt that I'll be able to do the physical replacement but I lack knowledge about laptop HDD compliance. I wouldn't want to get a HDD that doesn't fit in the U36SD. I would appreciate if anyone could hint at what I should look for when checking out the market.

Thanks

 

i would assume that any 2.5" sata laptop drive would work fine. Are you looking to upgrade to a 7200rpm drive or a ssd? I would HIGHLY recommend getting an ssd for the speed and the temps. I noticed my laptop ran much cooler after putting the ssd in.

 

While i took my U36SD apart i found that the keyboard is glued to a component of the motherboard. I am unsure if anyone else has experienced this, but i scratched the motherboard part trying to cut it from the keyboard foil. The computer still works but has some weird issues.

If anyone can help I have created a thread here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/686448-asus-u36sd-performance-issues.html

 

Hello i did all jus like you said but now my laptop wont start

 

How can i clone both the Recovery and OS partitions to a new SSD drive ?

 

Hello, I recently upgraded my hdd to an sdd but i ran into some trouble. The touchpad's cable was quite hard to get out and i managed to break the black plastic thing that was holding it in place. now the touchpad doesnt work so i was wondering is there a way to fix it? thanks

 

Question, how difficult would it be to do this upgrade? I have a U36SG which I believe is similar and I really like it aside from the mechanical HDD. I also have a U31SG which has a user-replaceable HDD (which I've already upgraded to SSD) but between the two, the U36SG just seems like a much higher quality product. The magnesium-aluminum alloy case on the U36SG makes it feel quite a bit more solid and able to withstand rougher handling. Alas, the HDD won't which is the primary reason I'd like to upgrade. Speed is just a secondary consideration.

I build my own desktops but I've never really worked with laptops before (aside from easy HDD and RAM upgrades). Do you guys think I'll be able to do this without ending up with a $700 doorstop? Thanks!

 

I've just done the same thing - I actually lost the plastic tab for securing the ribbon cable - did you manage to resolve your issue ?

Just wondering if the problem was fixable ?