Tips for remembering which screws go where

Taking apart TBs and notebooks in general i have a hard time remember where the screws go. As some are very similar but different size others totally different. I was wondering which methods you all use to remember which screws go where???

 

To remember them, I like to give them individual names with name tags

Get a plastic container that has separate compartments like this

Utility Boxes - Large Storage Case

later

 

I've done is so frakking many times that I've remebered it... However, if it's a model I'm not familiar with I have TONS of little bins and I sort them out by section.

For example when I take a screen apart I put all the screws from that screen in a little bin. When I take apart a hard drive caddy I put all those screws in a different bin. Motherboard in a seperate bin, case assembly seperate, yada yada yada...

 

On a Toughbook I have no problem now ;-) , but on other devices I start with a photo and print it on an sheet to place the screws with a piece of adhesive to the picture on the right place.

 

Put them into bags labelled with the reference number that the exploded view in the service manual gives you.

 

I learned this from an Apple-related website:

Make a template of the system with a line sketch of each part where screws are located on a piece of cardboard. Then punch the srews into the appropriate location in the cardboard as you take them out. It's simple then to get the screws back in the right locations. My son used this when replacing the drive in his Macbook for the first time. Worked like a charm.

 

I use a variant on this theme; I have a large workbench, so I'll lay the screws out in a pattern approximating the order in which they were removed. If I have internal screws, I'll lay them out in their own pattern as a separate layer, and so on.

I also make it a habit to take a quick snapshot of the layout before I start; this helps me remember where the silver ones/black ones/gold ones are in different places, plus it helps me remember where wires need to be routed. This habit has saved my arse a hundred times when I couldn't figure out where that one funny-shaped bit of tin came off of, or why this wire won't reach where I KNOW it needs to plug in...

mnem
Screwed.