Dell Latitude E5540 Disassembly

Turn the laptop upside down

Slide the two switches to the outside until an orange marker appears.

Remove the battery by sliding it out

Remove the four M2x5 and 2 M2x8 screws with a Phillips PH0 screwdriver

Remove the bottom plate by gently lifting it from the empty battery space

Remove the RAM by pushing the metal parts slightly outward

The RAM will pop up and you can carefully slide it out

Remove the four M2x3 screws with a Phillips PH0 screwdriver

Slide the hard drive cradle out by pulling the plastic tab

Remove one M2x5 screw with a Phillips PH0 screwdriver

Use a blackstick to push out the optical drive and pull it further out by hand

Use a blackstick to carefully disconnect the battery connector

Gently guide the cable through the narrowed part and remove the battery that is held in place with double sided tape

Gently disconnect the white and black cable from the module with a blackstick

Remove one M2x3 screw with a Phillips PH0 screwdriver. The module will push up

Remove the module by sliding it out

Turn the laptop over and open the screen, carefully place the spudger under the top panel near the bottom left Ctrl key and push up

Gently remove the rest of the panel

Remove four silver screws with a Phillips PH0 screwdriver, slide the keyboard up a couple of millimetres then lift it up away from you to expose the ribbon cable

Disconnect the ribbon cable with the help of a spudger and remove the keyboard

Remove the M2x3 screw from the rear of the cowling using a Phillips #0 screwdriver

Remove the M2x8 screw from the inside of the cowling using a Phillips #0 screwdriver. Gently remove the cowling minding the catch on the bottom

Repeat the same steps on the opposite side to remove the second cowling