Dell Vostro 3450 Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) Card Replacement

Written By: Johnathan Hammond
  • Comments: 9
Dell Vostro 3450 Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) Card Replacement

Difficulty

Moderate

Steps

28

Time Required

30 minutes - 1 hour

Introduction

In this guide, we will be showing you how to remove and replace the Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) Card.

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    • Slide the left and the right battery release latches to the unlock position.

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    • Slide the battery and remove it from the computer.

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    • Press the keyboard down. Pry the keyboard with the use of a flat-head screwdriver towards the display to reveal the first keyboard retainer.

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    • Pry up the second keyboard retainer.

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    • Pry up the third keyboard retainer.

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    • Pry up the fourth keyboard retainer.

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    • Pull up the keyboard from the palm rest.

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    • Release the latch on the system board connector, then disconnect the keyboard cable.

    • If this is all you are doing Follow Step In Reverse if not Go to Next Step.

    It is also required to loose the screw just beside the latch mentioned in this step.

    fernandolordao -

    These (and Dell’s) instructions don’t mention that you have to disconnect a second keyboard cable. It’s a 4 pin ZIF connector, you can see it in the picture above, already disconnected.

    BorpoIT -

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    • Loosen the screw that secures the memory door.

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    • Pry up the memory door near the screw hole, lift and remove it.

    • If this is all you are doing Follow Step In Reverse if not Go to Next Step.

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    • Remove the screw that secures the optical drive to the computer.

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    • Gently pry the optical drive out of the computer.

    Make sure you have loosen the screw beside the keyboard cable latch, mentioned in the comments of Step 8.

    fernandolordao -

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    • Remove the screws that secure the optical drive bracket.

    You can skip this step when replacing the HDD, it isn’t necessary at all.

    BorpoIT -

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    • Remove the optical drive bracket from the optical drive module.

    You can skip this step when replacing the HDD, it isn’t necessary at all.

    BorpoIT -

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    • Remove the screws in the battery compartment.

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    • Remove the screws in the optical drive compartment.

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    • Remove the rubber from the bottom base on the right side.

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    • Remove the rubber from the bottom base on the left side.

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    • Remove all the screws from the bottom base.

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    • Flip the computer around and remove the screws that secures the palm rest.

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    • Release the latches on the system board connector, then disconnect the touch pad cable and the finger printer cable.

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    • Release the latch on the system board connector and then disconnect the power button cable.

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    • Release the latch on the system board connector and then disconnect the hot key cable.

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    • Pry up the right side of the palm rest.

    There are a couple of latches on the front of the palm rest which should be released before you move on to the sides. I think one of those latches is released in the picture above. The iFixit opening tool was helpful here, and I used some of the iFixit opening picks to stop the corner latches from closing while I worked on others.

    BorpoIT -

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    • Pry up the left side of the palm rest.

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    • Pry up the sides of the palm rest and remove it from the computer.

    • If this is all you are doing Follow Step In Reverse if not Go to Next Step.

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    • Remove the screw that secures the WLAN card.

    You can skip this step if you decide not to remove the display.

    BorpoIT -

  28. WCWiUGXo3qseHUER

    • Pull the WLAN card straight out of its socket and remove it.

    • If this is all you are doing Follow Step In Reverse if not Go to Next Step.

    You can skip this step, it isn’t strictly necessary.

    Cons of removing the WLAN card:

    o I found the screw in the last step very stubborn, worried about stripping it.

    o Takes time.

    Pros of removing the WLAN card:

    o Might make disconnecting the system board a little easier later. I had no trouble with the WLAN card in place though.

    BorpoIT -

Author

Johnathan Hammond

Member since: 28/02/18

45306 Reputation

One comment

Thank you so much. It is very helpful!

-Anosh

Anosh Shrestha -