Dismantling the 531H

I searched for hours to get some instructions on how to disassemble the 531H as I needed to remove the hard drive on my daughter's netbook and came up empty. I found a few references to other Aspire One models, and I found some videos discussing the features of the 531, but nothing about taking it apart, so I finally just did it.

I don't have any pictures right now, but it is actually pretty straight forward.

Remove the battery
Remove the four screws on the front edge of the underside
Remove the one screw marked at the corner near the VGA port on the bottom
Remove the two screws on the back side - one on either side of the screen hinges
You DO NOT need to remove the two on the bottom of the unit directly behind the rubber feet and under the hinges
Flip it over now
The keyboard is held on with three little clips. You can just make them out along the top edge.
Using a flat head screwdriver, push one of the clips in - one on either side, not the center one. Using something else, gently pry the keyboard up on the corner you have unclipped and keep a little pressure on it. Now do the center one, and the other end. There are also small clips on either side. Once they are all released the keyboard just pops up.
Remove the ribbon cable that connects the keyboard by flipping up the retaining bar and sliding it out.
Disconnect the other two ribbon cables - they have little blue tabs on them and are held in with a similar mechanism.
Remove 9 screws holding the top cover plate

At this point it's about to come apart.
Start gently prying the top plate off from the front edges. You will see that the side plates are loose (they were held on by clips and the two screws on the back edge that you took out before). Take the side plates off and continue to gently work your way around the edge of the top plate and eventually it will come off.

I needed to get at the hard drive which is fairly obvious at this point. There is a small connector that needs to be disconnected and 3 or 4 screws holding the hard drive in place.

That's it!

Hope this helps someone. I searched high and low for this info and finally just had to have a go at it.

 

A couple of points I just realized as I put it back together:

Take note of the screw sizes. I always put screws from one area in a group so I knew where they came from.

When removing the screws that are under the keyboard - there is one that is shorter than the rest - it is the one to the left of the keyboard ribbon connector and it is marked on the chassis with a different notation indicating that it is shorter.

The screw for the Kensington lock that is marked with a K near the VGA port is longer than the other screws on the bottom.

That's about it I think.

I got pictures but they are on my phone. I will try and put them up when I have time.