Saturday, May 1, 2010

I Totally Just Replaced The Keyboard On My Laptop All By Myself

With a little help from Dell.com for instructions.  And I have no IT background whatsoever.  It took $11 and five minutes and I feel like I have a new laptop!

My left shift key died what seems like forever ago, and the 'N' key bit it about a month ago.  Lately the 'A' key and another I can't remember right now were starting to go.  I ordered a new keyboard from Ebay for $10.99 and free shipping.  I was a little nervous about it but I went with a top-rated seller and crossed my fingers.  The keyboard came in about a week ago and I've been nervous about trying. 

Today I bit the bullet and memorized the instructions on Dell's website.  I thought they were too short to worry about printing.  I took out the battery and disconnected the power cord and went at it!  The faceplate snapped off and the old keyboard was secured with two itty-bitty screws.  Unfastening the ribbon cable was a little scary; I couldn't figure out the release so had to go look up the instructions again on another pc.  But I figured it out and here I am, back up to my 70+ wpm due to all keys being in working order!  Who knew it would only take $11 and a few minutes to fix something that's been a thorn in my side for months.  Yay me!

Have a fab weekend.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

that is awesome, way to go :)

Agnes said...

Yay you rock!!

Cammy@TippyToeDiet said...

Woo-hoo! I so understand this feeling! I replaced a toilet lever, and you would have thought I'd built an entire house. :)

liz said...

thanks ladies! i do feel pretty darned proud of myself even though it's a small thing :)