Laptop repair mission

Well today I've had to swallow my pride and take the laptop into the computer repair shop, I remembered some information which I think helped them solve it, I remember them having a usb stick in when it was dropped, the impact was on the usb stick, this resulted in the usb ports no longer working, I only remembered this yesterday but I was wondering if that could have damaged the motherboard, he did say that it could have caused it to short something, he said it could take up to 2 days to diagnose, not sure if it takes a while or if he has a lot on but when I get an answer I will post back here with information so hopefully it might help anyone who has similar problems
 
my money is on dead processor.

but given that they are attached to the board then it'll likely need to be replaced.
 
my money is on dead processor.

but given that they are attached to the board then it'll likely need to be replaced.

I've never attempted to remove a laptop cpu, but I did see a pre owned one for that laptop for £6 so I was hoping it could be replaced, but then like I say, I've never tried so I guess not, shame, £6 wouldn't have been such an expensive repair. Intel Core Duo T4400 2.2GHz / 1M / 800 CPU PROCESSOR | eBay
 
UPDATE: the laptop is back from the shop, he was unable to perform the repair on the motherboard, it is the motherboard that's broken, he said most probably the impact to the usb port. £120 including fitting, after relaying this information to the owner (my girlfriends mum and dad). They kindly donated it to me knowing I'm wanting to learn how to repair it, so this really is my project now, I've spotted this Samsung R530 NP-R530 working motherboard (Right mouse bottom not working) | eBay unfortunately this probably won't be there when I get the money for the repair, but at least now I know for certain I can keep my eye out.
 
You'll have a least 4 screws leftover and won't know where they went, but the laptop will work fine ;)

At least in my experience.
 
You'll have a least 4 screws leftover and won't know where they went, but the laptop will work fine ;)

At least in my experience.

I'm with you there, I do have one tactic though, I have loads of cups lined up with labels on saying where different screw went, I'm hoping this will save me.
 
It's my experience that you'll likely knock at least 2 and possibly 3 of the cups over and will have to guess which ones go where.

Lately I've been using Duct Tape. Roll out a long strip and turn it sticky side up on the desk, then stick all the screws to it. Then use small pieces of tape stuck to label with. This way, even if you drop it, the screws all stay where they are supposed to.
 
It's my experience that you'll likely knock at least 2 and possibly 3 of the cups over and will have to guess which ones go where.

Lately I've been using Duct Tape. Roll out a long strip and turn it sticky side up on the desk, then stick all the screws to it. Then use small pieces of tape stuck to label with. This way, even if you drop it, the screws all stay where they are supposed to.

That's not a bad plan, sounds similar to what I seen someone do online, they got an A4 piece of paper, drawn a rough sketch of the motherboard, held the paper over and stuck the screw in the same place with selotape, I'm a little low on space for any of these methods though. It actually went reasonably smooth, I kept making silly mistakes and having to reopen and getting frustrated, but it's all back together with no damage, apart from the following ultimate face palm moment, which I've included a picture of, but I'll sort that tomorrow. Obviously when I find a working motherboard I'll have to apply some thermal paste. The only screw I lost is the one from the H.D.D cover, but this was labelled really well I thought, I'm guessing some laptops will be more complicated, but it's a start.

 
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