CCICT-313

Teaching Common ICT

Competencies
Module 4:
Basic Assembly and Disassembly
of the System Unit
(Week 1)
 Computer Hardware Servicing
Last week, we looked at the different hardware parts of a
PC system, and then simulated putting a new PC
together from parts.
 Computer Hardware Servicing
This week, we’ll take apart (disassemble) a working
desktop PC, then put it all back together (assemble).
This Module is based on the competency assessment
for the now discontinued Computer Hardware Servicing
(CHS) National Certificate Level 2 (NC-2) certification
from TESDA.
 Computer Hardware Servicing
Module Outline
 Basic Assembly and Disassembly of the System Unit
 Before
 Work Area Considerations
 Tools and Equipment Needed
 During
 Anti-Static Electricity Procedures
 Last Out-First In
 Actual Disassembly
 Actual Assembly
 After
 Testing
 Cleaning up the Work Area
 But first …
Online Class Rules and Etiquette
Establishing Context and
Purpose
 Basic Assembly and
Disassembly of the System Unit
 Before Assemble/Disassembly
 Work Area Considerations

 Find if available a work area that is:

 Well ventilated,
 Well lighted through natural and/or artificial lighting,
 With available AC power outlets, and
 With a work bench or table.
 Basic Assembly and
Disassembly of the System Unit
 Before Assemble/Disassembly
 Work Area Considerations

 the dinner table is a good suggestion

 Basic Assembly and
Disassembly of the System Unit
 Before Assemble/Disassembly
 Tools and Equipment Needed

 Philips screwdriver, medium sized tip

 Basic Assembly and
Disassembly of the System Unit
 Before Assemble/Disassembly
 Tools and Equipment Needed

 Flashlight or cellphone with light

 Paintbrush or toothbrush
 Old rags
 Basic Assembly and
Disassembly of the System Unit
 Before Assemble/Disassembly
 Tools and Equipment Needed

 Pencil eraser
 Small containers to store screws
 Basic Assembly and
Disassembly of the System Unit
 Before Assemble/Disassembly
 Tools and Equipment Needed

 USB powered vacuum cleaner (not really needed but

nice to have)
 Basic Assembly and
Disassembly of the System Unit
 During Assemble/Disassembly
 Anti-Static Electricity Procedures

 Ground out your body by touching the bare metal at the

back of the system unit; do this often
 Do not touch the gold edge connectors and the legs of
the integrated circuits
 Basic Assembly and
Disassembly of the System Unit
 During Assemble/Disassembly
 Last Out, First In

 After disassembly, we’ll assemble the system unit again.

 It is thus important to remember what came from where
and what goes where.
 You can use your cellphone to take pictures of the
insides of the system unit for future reference.
 Basic Assembly and
Disassembly of the System Unit
 During Assemble/Disassembly
 Last Out, First In

 “Last out, First in” system: take the larger components

out first, placing them on a left-to-right arrangement on
the work table.
 When ready to re-assemble the system unit, install the
right-most component first (the last one taken out), then
work your way towards the left (the first ones removed
during disassembly).
 Basic Assembly and
Disassembly of the System Unit
 During Assemble/Disassembly
 Last Out, First In

 the components in the system unit will only fit into their
specific sockets, and these sockets and components are
designed so that you cannot insert them the wrong way
around.
 use only a very small amount of force when inserting
components into their sockets.
 Basic Assembly and
Disassembly of the System Unit
 During Assemble/Disassembly
 Actual Disassembly

 Place the system unit onto the work table with the back
end facing you.
 Touch the bare metal to ground out static electricity from
your body
 It’s probably dusty and dirty so clean it with the rag
 Basic Assembly and
Disassembly of the System Unit
 During Assemble/Disassembly
 Actual Disassembly

1. At the back of the system unit, use your Philips

screwdriver to remove the screws that hold the metal
covers onto the case
2. Remove the metal cover(s) and lay the system unit on
its side, motherboard side down
 Basic Assembly and
Disassembly of the System Unit
 During Assemble/Disassembly
 Actual Disassembly

3. Take note of all the wires and which sockets they are
inserted. The pins are labeled, remember these color
coding and where they come from. Take a picture on
your cellphone for future reference if necessary. Remove
these wires from their sockets on the motherboard.
 Basic Assembly and
Disassembly of the System Unit
 During Assemble/Disassembly
 Actual Disassembly

4. Unscrew the back of the expansion cards (if there are

any; if not skip to the next step). Take note which slots
they come from, then remove them. Clean the gold-edge
connectors with a pencil eraser then use the brush to
brush away the dirt and debris.
 Basic Assembly and
Disassembly of the System Unit
 During Assemble/Disassembly
 Actual Disassembly

5. Press down on the latches at each end of the RAM

memory modules. The modules should pop-up. Remove
them one by one and clean the gold-edge connectors
with the pencil eraser and the brush.
 Basic Assembly and
Disassembly of the System Unit
 During Assemble/Disassembly
 Actual Disassembly

6. Carefully unfasten the CPU fan and heatsink (the largest

fan and heatsink combination on the motherboard). Use
the brush to clean the dirt and dust away from the fan
and heatsink; but do not remove the thermal paste the
binds the heatsink to the CPU.
 Basic Assembly and
Disassembly of the System Unit
 During Assemble/Disassembly
 Actual Disassembly

7. On the side of the CPU socket there should be a small

lever. Unfasten this lever and pull it gently upwards.
Remove the CPU noting its orientation for when you
reinstall it when reassembling later. Do not touch the
connectors underneath the CPU and do not remove the
thermal paste on top of the CPU.
 Basic Assembly and
Disassembly of the System Unit
 During Assemble/Disassembly
 Actual Disassembly

8. At the back of the case, unscrew the four 6-32 screws

that hold the power supply to the case. Remove the
power supply. Unplug all the power cables that are
attached to the power supply. Use the rags and the
brush to clean the power supply
 Basic Assembly and
Disassembly of the System Unit
 During Assemble/Disassembly
 Actual Disassembly

9. Unscrew the M3 screws that hold the DVD drive, if there

is a DVD drive. Be careful when removing the SATA and
SATA power connectors at the back of the DVD drive.
These connectors are easy damaged. Carefully remove
the DVD drive from the drive bay. Use the rags and
brush to clean the DVD drive.
 Basic Assembly and
Disassembly of the System Unit
 During Assemble/Disassembly
 Actual Disassembly

10. Unscrew the 6-32 screws that hold the hard disk. Be
careful when removing the SATA and SATA power
cables from the back of the hard disk or hard disks.
Carefully remove the hard disk from the drive bays. Use
the rags and brush to clean the hard disk drive. DO NOT
DROP IT!
 Basic Assembly and
Disassembly of the System Unit
 During Assemble/Disassembly
 Actual Disassembly

11. Look at the motherboard taking note of the locations of

the fasteners that hold it to the motherboard. Unscrew or
unfasten these as needed. Carefully remove the
motherboard from the case, taking note its orientation so
we can put it back the same way when we reassemble.
Use the brush to clean the motherboard.
 Basic Assembly and
Disassembly of the System Unit
 During Assemble/Disassembly
 Actual Disassembly

12. Use the rags and brush to clean the case.

 Basic Assembly and
Disassembly of the System Unit
 During Assemble/Disassembly
 Actual Disassembly

13. Disassembly done!

 Basic Assembly and
Disassembly of the System Unit
 During Assemble/Disassembly
 Actual Assembly

1. Orient the empty case so that you can easily slide the
motherboard into the case. Note that the connectors at the
back of the motherboard must lineup with their own holes in
the faceplate at the back of the case. Also, the screw holes
on the motherboard must lineup with the standoffs on the
case. Once the motherboard is correctly oriented in the case,
if M3 screws were used to fasten the motherboard onto the
stand offs, then screw them back in. Do not tighten the
screws too much. If plastic standoffs were used, simply press
the motherboard down onto the plastic standoffs until it is
fastened securely.
 Basic Assembly and
Disassembly of the System Unit
 During Assemble/Disassembly
 Actual Assembly

2. Insert the hard disk or hard disks if there are more than
one into the drive bay and secure them with 6-32 screws
making sure not to tighten them too much. Very carefully
plug in the SATA cable and the SATA power cable into
the sockets at the back of the hard disk.
 Basic Assembly and
Disassembly of the System Unit
 During Assemble/Disassembly
 Actual Assembly

3. Insert the DVD drive into the drive bay and secure it with
M-3 screws making sure not to tighten them too much.
Very carefully plug in the SATA cable and the SATA
power into its socket at the back of the DVD drive.
 Basic Assembly and
Disassembly of the System Unit
 During Assemble/Disassembly
 Actual Assembly

4. Insert the power supply into its bay at the back of the
case and secure it with four 6-32 screws. Again, do not
tighten these too much. Insert the ATX power connectors
onto the ATX power sockets on the motherboard. These
go in only one way so do not force them in. Very
carefully insert the SATA power cables into the sockets
at the backs of the hard disk drive or drives and the DVD
drive. Again, the SATA power cables only go in one way
so do not force them in.
 Basic Assembly and
Disassembly of the System Unit
 During Assemble/Disassembly
 Actual Assembly

5. Gently drop the CPU into the CPU socket, making sure
that it is in the correct orientation. It should slide right in
without any force. Gently close the lever to secure the
CPU. Once the CPU is locked, install the CPU heatsink
and fan onto the CPU making sure it is in the right
orientation. Fasten the heat sink and fan onto the
motherboard. Insert the CPU fan power cable into the
proper socket on the motherboard. It should be labeled
“CPU FAN”, “SYS FAN”, or similar, but the letters will be
very tiny. Again, it only goes in one way so do not force it.
 Basic Assembly and
Disassembly of the System Unit
 During Assemble/Disassembly
 Actual Assembly

6. Pick up the memory modules by their sides taking care

not to touch the gold-edge connectors and then gently
place them onto the RAM slots. Make sure the memory
modules are in the correct orientation, then gently apply
a small amount of force on both ends until the fastener
snaps up to secure the modules.
 Basic Assembly and
Disassembly of the System Unit
 During Assemble/Disassembly
 Actual Assembly

7. Insert the expansion cards, if there are any, into the

proper slots. Apply a small amount of force at the top of
the card until it snaps into the slot. Secure the back of
the card onto the case with 6-32 screws. Again, do not
tighten these too much.
 Basic Assembly and
Disassembly of the System Unit
 During Assemble/Disassembly
 Actual Assembly

8. Take each of the wires we unplugged from the

motherboard at the beginning of the disassembly
process and plug them back into their proper sockets.
 Basic Assembly and
Disassembly of the System Unit
 During Assemble/Disassembly
 Actual Assembly

9. Look inside the system unit and see if there are any
loose wires you missed. Plug these in into their proper
sockets. If your PC is non-working, you might as well
close and screw the metal panels; then skip to “Cleaning
Up”.
 Basic Assembly and
Disassembly of the System Unit
 During Assemble/Disassembly
 Actual Assembly

10. If your PC is a running PC, we need to test it.

 Basic Assembly and
Disassembly of the System Unit
 During Assemble/Disassembly
 Actual Assembly

11. Assembly done! Ngumiti ng ngiti ng tagumpay.

 Basic Assembly and
Disassembly of the System Unit
 After Assemble/Disassembly
 Testing the PC

 After assembling the PC, do not close it yet. Hook up the

PC to the monitor, keyboard, mouse and AC power. Now
turn it on. If everything was done properly, the PC should
boot up to the Windows Desktop.
 Basic Assembly and
Disassembly of the System Unit
 After Assemble/Disassembly
 Testing the PC

 If not, turn off the PC, and unplug the AC power. Inside
the PC, gently tap the top of expansion cards (if there
are any) and the memory modules to properly seat them
into their slots.
 Check to see if all the cables are plugged in properly and
in the correct sockets. Check the SATA and SATA power
connectors at the back of the hard disk and DVD drives.
Ensure that the CPU is properly seated and secured in
its socket. Check that the ATX power cables are properly
plugged into the motherboard.
 Basic Assembly and
Disassembly of the System Unit
 After Assemble/Disassembly
 Testing the PC

 Boot up the PC again. If it still doesn’t boot up, then

you’re in the right place because the later parts of this
course is “PC Troubleshooting”. That’s where we try to
fix PC problems like this.
 Basic Assembly and
Disassembly of the System Unit
 After Assemble/Disassembly
 Cleaning Up the Work Area

 Clean up the work area, and put away all the tools and
equipment for easy access next time we need them.
 When doing this, make sure to follow the policies and
procedures of the 5S of Good Housekeeping.
 Question Time!

 Floor is open for your questions, ask

away!
That’s all folks!