How to Disassemble and reassemble a pc?

[sxie]

I got a new case and I want to move all my components to it. But I have no experience of doing so. How do I safely move components over and without damaging them?

 

[jinksy]

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/faq/id-1657114/step-step-guide-building.html

 

[USAFRet]

Take notes and/or pictures of where everything is connected.
Use appropriate tools. If you don't have them, go buy them.
Don't do it on a carpet. Use a hard surface table or similar
Have plenty of light

Go slow.

 

[Saga Lout]

Start off by photographing the inside of the case and if necessary, sketch the individual parts before taking anything out. The cards which stand upright in the motherboard's slots are held down by screws on top of the bracket. You will be able to see inside the back of the case how to access those.

Next, remove the cable from the power supply where it's plugged in to the 20 or 24 connector on the board. Disconnect the CPU heatsink fan and the system fan along with any others.

If you're porting the Power Supply Unit over, remove that by taking out the four screws outside the back of the case. You might be safer removing that even if you aren't reusing it, to ensure you don't damage the motherboard when you lift it out.

Disconnect the SATA and (doubtful these days) PATA cables from the hard disks and optical drives. The motherboard connections can remain in place.

Take a sketch or photograph of the connections for the power and reset switches and LEDs on the I/O pins. The new case will have corresponding ones but not necessarily the same colour. The do, however, have their description printed on them. Do the same with the USB connectors.

There will be as many as ten screws holding the board in place and when they're out, slide the board away from the I/O tin panel which is fixed to the back of the case. You also need to remove that because it goes with the board into the new case.

I suggest you wait an hour or so for other to contribute anything I may have missed (it's an age thing) and you should by then have learnt how to fit - very gently - into the new case.

Good luck.

 

[Saga Lout]

Blimey - it must have taken seven minutes to write that!

 

[sxie]

thanks, done it now!

 

[Saga Lout]

Well done - you're now halfway to building your next one yourself and that's even more satisfying.