My wife’s computer has been running slow and hot, so I figure it needs a re-install at least. But, recently she has been complaining about the USB ports, with the mouse loosing connection sporadically. Great. Of course she also reminds me how I didn’t send it back to HP while it was under warranty and what a schmuck I am.

So, to prove what a schmuck I am, I completely disassembled it. With screwdriver in one hand, coffee in the other, and Lonewolf Online: Disassembly of the HP Pavilion ze5400ea Laptop on my screen - I pulled out hard drives, memory, wireless, screws, ribbon cables, rubber pieces, cat hair and lots of dust. I hit the hugeoidal heat sync cooler thing with some canned air, and I think I removed a whole cat - a cat filled with dust.

When I was finally holding the motherboard in my hands I saw that the USB ports were in deed loose from the motherboard, and would require some careful soldering - much beyond my expertise. So, put the project down, took the kids out for the day, and returned later to re-assemble.

Yeah. Re-assembly.

Remind me never to take apart a notebook computer again.

Re-assembly was not fun. Especially when I got it all back together and it wouldn’t turn on. Of course, after I put the battery in it worked better. I only had two screws leftover, and it booted up and everything that should be working appears to be working. The screen has flickered a few times, so I hope it is just a figment of my wife’s imagination - otherwise I hope I can just re-seat the video cable.

Now that all the gunk has been removed, it is running a lot cooler. The fans can actually do something. And, to fix the USB issues I bought my wife a PCMCIA-USB card. I also got a wireless mouse for $15, and a retractable wired notebook mouse for $10 - but I’ll probably return at least one - she wasn’t too keen on either.