Introduction: How to Replace the Screen on a Hp Pavilion Dv7 Laptop

By
About: Hi All! I like to learn, Period. It does not matter what it is. I then try to pass any and all knowledge that I find and learn to all of you. Which is why this site is perfect for doing so!

This instructable will show you how to replace the screen from an Hp Pavilion DV7 series Laptop.

Before you proceed: There are several different models of this laptop, some of the models require that you take apart THE ENTIRE LAPTOP in order to replace the screen. THIS IS NOT ONE OF THOSE LAPTOPS

If you are experiencing red speckles of spots on your screen you have what is commonly referred to as "Dead Pixels" and this is an early warning sign that your laptop screen is about to die on you.

If this is happening, or other signs, or your screen has already died, don't spent hundreds of dollars at a PC repair shop, just grab some tools and get ready to fix the problem yourself.

Step 1:

What you will need

Small Phillips screwdriver

Small pointed object or X-ato knife to remove rubber feet off of laptop

A towel of soft cloth to place on keyboad of laptop to hold screen

Plastic card (I used a expired credit card) or thin flexable object to get inbetween frame of screen and laptop

New Laptop Screen, I got mine from here around $78  (They NOW have a feature where you can type in the modle number of your laptop screen to get a exact match, I reccomend that you do this before you order your replacement screen, i'll explain a little later)



First thing you do is flip your laptop to the back side, pull the lock tab to release the laptop battery.


Step 2:

Next, you will use your x-ato knife, or small pointed object (I just used a really small flathead screwdriver) and pry off the rubber feet that are on both sides of the bottom (and maybe top) of your laptop screen. Check


Step 3:

The rubber feet were hiding two screws that you need to remove before you take off the front plate of the screen housing.
Use a small Phillips screwdriver for these screws.

Step 4:

Next use your plastic or thin flexible object to stick in-between the faceplate and go along the bottom of the laptop. You should hear a lot of clips unsnapping, go all the around the faceplate, the top has some adhesive on it so be gentle but firm, the only thing holding the front plate on is those clips.

Now remove the front plate from the screen

Step 5:

Should look like this, the next step is to unplug the small power cord on the bottom of the screen; it will be on the left. Gently unplug this that piece is really hard to unplug so I used a small pair of needle nose pliers and a small flathead screwdriver because my fingers are too big.

Step 6:

Next you want to LOOSEN the screws on the ends of each side of the bracket. This way you get some play with the mount without it coming completely off making it a pain in the rear to put back on. I gave mine three small turns on each screw

Step 7:

Now go to the top part of the bracket and remove the two screws on each side

Step 8:

now that you have the top unscrewed, and the bottom loose to have some play room , gently push the back part of the frame away from the bracket so you can unscrew the bottom screws on the bracket holding your monitor in place, work your from one side to the next

Step 9:

Next unscrew all three top screws on the bracket, by now you should be holding you screen with your other hand.

Step 10:

Now remove the bottom two screws from both sides of the bracket.

Step 11:

Put (if you did not have it there to begin with) the Towel of soft cloth on your keyboard. Now hold the screen as it is now free, and gently put the screen on the towel that is on top of the key board

Step 12:

you will notice the laser ribbon that is connected to you screen on the RIGHT hand side of the monitor, you have to disconnect this but before you do there is a piece of clear tape on top of the ribbon where it is connected, peel this off partially and use it to disconnect the ribbon, these are very fragile and will break if you pull on them too hard. And if you push too hard when reconnecting it will bend/break the micro pins in the connector.

Step 13:

Now carefully take out your new screen and place it where your old screen was sitting (on your keyboard with towel on top) and reconnect the Laser Ribbon Cable to the screen.

REMEBER when I told you to use the NEW feature of the site to find your screen? THIS IS WHY, I found that when I opened up my screen and compared it, they were identical EXCEPT for the laser ribbon connector was on the OPPISITE SIDE!!! The little power cord that I disconnected no longer reaches to the opposite connector.

Was this a problem, NO, If I wanted to I could have broken out the wire cutters, strippers, speaker wire, and heat-shrink tubing and fixed the problem, all it powered was the little HP logo on the back of the laptop screen, I did not care if it worked or not so I left it as is.

This could have been due to the screen being an aftermarket unit, or I did not order the exact correct screen, no worries.

Insert the screen back into the bracket and proceed to put all of the screws back in the reverse order

Tighten the two screws that you kept loose when you are done and push the back plate into the bracket while you are doing this

Step 14:

Now that all of the screws are back into place, and the screen is secured to the bracket, it’s time to put the front faceplate back on.

Just go along the frame with your hands until you hear no more snapping back into place.

Now it’s time to put the two screws on the bottom back in followed by the sticky rubber feet.

Now with the battery still unplugged, grab your wall charger, plug it into the wall and laptop and press the power button.

As soon as you see the Boot screen you know that you installed the screen correctly and that the screen is the right(ish) screen for your laptop.

Unplug the charger and put your battery back in

Pat yourself on the back and crack open a cold one YOU ARE DONE!!

A NOTE ON THE SCREENS FIRST BOOT UP.
My screen seemed a little bit dark or not as bright as the original unit did, this permanently disappeared after the screen was on for 10 mins, so I suggest you keep the screen on for at least a half hr.