Dell Inspiron 14-3421 Disassembly and SSD, RAM, HDD Upgrade Options

In this guide, I will explain how to disassemble the Dell Inspiron 14-3421 to remove the hard drive, DVD drive, keyboard, palm rest, RAM, wireless card, bottom case, USB board, heat sink, cooling fan, and motherboard.

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Unlock and remove the battery.

Pull out the DVD drive.

The laptop comes with a Samsung SU-208 DVD drive.

Remove the screws securing the service cover.

Insert a screwdriver into the groove to pry open the service cover and remove it.

Under the cover, you can access the RAM, wireless card, and hard drive.

Remove the screw securing the hard drive module. Lift the black tape and slide to the left.

The Dell Inspiron 14-3421 comes with a Seagate 500GB hard drive.

Remove the screw securing the wireless card and disconnect the two antennas. Take it away from its slot.

The laptop has two RAM slots, but comes with only one RAM module, which means you can install another RAM module to upgrade the memory.

Remove all screws from the bottom case.
Turn over the laptop. Insert a plastic pry tool under the keyboard, pry it up, and lift the keyboard.

Keyboard

Remove the four screws securing the palm rest.
Disconnect the two cables.

Insert a pry tool near the hinge between the palm rest and the bottom cover. Slide the pry tool to release the clips on the palm rest until all clips are released to fully separate the palm rest.

The palm rest has been removed.

In the next step, we will remove the motherboard.

Disconnect the cable. You can find one screw.

Now, lift the motherboard and remove it from the bottom cover.

Loosen the three screws securing the heat sink and disconnect the cooling fan cable from the motherboard.

The heat sink and cooling fan

Dell Inspiron 14-3421 USB board

LCD hinge

Ports

Card reader

Dell Inspiron 14-3421 internal parts