It’s been asked on these forums several times: How do I get the back off the V2M? No one could answer... Until now!
I’d searched the ‘net in the hope of finding a way into this enigma of a PC and had no luck. Not being one to give up easily and having gotten really sick of the noise the fans were making due to lack cleaning, I decided to go it alone and tried dismantling the unit myself. Thankfully, I was quite successful in my endeavour and, as such, have decided to post this guide for anyone else who may need to take apart their machine. I’m sorry there are no pictures, but I didn’t think to take any. But you should know where you are if you follow the steps as outlined below.
So, to the guide!
1) Remove the rear sliding cover. To take it off completely, slide upwards and then push in the tab on the left. This will enable you to take the cover off.
2) Remove the screws from rear of housing. Ensure that you have taken them all out before proceeding, otherwise you will not be able to open the housing without causing damage to the plastic. There should be 10 screws.
3) On the left of the housing you will notice that there is a screw which is set deeper than the others. This screw holds in the DVD drive. Under this screw you will see a small hole. You need to insert a small, long object (I used an electrician’s screwdriver) and move it to the left. This will push the DVD drive out of the housing. Set aside in a safe place to avoid damage.
4) If you want to completely clean the whole unit follow this step. If not, go to step 5. Along the left hand side, at the back of the housing you will see some tabs which hold this side of the housing in place. To clean in here you will need to push the tabs through very gently. Do not apply too much pressure or you will break the tabs! It may help if you have someone else you can ask for assistance as this bit is quite tricky. Once all the tabs have been pushed through, you can remove this cover. This step is not obligatory and you can still dismantle the unit without taking this part off. I just included it here so the guide would be complete.
5) Now, this is the really tricky bit and the most likely to damage the good looks of your machine if not followed correctly! If you run your fingernail around the top of the front of the machine (the cover over the main screen) you will notice that there is a gap between the housing. You need to get this front off. There is no other way of getting into the guts of your V2M/V2S. In order to unclip the housing you need to be quite forceful but very careful! You will need some kind of plastic opening tool for this job. I used a Motorola V3 opening tool as I had one to hand. A similar plastic tool will work just as well. Do NOT use a screwdriver! This is a sure-fire way to crack your housing!
Now you have your opening tool, you need to run it around the groove and you will need to “twiddle” it from time to time. You will know when a tab has popped out as you will hear it crack. Don’t worry; you shouldn’t have broken anything so long as you’re careful. If you’ve ever opened a mobile phone you will be familiar with this procedure. If not, then just take things slowly and keep calm. Once you’ve un-popped all the tabs the facia is ready to be removed. Set it aside in a safe place. I can’t stress how important it is to keep these parts out of the way; if you break it you’ll be unlikely to get a replacement!
6) Once you have removed the facia return your attention to the back of the housing, where you should now be able to slide the black rear housing off. If you can’t move it, you missed a screw in step 2. Check around to make sure you’ve removed them all and then you should be able to remove the back cover. Set aside
7) Now turn your attention to the base of the PC, the large carbuncle on the back. Near the very bottom, to the back (as you are looking at it) there is a screw on either side of the enclosure. Remove both. This enables you to remove the plastic enclosure by sliding it backwards, towards you. Note: You can only remove this part after you have removed the rear cover. It will not come away otherwise. It’s essential that you remember this when re-assembling the housing! Once removed, set aside. You will now see the housing for your hard drive. You will need to remove the piece of tacky cloth here and, if you want to remove the whole unit, you will need to disconnect the leads. It’s fairly straightforward as they are all different connectors so you should have no trouble re-connecting them when you come to re-assemble the machine. There are several screws you will need to undo in order to remove the hard drive. These are all in plain sight, so just undo the ones you need to in order to remove the hard drive and/or fan.
😎 You will see that, under the black housing, there is a secondary silver metal housing. This also needs to be removed so that you can get to all the fans for cleaning. You will need to undo all the screws around the sides and top of this metal housing. There are also a couple on the underside which need to be undone. There are also some more of those tacky bits of material here and there that you will need to carefully move aside. I don’t think they’re overly important but some of them do help to keep parts in place so it’s a good idea to replace them when you’ve finished your work. Once this metal housing has been removed you will now have access to the fans for cleaning.
How you go about cleaning the interior is up to you. I personally used warm water and some soft cotton buds wrapped around a cocktail stick (if you’re going to use this method please ensure that you thoroughly squeeze out excess water from the bud; it should be damp, now wringing wet!). This removed all the thick build up of dust from the fans and cavities of the machine. I also used a vacuum on low power to suck up loose dust etc. Once finished, replace the housing by reversing these steps.
Disclaimer:
If you follow all the steps properly you should have no problem taking your V2M apart for maintenance. However, the author takes no responsibility for damage caused to your machine if you do something wrong! I wrote this article as a guide only! You will need the proper tools and some common sense in order to undertake this disassembly. If you have neither, don’t do it! If you do and you mess it up and end up with a damaged housing, don’t come crying to me. Similarly, if you damage any components during disassembly I cannot be held responsible. All steps are followed at the risk of the machine’s owner.
This guide is intended for use with the Sony Vaio VGC-V2M. It is likely that the same steps can be taken to dismantle the VGC-V2S also, but I do not own that model and so cannot be sure. If you own the V2S and wish to follow these steps then you do so at your own risk. The previous disclaimer also applies.
Above all, I hope this guide is helpful. If you wish to leave a comment, or let other members know how this worked for you please do so. If there's anything you think I may have forgotten to include then please do let me know and I'll amend the guide.
Exinferis.
