Acer Extensa keyboard removal

Brit-in-Sweden · Joined: Feb 08, 2009 Posts: 8

On an Acer Extensa 7630G, to increase the memory I must remove the keyboard to access the existing memory module, since the 'standard idea' to fit memory modules underneath won't work - there is the place on the motherboard but NO sockets.
So - does anyone have any idea how to remove this keyboard. Acer does not, or cannot tell me.javascript:emoticon(' Evil or Very Mad

')

Any ideas, Doc, or Goretsky??
Or anyone else for that matter.
I simply want to increase my memory from the existing 2Mb to 4Mb but Acer in their infinite wisdom have not fitted any expansion sockets, and the only recourse is apparently to replace the existing module (under the keyboard!!) with a larger one.

drwho07 · Joined: Nov 29, 2007 Posts: 2238 Location: Central FL, USA

If it's anything like my Acer One Netbook, it's more complicated than just removing the keyboard, which isn't all that difficult. There are also tiny little plugs in there for the keyboard and other components that can be damaged during the tear-down process. They were obviously NEVER designed to be taken apart once put together. Evil or Very Mad

I'd just optimize windows so it will run the best on the 2 gig's of ram you have and leave the little computer in ONE Piece.
My own Acer Netbook has only 2 gigs of ram and it runs great!

You didn't say what version of Windows you're running, but on every one of them, there are many things that run in the background, that you can turn OFF to free up ram, take some of the load off of the CPU and increase efficiency. I have yet to see the laptop where I can't double the speed and efficiency by just tweaking and tuning Windows.

Good Luck,
The Doctor

zlim · Joined: Mar 11, 2005 Posts: 2747

On my old Micron laptop, there were clips near the hinge by the screen. I had to move those then fold the keyboard back so the keys touched the desktop. I then had some sort of metal plate (probably a heat shield) to carefully remove so I could get to the RAM slots.
First check if you see silver clips near the top row of keys; those are the things you need to slide using a pen and then the keyboard can slowly be moved upward from the function key edge and folded back.

goretsky · Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2010 12:44 am Post subject:

Hello,

I've been unable to find a service guide for the Acer Extensa 7630G.

By any chance, can you contact Acer support and ask them for instructions or a link to the document?

Regards,

Aryeh Goretsky

Brit-in-Sweden · Joined: Feb 08, 2009 Posts: 8

Hej, folks. Many thanks for the replies.

To the Doc, I would mention that the Extensa is a 17" screen, full keyboard type, with Win7 Ultimate 64 bit OS.

To Zlim: Having examined the top surface under bright lights and magnifying glass, there are no apparent clips, just signs of some plastic 'catches' which show little intention of letting go.

To Aryeh Goretsky: Acer - again in all their infinite wisdom - have no service manual for this model. I have tried with their support here in Sweden, the UK and the US of A, and none of them can offer much help. It was the case of prying out of them the info that the memory was under the keyboard, since in the so-called memory bay, the motherboard caters for sockets, but none are fitted, and there was no sign of any modules anywhere.

So folks, with no service manual available, and warnings regarding keyboard removal, I will go with the Doc, and simply try to trim Windows, and stay with the 2Mb that I have. The laptop works OK but does tend to slow down a little when using some CAD software I have, but being a pensioner, I can slow down, too.

Thanks again to you all. Lockergnome has been, and is, a great help.

The Ancient 'Brit-in-Sweden'

rmckay3688 · Joined: Feb 01, 2007 Posts: 26

you didn't state the O S
why not use a 4or8 gig flash stix with ram boost

drwho07 · Joined: Nov 29, 2007 Posts: 2238 Location: Central FL, USA

Actually, he did say:

"the Extensa is a 17" screen, full keyboard type, with Win7 Ultimate 64 bit OS."

(by the way, that's exactly the same version of Win-7 that I run...on a second HD)

OK...... On a laptop of that size it's more common that the memory would be plugged into sockets, under a removable little Door on the bottom of the PC and not under the keyboard.
If you can find the sockets and there is nothing in them, then the factory installed RAM is mounted directly on to the motherboard.

Go to "www.crucial.com" and download and run their memory Scan. Then they will give you a readout of your computers ram and what could be installed to max it out. I use this technique to upgrade the ram on my customer's PC's. I just did one last week. We found that their computer could use one more one-gig ram stick. We ordered it right there from the Crucial Web site. When the ram came by mail four days later, I returned to the customer's house and installed the new ram.

If you're outside the USA, ordering ram to be delivered by US Mail, would probably not work for you, but at least you'd know how much ram you could get for that little PC.

It's too bad I can't reach you, in person, because I can really work miracles with laptops. By their very nature, they are slower and less efficient than Desktop computers and then loading them down with TSR's and Services really makes them run slow.

If you always use an external USB mouse, you can shut off the program that runs the touch pad. There are a whole bunch of Services that can usually be shut off to increase performance. A list of such unneeded services can be found on the "Black Viper" website. I've done all that on my Acer Netbook and it really runs great.

You can also shut down some of the video eye candy that comes with Win-7, like the "Glass" look that takes a lot of processor time.
On Win-7, I use the Classic theme which takes less resources.

There are so many other tweaks and tune-up tips, that I simply can't go into them here. Drop me a PM if you're interested.

Cheers Mate!
The Doctor Cool

I'm Back!
I did some Googling and found a very informative website that had the full story on that laptop:
http://www.notebookcheck.net/Review-Acer-Extensa-7630G-Notebook.30548.0.html

An excerpt from that site says:
"The Extensa 7630G is based on the PM45 chipset and uses an Intel Core 2 Duo T6570 with a 2.1 GHz clocking frequency. Acer thus relies on a seasoned two core processor with 2MB Level2 cache finished in 45nm technology.

These are supported by DDR2 RAM building blocks (one with 2 Gigabytes and one with 1 Gigabytes) for a total of 3 Gigabytes. The PM45 chip set supports a maximum of up to 8 Gigabytes RAM, but Acer only offers up to 4. Even a layman can carry out a RAM upgrade by accessing the servicing flap on the notebook's underside. "

As I suspected.....You add ram from the bottom and not the top.
Check it out. and Good Luck.

drwho07 · Joined: Nov 29, 2007 Posts: 2238 Location: Central FL, USA

Brit-in-Sweden · Joined: Feb 08, 2009 Posts: 8

[Email address removed to prevent harvesting by spammers. AG]

Hello again,
I was surprised to find that my original question is still active. Yes, I have looked at the review on that website, and the pictures they include are pretty much the same as my laptop - except for the memory bay in the base. They show memory sticks fitted into sockets where, in Acer's infinite wisdom - on my laptop they have not even fitted the sockets, making the machine 'un-expandable' it would seem.
I ran the Crucial scan, which reported Max memory 4Gb, with 2 Gb installed in one slot one slot free. It did NOT tell where the slots were, which has been the problem all along.
The CPU is slightly different from the review, being an Intel T6400 with a bus frequency of 2,00 GHz and not the T6570 @ 2,1 as they state. Everything points to my machine being something of a hybrid, which even Acer have no knowledge about.
To Doc, in Florida, I am on the west coast of Sweden, and my e-mail address is {snipped}. Many years ago, in my youth, I had a pen friend in Tampa, a man who had served in the US Air Force at the base at Alconbury in England, to where I had been evacuated from London. We met one day as I cycled home from school, and remained friends long after he returned to the States, where he unfortunately died in the early fifties. In those days the most technical calculations were done on my slide rule or with logs. How we have advanced!!
But back to the point, if you have any further tips as to reducing the load on the CPU and memory, they would be very much appreciated. I still have a lot to learn.

drwho07 · Joined: Nov 29, 2007 Posts: 2238 Location: Central FL, USA

It can get pretty detailed, so I'll email you and we can go from there.

I installed Win-7 Ultimate on my little Acer Netbook and it ran just fine, after tweaking, but there were no win-7 drivers for the video and I couldn't get the screen adjusted the way I wanted it.
So W-7 is history and XP is restored and everything is running great again.

Two gigs of RAM is fine for W-7, if you don't load it down with crap.

Later,
Doc Cool