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Its a compaq laptop that my friend has. the fan is completely dead and does not spin causing the computer to cut itself off partway through the boot cycle.

How do I replace the Fan?

I tried to take the back off of the case to get to the fan but even after I took all the screws out it stuck together pretty forcefully so I stopped and reassembled it before I broke anything. Whats the trip to getting that thing apart. Its about 16 months old, AMD sempron with some ATI Graphics.

if you know model of laptop - you always can google the service manual. there you can find the clue

While you're looking at that, go ahead and find a suitably-sized fan to replace it with, or see if Compaq can provide you with one.

CPU cooling fans are proprietary in Laptops/notebooks. They are often integrated into the intricate cooling assemblies. The screws are hard to remove because you are not using the proper size screwdrivers and the screws are secured with a blue Loctite solution.

There are many places that have these fan/fan assemblies. The last place I go for parts would be HP(owns Compaq) or any other manufacturer. Their prices are way too high on parts.

Look here for model information and part numbers:

http://www.hp.com/country/us/en/support.html

Good point, T-magic. So, is there a solvent that can dissolve this "Loctite" stuff?

Get the biggest screwdriver you can to fit into the screw and give it a sharp tap with a small hammer to set it into the screw head, now push down firmly and turn the screw counter clock-wise to remove the screw. If you do it right you will not strip the screw and the Loctite will break into several pieces as you remove the screw. The solvent is nail polish remover or acetone but it will dissolve the laptops plastic case too. Loctite is super-glue.

If you've already stripped the screws then it's time to break out the Dremmel tool. The computer is dead if you don't fix the fan, so you have nothing to lose! Cover the parts with paper and tape that you don't want to have metal shaving to get into; I'd guess that's pretty much everything, and carefully cut the fan off the screws. If you can't cut the fan off then cut a new screwdriver slot into the screw and take the fan off. Your new fan sould be the same size, voltage and amperage. It doesn't have to be a fan from a computer store. Google the fan and find one with the same specs. If you break the fan mount you can make replacement mounts with small pieces of wood and some strong two part glue.

I heat the stripped screw head with a pincil tipped soldering iron and let it pull through the plastic very carefully. You can use this heat technique to loosten locktite