I am a 57 year old woman who has NO electrical or computer knowledge at all. But I was able to EASILY follow the instructions above and am SO PROUD of myself that I was able to! My electrical engineer husband didn't even want to try it, afraid he would mess my Aspire One D257-1497 model up. With a very small flat screwdriver to remove the keyboard tabs, a small phillips to remove the FIVE door screws (AND BY THE WAY, I DID NOT REMOVE THE RIBBON OFF THE KEYBOARD! YOU DON'T HAVE TO DO THAT! Just flip keyboard a bit out of your way when you remove the five screws and you don't have to worry about damaging that!!!) I used a CREDIT CARD to gently pry off the back, pull the two side clips that hold the RAM card in place, slip the new one in and MAKE SURE that it clips in place correctly with the clips... put things back together and what used to shoot up to 98% RAM for me anytime I tried to watch a youtube video, NOW stays at 46-49% and NO MORE FREEZE UP!!! KUDOS TO THIS VIDEO!!! AND KUDOS TO AN OLD WOMAN!!! :D
Good job actually great job and I am sure many people were proud for you to have accomplished that. I really just takes a person to get past the fear of failure and or damaging the equipment and try it. I am 36 now but when I was in j.r. high school at age of 12 I got my first laptop and I would take it almost completely apart and then put it all back together and hit the power button to see if it still worked and luckily it did but even though I didn't upgrade anything the value of learning to dismantle something that complex and getting it together again while making sure it still opperated was so worth it and the confidence it gave me later on was priceless. Gotta set our fears to the side or else we will never know what we are capable of.
Really great video - followed this procedure tonight and it works perfectly. Thanks so much for taking the time and effort to make this. BTW, the snaps for the keyboard are under F12, F8, F4, and a non-springload under F1. When I did this procedure, I didn't remove the keyboard ZIF - I was just very careful not to stress the ribbon connector.
Many, many thanks for posting this video - my RAM upgrade was successful. For recent buyers, like clittle760, my model D257-13404 bought at Target on Black Friday (Nov 2011) also had 5 tabs at the top of the keyboard and a pressure tab midway on each side. Also, when removing the bottom cover, start prying at the top (air holes), pry the sides, then lift from the top - the bottom side has "hook" type tabs that will release when the cover is lifted from the top. Again, thanks for a great video!
For my D257, there was enough "slack" in the ribbon-cable between the bottom of the keyboard and the motherboard that I did not need to disconnect the keyboard to access the "door" screws. That saved me a bunch of time (and grief) by not needing to reconnect such a finicky connection. Also, lift the right-side of the netbook slightly off your work-table, support the right-edge, and push a screwdriver into the "door-release" (rectangular) hole at the bottom-right corner (roughly underneath where the ENTER key normally is positioned) and the bottom-door will easily release onto your work-table. Much easier than flipping the netbook over, and using force to pry open the bottom-door. When putting the bottom-door back on, start with the edge closest to the battery-bay. Then, the remaining edges are easiest to be fitted.
Great how to video. Took my time and I had completed it in less than 20 minutes. It's transformed a machine that was a heap of junk into a very usable second computer, it'll never be the fastest for sure but it's running windows 7 Home Premium and copes really well. The best thing was it cost me less than £7 to buy the RAM off ebay. This video has saved me £££'s because I was thinking of buying a new tablet as a second computer- well I don't have to for now thanks to this. :)
Thanks for the instruction! My upgrade went well! Had a little more difficulty removing the bottom panel but maybe I was being overly cautious as not to gouge or scratch anything. The rest was relatively easy. I did not disconnect the keyboard, just worked around it. Great Video!
Awesome! Could not have done it without you. No wonder the guys in the store wanted $50 for this operation :) I actually had to disassemble it twice. Notes: 1 - you need a really small screw driver, 2mm (check out Home Depot). 2 - before you close it up, check that the "door" at the bottom of the computer is properly settled with all the tabs inside.
On mine there were 4 latches keeping the keyboard in place. You need to push them IN, towards the screen, very gently, keyboard came off easily for me. To the poster: Great video, you helped me a lot! (I couldn't figure out where the screws are, and I didn't dare trying to pull out the keyboard in case it's attached from the bottom)
@brucepBKK Also, had problems removing the back plate, and ended up removing most of the screws as wasn't sure if there were extra screws that were holding it down... Also, managed to pull off a key and am not able to get it back on as the very thin/cheap plastic clip that holds the key in place came apart - two pieces - and I messed with it for awhile but can't get it back together.
Easy upgrade. Thanks for doing this video. I managed to get mine done in 10 minutes. Across the top of the keyboard, there were 4 tabs on mine and on the top left there was one permanent tab which does not move, you have to pull the keyboard out form under it. I didn't have to remove the keyboard cable. I just moved the keyboard out of the way. After putting the 2gig Hynix RAM in I ran the Windows Experience rating and score 2.7 - LOWER than with 1gig of RAM!!! Oh well.
just a short note to say thanks for the video. i just upgraded my 257 with a 2GB piece from Crucial. cost was $15 and shipping was free. i've never been inside of a computer before so this was a BIG deal for me. took me longer than 8 minutes but i was EXTREMELY careful so as to not damage or scuff anything. you are correct as the screw farthest to the left doesn't need to come out but, i took it out anyway. everything went smoothly. must stress to be careful with the keyboard as it will bend.
Only the first five screws labeled DOOR m2x75 are needed to be removed. Then you will see a slot on the bottom right of the hard drive labeled door release. press this and you will be able to take off the back panel ;)
It's pretty simple, easy, and quick. The only thing I would put extra caution into is taking out the keyboard. The last piece of advance I have to give you initially would be wear an antistatic wristband. It's too easy to pay for someone to do it for you, but I guess you can take it to someone if you're unsure.
This is a good guide. Just be careful when removing/replacing cover. When removing, start at the end of the cover where the rubber tips are first. Then work down towards the battery. Remove cover. Replace RAM.When replacing the cover, start fitting the cover near the battery end, and work back up to the rubber grips. I did this backwards and wound up breaking off one of the 3 hooks, but it luckily seems to be more cosmetic damage, that can't be seen anyways. Hope that makes sense
I know that this video had been a while, but when I took my back panel off, I had 3 tine black fork like tabs come out of the netbook!? They fell right out. They had 3 fork like ends on one side and and oval back on the other . Does that sound familiar?
@UploadingPeople Could you tell us the brand of memory/ serial? I got myself an Aspire One Happy2 - N57Ch2b Atom N570 1.66Ghz Intel says N570 should be able to handle a 4Gb memory. A Sodimm in Bangkok is around 33$ (actually less than 1000thb), and the 2 extra gigs would really be useful.
a couple of additions to this video to help others: 1: in the battery compartment there are 3 tiny plastic springs/tabs which you should remove first 2: also in the battery compartment there are 2 tiny slots through which you can push up the keyboard before you start to lever it up from the top side 3: once the keyboard is out, at bottom left you'll see a hole called 'cover release'. push a little screwdriver through that hole and the cover will be easier to remove :)
@wd4pg But this doesn't explain why the screen would be black through the whole start up of the computer if you put a 4GB PC3-10600 1333mhz DDR3 memory in it.. Is the default D257 acer aspire one Netbooks 1333mhz-10600 PC3. Or 1066mhz-PC3 8500? | And whats the differents if it's a 10600 vs 8500?
My system model is AOD257 as well, and I was wondering what RAM you bought for yours and how much you payed. I would like to upgrade mine as well since it feels sluggish, but I'm not sure on what module I need to buy. Your help is greatly appreciated and thank you for this video.
i used to have the acer aspire one A150 netbook with windows xp oem installed on it, i upgraded it to 2.5gb because it had two dimm's instead of one, and it ran windows vista home premium really did well too. problem is it was a nightmare to get to the dimm's, had to completely take apart that netbook to access them. this looks much easyer.
ive just replaced mine and it boots up fine but when i go into setup (f2) it still shows as 1024mb. but in task manager it shows it as being 2gb... why does it show it in TM but not setup??? any ideas??
It did break, so that's something to be on the lookout for. I taped the ribbon in the connector, taped the locking bar on top of it, then put a rolled up tube of tape (2-3 mm?) on top of that to give it a firm, but springy pressure holding it in the connecting block. It works now, but we'll see about durability.
nice job knocking the key off the keyboard, sometimes there not so easy to get back on and end up replacing the keyboard so take care in removing the keyboard and don't rush and try to do this in 8 min and while its apart clean the fan and heat sink rad, apply new thermal paste to the CPU, this will speed up the system more than the ram upgrade by keeping it cooler.
@terry513 With a 32 bit OS (like Starter) it can address a bit over 3gb but not a full 4gb, or anything above that. Any 64 bit OS can address 4gb+. The limiting factor here is how much memory per stick the mainboard can handle. Some boards can only handle a 1gb stick, but might have 4 slots, for 4gb max. Some have 2 slots but can handle 8gb sticks, for a total of 16gb max. The unknown factor here is whether the JE06_PT can handle a 4gb or higher stick.
I have exactly the same netbook and I want to play some games such as half life 1. The problem is, that default power of this netbook is too low. I searcher for custom drivers for gma 3150 and I found sherry drivers, It helped a bit, but not as much as I wanted. Now im trying to figure out what pll this device has to overclock it's cpu. anyone got a tip? ty for any response!
I'm probably a day late and a dollar short but for what it's worth: I did the memory upgrade some years ago and last summer I upgraded to W10. It runs fine but won't win any prizes! I've just (March '18) added 2 more GB of RAM making 4 total and fitted a SSD. I'm quite impressed - again, no prizes but it can keep up with the pack...booting up from power off to usable in 35 secs.
@brucepBKK It is a SCROLL LOCK key so no big deal - not a commonly used key and I can still press the rubber key thang that sits under the real key. And finally I ended up breaking off the very cheap/thin plastic ribbon connector so I had to work hard at putting the ribbon cord back in place and first time it wasn't in properly and not all the keys worked...
@mexybabe Basicly Acer says It wasn't reading the memory mhz correctly. Even though i bought everything correctly. Guessing the boot log wasn't allowing the memory of over 2GB to boot correctly. So it just stayed black. But ran fine when i placed the older one in (1GB ram). So I guess you could try upgrading the OS of windows starter to home premium and try 4GB's again. But i aren't sure that'll work or not. (Think the boot system is locked to 2GB max on netbooks. *shrugs*)
I tried to boot with Patriot 4G PC3-10600 memory, nothing happened. No screen etc. I put the 1G back in and it booted. My Aspire One is a D257-13404 with the Atom N455 chip. Is it the chip causing this? Its running W7 Starter but I have W7 Home Prem I will upgrade to.
I have a D257 that wont do anything more than whats on the screen menue. When i upgrade various files Google, Explorer, etc. they load ok they work okfor the first session, then when i shut the computer off and then return to it later all my efforts to update and upgrade are gone... I must reload everything again because the D257 i have doesnt save new files. does anybody know what might be the problem? I think there is a jumper that is supposed to be on place on the HD based upon my recolection that prevents this from happening ,but im not sure. can anyone confirm this? any other ideas?
sorry to be a noob but would the d257 running windows 7 enterprise be able to run more than 2 gig ram ?. i see people talking about windows starter only allowing 2gig and i wondered if enterprise will let it handle more. yes im a noob
Bflat you should be ok, the Zif (Zero insertion force) connector has little teeth that grabs the cable to make the electrical connection. All that plastic bail does is lock the cable down to keep it from pulling out. Sounds like you came up with a good fix.
I can't see it either, his arm is in the way and he doesn't explain how he releases the tabs, does he push them back? does he slide under it and lift it upwards?
you dont need a screwdriver to pop out the keyboard you can use a creditcard i suggest using 2, the 3 pins holding the keyboard in at top start from right side pushing them in then work your way to the left after board starts coming up slide in your secondcard on the right, before prying it up there are also 1 tab on left and right side of the board be sure to press on those to, doing it this way will keep you from doing cosmetic damage to the outside of your netbook if it matters to you or not
I found the following tweeks much easier: Remove the battery. Look inside the battery bay for the back sides of the clips that hold in the keyboard. You can see 3 of the 4 that exist. Use a pick to carefully remove the 3 visible clips from the battery port. The clip near the del/ ins keys cant be removed from the battery port. I only needed to remove 5 screws to take the bottom door off. They are the screws marked door as mentioned in this video. There more to it, but not enough comment room.
second thing missed is after you take out the screws there is a release button for the back door on netbook behind the keyboard next to the hard drive push it down then lift the back plate from the from opening side of the netwook because in the back there are L shaped wedges that keep it in place you dont want to break those.
Check it out. Although it is in a Ubuntu forum, it's not limited to a Ubuntu discussion. It's 32bit vs 64 bit [Hardware & OS]. Partial Quote: ...a default installation of 32-bit Ubuntu can recognize up to 4GB of memory, ... The Linux kernel used by 64-bit Ubuntu can theoretically recognize up to 17.2 billion GB of physical memory, but this is subject in practice to hardware limitations...
Very easy upgrade if you follow these tips. 1. Get the thinnest metal object possible to pry open the keyboard along top edge. 2. DO NOT DISCONNECT KEYBOARD. 3. Repeat #2. Screws behind keyboard can be removed without disconnecting keyboard. 3. Remove back panel by prying from front edge first. 4. Remove original memory by pushing metal tabs outwards, do not try to tug upward on memory till tabs are released.
Thank you very much. Gotta do this when mine comes in via mail order. BTW, no help at all from the people who sold it to me online, I was told not to even expect written instructions. One question: If I wanted, could I go from current OS (7/32 bit starter) to Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bit and then add a total of at least 4-6 GB of the (DDR3)? I found the chart you left helpful, it seemed to imply that I could do the above. Thanks again.
I tried this and finally managed with 2 hours of struggle. next time i can do it in 8 mins flat :-) Couple of tips - the clip holders while releasing keyboard are very delicate. I broke one but doesn't matter (just like losing 1 screws when you have 10 other to hold the stuff together). Also I broke one more clip used for back panel with the main body - again doesn't matter. DDR3 1333 type RAM can work. I ordered 1066 ram at the same price and replaced.
The two limiting factors of RAM is the OS and the motherboard. W7 Enterprise 32-bit can support 4 GB, while 64-bit can support 192 GB. On this computer (the D257), the motherboard is also limited to 2 GB.
Hi, i have installed the new memory but doesn't start back on, any idea? also i tried putting back the original memory but still the same, please help!
There's a small black lever that holds down the ribbon to the zif connector that needs to be and I quote "flipped upwards". If you pull downwards it will sever the connection you should go into more detail about that.
does anyone know how to improve the video memory of this model of laptop? it shows 8 mb in the bios, which is impossible, someone tell me the actual specs? and i need to play 720 vids, need help
@brucepBKK ACER Aspire One D257 netbook... but in the end, minus the key and keyboard not quite securely fastened - it is running wayyyyyy better with the2 GIGs of RAM... wished it allowed you to add more RAM than that, and wished it had a little door on the back that was accessible with a few screws like on other notebook computers - but still...
@mepicz i agree. acer must not want you working on it yourself. and you're right about the zip connector for the keyboard. i just worked around it while leaving it connected. looks like it would be a BITCH to connect back like it's supposed to be
From what I have heard online - the Intel Atom is soldered in. You can't replace it but Acer may have not put enough processor coolant on the chip itself. You might want to open it up and put some Arctic Silver on.
@wd4pg Very good tutorial... However, that said, it helps to have the right tools for the job - any job, and especially jobs working on cheaply built notebook computers. I ended up bending a keyboard tab and it is stuck pushed in - so I used a piece of soft plastic wedged in to hold that side of the keyboard down... .
Check the mylar keboard cable. It may not be plugged in or not seated good. It's the flat plastic looking cable that hangs off the back of the keyboard.
Thanks for this video....upgraded to 2 gig no problem. Love my Acer netbook, works great and the 2 gig upgrade makes it run much faster. Ignore trolls and haters. Peace!
Thanks for your help, I did it, but seemed hairy, afraid i would break something, but all is well. I think I sweat a gallon trying to remove that keyboard.
You don't do videos very often, do you? Your arm was in the way a lot of the time. Fortunately, you did get the information across fairly efficiently. Thank you.
