Great job on the video! I was dreading the task and was concerned I would damage my Dell netbook as it looked challenging to open to access the internals. Your video was quite detailed and I really appreciate the cautions that were included for certain components and parts. Thanks again for a very well done job.
Very helpful, thank you. I upgraded the RAM in my Inspiron E1505 (circa 2007) and that took all of three minutes. The MINI is quite a bit harder and I would have never been able to do it without your thorough lesson. Cheers and Happy New Yeart.
The flat-headed screws at 2:15 do not need to be removed. One was stuck so I spent a lot of time trying to remove it, before discovering that they can stay in for a RAM installation. Thank you very much for the video, which enabled me to successfully upgrade RAM and hard drive.
I just upgraded my wife's Dell Inspiron Mini 10v (1011), shipped 02/12/2009. This video was a God send - I don't think I'd have stripped the netbook down this far (and rebuild it) without it. Shame about that "spare" I was left with. :) Thanks a million, John.
Thanks John, for the great video. This was the most finicky memory upgrade I have done, literally ripping the complete laptop apart. Your instructions and explanations were right on and very helpful. I bought some Kingston KTH-ZD8000C6/2G memory and it is working well. The laptop, on WinXP, is now much faster. I'll have to see how my Ubuntu disk performs. Again, thanks from Canada for the great video.
You're very welcome my friend, great to hear the upgrade went well. It is a fiddly job indeed just to install some more RAM. Thanks for the kind comments Regards John
When it was sold back in '02 it was advertised as 1gb RAM, non expandable. So, fair enough. I'm just thrilled that with an SSD and now ? increase in RAM I can breathe new life into a 20 year old machine! Wonder what's the max the machine can take and max available?
Did the upgrade yesterday. Went pretty smooth. Had to pause your video as I went because man, you work quickly! Couldn't have done it without this guide. Thanks again John!
used this guide to fix the wifes mini 10. Not to sure what was causing the bios beeping (4 beeps, possibly 5), but took it apart with this guide and reseated everything and all sprung back into life. Thank you.
Yeah, I have the exact same Mini 10 as the one in the video. I've already taken it apart and put it back together just to prep my self so I have a more hands on approach. Plus I just wanted to make sure everything is exactly the same as the one in the video. The RAM I ordered is CORSAIR 2GB 200-Pin DDR2 SO-DIMM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Laptop Memory Model VS2GSDS667D2. Thanks for everything! :)
Thanks for the video! I've got the Dell Inspiron mini (1011) and adding the extra RAM was able to breath new life into it. Now I'm adding a lightweight Linux distro to turn this into a portable music player for work.
Hi, thanks for the kind comments. The memory was purchased from Crucial dot com if I remember right. I recommend using Crucial's memory advisor tool located on their website, as this can help with choosing the correct RAM and indeed checking to see what a particular systems RAM limits are regarding upgrade etc. Hope this helps. John
I have a question, I believe it says that mini 10 I have is from 2005, it has the atom processor, 160gb hard drive, but it looks nothing like yours. The wlan card in the inside and I can't figure out why the fuck there is no ram anywhere. Just wandering if you have any clue if my computer had ram or if you know where its located? Thanks Mike.
Killers_Are_Quiet92 This was one of the issues with the Mini 10's. In their infinate wisdom Dell made a few models of it. Some could be upgraded, some couldn't and those that couldn't had the RAM soldered directly to the motherboard :/ Best thing to do is first use the Crucial memory advisor tool (in the description above) to double check that your mini 10 is the type that can be upgraded. If it is indeed upgradable, you have to remove the motherboard to get to the RAM.
Thanks for being helpful. Unfortunately it is soldered to the board. Wonder if there is still a way to solder a new ram in. If not I always have my Inspiron N5050 I'll just upgrade that for now to 8gb of ram.
Killers_Are_Quiet92 Sorry to hear that :( IMHO it's a pathetic idea by Dell which would only benefit THEM in the end, effectively by offering no chance for the customer to upgrade. To be honest I've not personally seen the mini10 system with soldered-in RAM, only heard about them. I may even have a look on eBay sometimes for a 'spares/repairs Mini10' fixed RAM version to see how going about a memory mod/upgrade would be. If so I'll do a video. If It's just a standard fitting SO-DIMM module I think fitting a larger value would be possible, BUT you'd have to be totally sure that the system would even read the larger module, plus you'd have to have some good soldering hardware & necessary skills to refit one. Glad you've still got another system you can upgrade though.
What could be added to the unpopulated slot near the wifi bluetooth card? Possible m.2 vram?? I was given a dell mini for housesitting. Was really suprised by the efficiency and quickness for such a low power machine. Given my daily was IBM thinkpad x40 with 10gb hdd, dvd-rw, and 2 gb maxed ram dual booting Mint and xp pro. The IBM purpose was 1 youtube 2 Kawasaki diagnostic (motorcycle) served well for 10 years 2005-2015. I did own a all in one vista garbage for media viewing at the house, but most times it was off (overheat)
Thank you for the instructions. I managed to bring back to life an old Dell Mini 10 (1010) with a memory upgrade and Linux Mint. It's actually reasonably useful as a web browser and word processor. Whilst I had the case open, I found two loose captive nuts inside which were causing unscheduled shutdowns. They are supposed to be located within the front part of the panel underneath the wrist rest but had broken loose over the years and were obviously shorting something. I'm surprised they didn't lead to permanent laptop death but since re-assembly it's been fine (hours now - several times longer than before). I'm tempted to see whether a cheap SSD might improve things further. They only have a 5400rpm HDD as standard. I've had great success in the past upgrading those to 7200rpm HDDs so perhaps there's a little to be gained by an SSD. Ebay has a few 64Gb SSDs for a handful of change.
Hi Nigel.. Good to hear you fixed your Dell. You could try an SSD but I doubt that it would make much difference really. I say that because if you perhaps check the task manager you'll likely see that the CPU will be running at 100% load more now. Even though you've added more RAM (which has helped) The CPU has become the next bottleneck in the system with regards to data throughput. Nothing to stop you trying and perhaps measuring the speeds though. Cheers, John
Thanks Cynthia, glad the video helped.. Keep the tools out though, If you can do this sort of thing it sounds like your a natural with electronics already :)
Thanks for the lesson, I do intend to upgrade, but can you tell me the maximum memory upgrade size for that Dell Inspiron Mini 10 Netbook.......Cheers.....Peter
What an excellent video. You have given me the confidence to do this when mine arrives. One small question; please will you advise me what memory you have used and where you purchased it? (If it is not advertising too much).
@joeycossie I had the same problem upgrading it to 2gb aswell, just insert the original RAM back in and it should load up fine again, Ive heard u need a program to change the RAM in the new Dell series
mine does not have to extra opening on the back, and looked nothing like this one on the inside. I took it all apart, found the memory on top of the motherboard, not underneath, and it was square and much bigger than the memory stick I purchased for it. Could not upgrade. Finally got it put back together to work again.
I believe there are a few different versions of this Dell which do differ slightly in their parts placements etc. Good to hear you got yours working ok again though. Thank you for commenting.
WOW! That's good to know. Thanks for the fast reply. I really appreciate it. Do you think I could upgrade the hard drive to a 700GB hard drive as long as I make sure it's a 2.5" hard drive? Or will it not work with a hard drive bigger the the stock one? Sorry about asking so many questions. I've surfed the net looking for answers but I have only got more confused. I appreciate all the help you've given me so far. I'll be doing the 2GB DDR2 RAM upgrade this week, thanks to you.
See if you can jam a small flat blade into part of the Phillips head to Undo it.. Otherwise you may have to VERY carefully drill/cut the head off if you can.
Had an old mini 10 in my closet, ordered a new battery pack, ac adaptor and ram card for it, i hope my surgery on this thing goes as smoothly when the parts get here. We shall see.
The two screws you remove at around 2:00 DO NOT need to come out. They hold the plastic shell onto the chassis and do not attach through to the system board. Stripped one of mine following your directions but fortunately is doesn't really do much if all the other screws are in place. Good demonstration otherwise. Thanks.
Will this work on model 1010? My service manual (Dell Mini 10 (model 1010) shows that it has a 2-in-1 Memory and Processor Board rather than just a memory chip alone.... Any help is appreciated!
Thank you so much, very helpful and very patiently explained. Just done mine following this and I'm happy to report its all in and working! Thanks again
As you'll likely know there are a few models of the mini 10, some can be upgraded, some cannot as the memory modules are soldered directly to the mainboard. Firstly use the memory checker in the description above to check your particular model for upgradability. The hatch on the rear of the computer is only for the wireless card, however whether that relates to differing models I don't know. The only way to check for sure is to remove the rear cover on the computer and see if you ha e removable RAM slots or soldered. Please be careful if attempting the disassembly job, as I've had a couple of folk reporting that they've damaged their computers during the process whilst using the wrong tools or slipping with screwdrivers etc 😞
How do I know if it works with my Dell Inspiron mini 10? How do I know if its just a 10 and not a 10v? Model no. PP19S and it has a Intel atom N270 , I hope that helps.. I have no idea and I don't see any service tag.. and your website crucial memory advisor does not load for me at all
+karl kimber Hi.. I've just checked the link to crucial memory advisor tool and its working.. So if you can, try and use it first perhaps from another computer OR install a different browser etc. If the computer has an N270 cpu it sounds like a 10v.. Look at the link below.. It show some side by side comparisons between both models. www.jrin.net/2009_08_19/dell-inspiron-mini-10-vs-10v-review
Thank you very much, I do have the 10v!! :) i have vga & no hdmi, plus that 945 thing and i know it takes max 2gb ram from running some checks in ubuntu so it seems so! What a relief!
Daniel Nguyen It's either 1GB or 2GB maximum depending on model. Use the Crucial memory adviser tool in the description to find out what your maximum allowable memory is. Hope this helps
Yeah, the memory seems to be running fine, although the whole computer now overheats after a couple of hours (approximately 2-3 hours). So I figure I have reevaluate my efforts... Though the memory seems to be working fine I will have to re-open it to see if I can figure out what went wrong...
is it possible to drill a hole at the back, after I remove the motherboard, so I can upgrade my ram anytime without the hassle of removing the motherboard again?
Its possible as long as your mini 10 is the upgradable type, but you'd have to be accurate with the cutting. Also If you did go ahead.. don't just leave the hole open as you'll end up with a laptop full of dust & grit.
+orbiter8 (John) how to know if my laptop is upgradable? I different battery, which is bigger than yours, and a color black at the top, but i think my dell inspiron mini is also 10v, I guess.
Sorry to hear of your issue. Have you tried removing the 2GB ram and booting with just 1GB again? The reason I ask is that certain models of Mini10 are not upgradable to 2GB. Now weather this means that they won't physically accept 2GB I'm not sure. Try reverting to your previous RAM module? Also it is possible you picked up a faulty RAM module, this does happen sometimes.
Yes. disassembled and re-installed original ram. Same result. Tried 4 successive times of dis-assembly and reassembly, all to no avail. No worries... It's trashed. :P
Monkey Wrench That's not good :( .. Oh-well.. I guess it could be a good excuse for a new computer. I must admit as en electronics hobbyist, I can tell you that with the tiny SMD components used in more recent electronics, it's sooooo easy to unknowingly break off a tiny component and not even know it. I remember repairing an I phone 4 not so long ago, and it was pure luck that I happened to notice an 0201 sized resistor that that I had broken off, (these are 0.6mm by 0.3mm in size) luckily I found the culprit hiding in the corner of the device before re-assembly.
Thank you very much, it worked perfectly! Just the first time, the computer gave me the beeps (1 - 4 - 3), which meant there was a RAM-related problem. But I just had to do it again, put the RAM nicely in the socket, and it worked like a charm. Thanks again! :)
Excellent video. Approached this with some trepidation but all worked out perfectly. Only one thing - and that is that 3 of the lugs (the 'nut' part moulded into the plastic components for various screws to screw into) inside broke off (or were already broken off?) as I took the PC apart. Glued back carefully with superglue. Many thanks for the clear and detailed instruction.
Thanks very much for the kind feedback, glad you got your computer sorted out. Wouldn't worry too much about the captive nuts as there's not much tension between both sides of the case really, just as long as you've got a few screws in there you should be fine. If the broken ones have stuck properly with superglue that's even better.
Thank you. procedure was perfect. One thing though, no need to take the power button cable out of the plastic channel . Had heck of time pulling out from under the tabs. Felt like it was going to damage it. Thankfully all was well. google only takes 30 seconds to load now with 2G instead of 1 minute :) 😄
If its degraded or damaged yes. Otherwise you should be fine using it again.. If you're in any doubt just keep an eye on your cpu/gpu temps for a while once you're up and running again.
I used your video today to upgrade my Mini 10 to 2GB RAM. Thank you for your very excellent and detailed video! Life is so much easier when little bits of info like this is made available. Very little head scratching is required. :-) Thank you!
The difference between the soldered model and the removable model is the year of manufacture. If the netbook was a 2010 model, it's soldered. If it's a 2012 model, the RAM can be replaced.
+Stace Johnson Yes they have a few different model variants which can be confusing fro some. I received sooo many questions on this that I ended up adding the Crucial Memory advisor tool in the description for the vid :) It seems only the Dell Mini 10 (1010) is none upgradable, the 1010 probably being Dells way of interpreting the year :/ All other variants of the Mini 10 (1012) Mini10v (1011) & Mini 10v (1018) are upgradable. Thank you for commenting
ok compre una en estos dias pero quiero expandir la memoria a 2 gb como puedo saber si esta puedo colocarle los 2 de ram es una inspiron mini 1012 modelo PO4T
Could you recommend the type of memory to buy? There are so many different types. I want to pay the cheapest price. 2 gigs should be just fine. Thank you
Hi.. Best thing to do is go to the 'Crucial' memory website and use their memory advisor tool, you DON'T have to buy the memory from them, although it IS good memory AND well priced too. Their memory tool WILL show you exactly what memory is required by your particular machine. There are slightly different models of Inspiron you see and some of the motherboards are limited to 1GB RAM maximum. The advisor tool will help with that though and show what your machines maximum RAM capacity is. Hope that helps
Hi thanks. I used crucial's website to find out I needed DDR2 200pin 2gb max memory. Do you think the installation process is the same for the different mini 10 models? The outside of my laptop looks just like yours in the video... Again, thank you so much
Hi. I'm not 100% sure on that. I wouldn't worry too much though as the one you see in the video is likely to be the worst of the lot for access. And you have a video to help you with that one :) If you're unsure though... Just video the job or take pictures along the way and then you'll have something to refer to just in case you forget, which is easily done. Cheers John
thanks for the video. after upgrading the memory to 2 GB, the laptop worked fine for a couple of hours then screen turned black. when I tried to restart it, I got a black screen and 7 beeps. sane thing is happening after going back to the original 1 GB memory. I would be grateful for any guidance on how to try to solve this.
Hi.. Sorry to hear of your issues.. Unfortunately This does not sound good at all. It sounds as if perhaps the board has sustained damage (this could be as a result of too much flexing of the motherboard during removal. ) 7 beeps is associated with a cpu or Mainboard failure which could be as a result of the solder balls under the cpu cracking, this again is likely due to the board flexing too much, the tiny solder connections can and do just crack leading to bad connections under the chips. Reflow of the motherboard solder joints is possible as is reflow of individual IC's like the cpu etc.. HOWEVER this is a specialist task requiring a thermal oven and reflow tools, also there are a lot of precautions to be undertaken before attempting this. Even a specialists work is not 100% guaranteed to work due to the intricacy of the work. There is I believe a temporary fix possibly giving you time to backup your data.. Let the computer beep away for 15 minutes.. Shut down by pressing and holding the power-on button.. Then restart. Also search you tube for 'Dell 7 beep fix' videos for further tech advice on this issue. I would perhaps try and get hold of a used Mainboard in this situation.
All that to upgrade the memory, dang! I'd replace the backup battery while I had it apart... That's what I'm going to do on my Dell Mini 10 I just got off of eBay: upgrade the memory, replace the backup battery, and upgrade to an SSD... Thanks for the video :)
@shazwannoor1502 .. Apologies.. I was thinking of a NVMe SSD drive, and not a standard SATA SSD drive, which would fit in the original hard drive bay 👍
That was awesome, thank you! Wow, I feel like I just got done doing brain surgery. I didn't even have any extra screws left over when I was done. Thanks again.
Hi, yes this if for the Dell Mini 10. HOWEVER please note, there are a few versions of the Dell Mini and some of them are NONE upgradable. I believe you can check if your Dell Mini is upgradable by using the the Crucial Memory Tool on their website uk.crucial.com/gbr/en
The reference memory is whatever type is installed in your system already. To upgrade to more memory find out if your unit is upgradable by using this tool... uk.crucial.com/gbr/en/advisor
Hi, Are you sure that your mini 10 is upgradable to 2GB, as some versions are not. Try the Crucial memory tool (link below) to check. If it IS upgradable to 2GB, I would suggest that you re-check the installation, along with all connections like monitor etc. Otherwise it could perhaps be faulty RAM. uk.crucial.com/gbr/en
***** Thanks Man I Found 2GB Crucial memory DDR3 PC3 10600, 1333MHz 8 chip Not 16 Chip in Ebay (PC3-8500) its Work Great < I Know Now 16 Chip Not compatible With My Mini inspiron 1018, Thank Again You Help Me
Thank you mate!
Your video is still helping people, like myself, even after 9 years.
That's good to hear buddy, glad to help. Thanks for commenting 👍
@@OrbiterElectronics Me too! I say hi year 2024 :D
Thanks a lot buddy, glad the video is still of use for people today 👍
Great job on the video! I was dreading the task and was concerned I would damage my Dell netbook as it looked challenging to open to access the internals. Your video was quite detailed and I really appreciate the cautions that were included for certain components and parts. Thanks again for a very well done job.
Very helpful, thank you. I upgraded the RAM in my Inspiron E1505 (circa 2007) and that took all of three minutes. The MINI is quite a bit harder and I would have never been able to do it without your thorough lesson. Cheers and Happy New Yeart.
Can I just gently cut the plastic case using a sharp cutter, (on the place where the RAM is installed) in order to access the RAM?
The flat-headed screws at 2:15 do not need to be removed. One was stuck so I spent a lot of time trying to remove it, before discovering that they can stay in for a RAM installation. Thank you very much for the video, which enabled me to successfully upgrade RAM and hard drive.
I just upgraded my wife's Dell Inspiron Mini 10v (1011), shipped 02/12/2009. This video was a God send - I don't think I'd have stripped the netbook down this far (and rebuild it) without it. Shame about that "spare" I was left with. :)
Thanks a million, John.
Thanks John, for the great video. This was the most finicky memory upgrade I have done, literally ripping the complete laptop apart. Your instructions and explanations were right on and very helpful. I bought some Kingston KTH-ZD8000C6/2G memory and it is working well. The laptop, on WinXP, is now much faster. I'll have to see how my Ubuntu disk performs. Again, thanks from Canada for the great video.
You're very welcome my friend, great to hear the upgrade went well. It is a fiddly job indeed just to install some more RAM.
Thanks for the kind comments
Regards
John
This is the worst design for a RAM slot I've ever seen. They should be embarrassed this product was ever made.
agreed
Couldn’t agree more
When it was sold back in '02 it was advertised as 1gb RAM, non expandable. So, fair enough. I'm just thrilled that with an SSD and now ? increase in RAM I can breathe new life into a 20 year old machine!
Wonder what's the max the machine can take and max available?
right there with ya
Did the upgrade yesterday. Went pretty smooth. Had to pause your video as I went because man, you work quickly! Couldn't have done it without this guide. Thanks again John!
No worries at all mate.. Glad you got it sorted out :)
Cheers
John
used this guide to fix the wifes mini 10. Not to sure what was causing the bios beeping (4 beeps, possibly 5), but took it apart with this guide and reseated everything and all sprung back into life. Thank you.
Perhaps just a bad contact on the memory module. Glad you got it sorted though.
Thank you for coming back to comment
Cheers
John
Yeah, I have the exact same Mini 10 as the one in the video. I've already taken it apart and put it back together just to prep my self so I have a more hands on approach. Plus I just wanted to make sure everything is exactly the same as the one in the video. The RAM I ordered is CORSAIR 2GB 200-Pin DDR2 SO-DIMM DDR2 667 (PC2 5300) Laptop Memory Model VS2GSDS667D2. Thanks for everything! :)
Thanks for the video! I've got the Dell Inspiron mini (1011) and adding the extra RAM was able to breath new life into it. Now I'm adding a lightweight Linux distro to turn this into a portable music player for work.
Good job on the upgrade 👍
Hi, thanks for the kind comments.
The memory was purchased from Crucial dot com if I remember right. I recommend using Crucial's memory advisor tool located on their website, as this can help with choosing the correct RAM and indeed checking to see what a particular systems RAM limits are regarding upgrade etc.
Hope this helps.
John
Thanks so much for you video, it was a huge help even all these years later!!!
That's great to hear. Thank you 👍
Thanks very much for the kind Comments Mark. Glad you got your machine sorted out ok.
Cheers
John
You're welcome. Thank you for the comments
It sounds like you're trying to fit incompatible memory. Double check all the specs on your so-dimm module.
I have a question, I believe it says that mini 10 I have is from 2005, it has the atom processor, 160gb hard drive, but it looks nothing like yours. The wlan card in the inside and I can't figure out why the fuck there is no ram anywhere. Just wandering if you have any clue if my computer had ram or if you know where its located? Thanks Mike.
Killers_Are_Quiet92 This was one of the issues with the Mini 10's. In their infinate wisdom Dell made a few models of it. Some could be upgraded, some couldn't and those that couldn't had the RAM soldered directly to the motherboard :/
Best thing to do is first use the Crucial memory advisor tool (in the description above) to double check that your mini 10 is the type that can be upgraded. If it is indeed upgradable, you have to remove the motherboard to get to the RAM.
Thanks for being helpful. Unfortunately it is soldered to the board. Wonder if there is still a way to solder a new ram in. If not I always have my Inspiron N5050 I'll just upgrade that for now to 8gb of ram.
Killers_Are_Quiet92 Sorry to hear that :( IMHO it's a pathetic idea by Dell which would only benefit THEM in the end, effectively by offering no chance for the customer to upgrade.
To be honest I've not personally seen the mini10 system with soldered-in RAM, only heard about them. I may even have a look on eBay sometimes for a 'spares/repairs Mini10' fixed RAM version to see how going about a memory mod/upgrade would be. If so I'll do a video.
If It's just a standard fitting SO-DIMM module I think fitting a larger value would be possible, BUT you'd have to be totally sure that the system would even read the larger module, plus you'd have to have some good soldering hardware & necessary skills to refit one.
Glad you've still got another system you can upgrade though.
I just upgraded memory in my Dell 1011 to 2GB Kingston RAM thanks to this amazing tutorial. Greetings!
+gawronable Glad the video helped. Thank you for your comments.
I just got a 1011 for free and is a pain to surf the internet with just 1gb of ram. I will upgrade to 2gb soon.
Great tutorial, I just changed the memory for my Inspiron mini accordingly and everything seems to be working well.
Thanks a lot for sharing!
What could be added to the unpopulated slot near the wifi bluetooth card? Possible m.2 vram??
I was given a dell mini for housesitting. Was really suprised by the efficiency and quickness for such a low power machine. Given my daily was IBM thinkpad x40 with 10gb hdd, dvd-rw, and 2 gb maxed ram dual booting Mint and xp pro. The IBM purpose was 1 youtube 2 Kawasaki diagnostic (motorcycle) served well for 10 years 2005-2015. I did own a all in one vista garbage for media viewing at the house, but most times it was off (overheat)
Yes, possibly more storage or perhaps an alternative wifi card, although I'm not 100% sure there.
Thank you, Always nice to have a play by play when tearing these little guys down.
Thank you for the instructions. I managed to bring back to life an old Dell Mini 10 (1010) with a memory upgrade and Linux Mint. It's actually reasonably useful as a web browser and word processor.
Whilst I had the case open, I found two loose captive nuts inside which were causing unscheduled shutdowns. They are supposed to be located within the front part of the panel underneath the wrist rest but had broken loose over the years and were obviously shorting something. I'm surprised they didn't lead to permanent laptop death but since re-assembly it's been fine (hours now - several times longer than before).
I'm tempted to see whether a cheap SSD might improve things further. They only have a 5400rpm HDD as standard. I've had great success in the past upgrading those to 7200rpm HDDs so perhaps there's a little to be gained by an SSD. Ebay has a few 64Gb SSDs for a handful of change.
Hi Nigel.. Good to hear you fixed your Dell. You could try an SSD but I doubt that it would make much difference really. I say that because if you perhaps check the task manager you'll likely see that the CPU will be running at 100% load more now. Even though you've added more RAM (which has helped) The CPU has become the next bottleneck in the system with regards to data throughput.
Nothing to stop you trying and perhaps measuring the speeds though.
Cheers, John
I'll give it a go and report back. Thanks again.
Thanks buddy. Loved the step by step directions. Surgery was a success!
+Soccer Dad.. Hi & Thanks for the comments mate, glad all went well with the job.
Regards
John
Thanks for the instructions. I was able to upgrade mine to 2GB, and it works perfectly. (I have no previous electronics training. :-) )
Thanks Cynthia, glad the video helped.. Keep the tools out though, If you can do this sort of thing it sounds like your a natural with electronics already :)
Thanks for the lesson, I do intend to upgrade, but can you tell me the maximum memory upgrade size for that Dell Inspiron Mini 10 Netbook.......Cheers.....Peter
What an excellent video. You have given me the confidence to do this when mine arrives. One small question; please will you advise me what memory you have used and where you purchased it? (If it is not advertising too much).
First of all John, many thanks for the excellent demo. I'm a senior and I need demos to be nice and slow - LOL!! You'll make a good teacher.
Thank you for the kind comments my friend 👍
Couldn't reply to your message but yeah, a lot of heat and processes shutting down/not responding correctly. I'll look into it as soon as I can.
Where there is the wire less drive I dont have that cover it is not apart it is just a whole case. Is mine not a Mini 10 ?
@joeycossie I had the same problem upgrading it to 2gb aswell, just insert the original RAM back in and it should load up fine again, Ive heard u need a program to change the RAM in the new Dell series
mine does not have to extra opening on the back, and looked nothing like this one on the inside. I took it all apart, found the memory on top of the motherboard, not underneath, and it was square and much bigger than the memory stick I purchased for it. Could not upgrade. Finally got it put back together to work again.
I believe there are a few different versions of this Dell which do differ slightly in their parts placements etc. Good to hear you got yours working ok again though.
Thank you for commenting.
WOW! That's good to know. Thanks for the fast reply. I really appreciate it. Do you think I could upgrade the hard drive to a 700GB hard drive as long as I make sure it's a 2.5" hard drive? Or will it not work with a hard drive bigger the the stock one? Sorry about asking so many questions. I've surfed the net looking for answers but I have only got more confused. I appreciate all the help you've given me so far. I'll be doing the 2GB DDR2 RAM upgrade this week, thanks to you.
Really appreciate.. just found my dell after years in storage and need to upgrade its RAM to do zoom meeting. Great tutorial
You're welcome. Thank you for your kind comments 👍
Thanks very much for posting this. I played it on one netbook while upgrading the other,
and now they both have 2gb!
Cheers - you just saved my wife's inspiron from the bin! Great video and really simple to follow
That's great. Thanks for letting me know it helped 👍
2:06 I cant get that left screw undone, I dont know if the past person put it in wrong or something
See if you can jam a small flat blade into part of the Phillips head to Undo it.. Otherwise you may have to VERY carefully drill/cut the head off if you can.
Thanks. Apprecate the jammy side of your comment. Hehe
@@Jamman1403 😁😉
Had an old mini 10 in my closet, ordered a new battery pack, ac adaptor and ram card for it, i hope my surgery on this thing goes as smoothly when the parts get here. We shall see.
+Joshua Jones Did it help? Considering doing this to mine. Just wanted to see if it made a good difference and is worth it.
The two screws you remove at around 2:00 DO NOT need to come out. They hold the plastic shell onto the chassis and do not attach through to the system board. Stripped one of mine following your directions but fortunately is doesn't really do much if all the other screws are in place. Good demonstration otherwise. Thanks.
Will this work on model 1010? My service manual (Dell Mini 10 (model 1010) shows that it has a 2-in-1 Memory and Processor Board rather than just a memory chip alone.... Any help is appreciated!
Thank you so much, very helpful and very patiently explained. Just done mine following this and I'm happy to report its all in and working! Thanks again
Glad to hear all went well for you Sarah. Thanks for commenting.
Thankful that I bought mine with the ram maxed out and with an SSD. This is a major PIA.
How do I upgrade my mini 10 as it does not have this hatch/lid/door?????
As you'll likely know there are a few models of the mini 10, some can be upgraded, some cannot as the memory modules are soldered directly to the mainboard.
Firstly use the memory checker in the description above to check your particular model for upgradability.
The hatch on the rear of the computer is only for the wireless card, however whether that relates to differing models I don't know. The only way to check for sure is to remove the rear cover on the computer and see if you ha e removable RAM slots or soldered.
Please be careful if attempting the disassembly job, as I've had a couple of folk reporting that they've damaged their computers during the process whilst using the wrong tools or slipping with screwdrivers etc 😞
Excellent video with great information throughout on how to replace the RAM.
Very informative video.
Thanks for the video. Can you tell me what's the exact spec for the replacement RAM please?
Do I have to use some thermal paste (ex.arctic silver 5) for the 3 chips at 15:00? I am thinking that the cpu will overheat...
this week i'm upgrade memory up to 2 gb and also install SSD drive to this netbook... system speed now is amazing!!! running windows 7 very fast
How do I know if it works with my Dell Inspiron mini 10? How do I know if its just a 10 and not a 10v?
Model no. PP19S and it has a Intel atom N270 , I hope that helps.. I have no idea and I don't see any service tag.. and your website crucial memory advisor does not load for me at all
+karl kimber Hi.. I've just checked the link to crucial memory advisor tool and its working.. So if you can, try and use it first perhaps from another computer OR install a different browser etc.
If the computer has an N270 cpu it sounds like a 10v.. Look at the link below.. It show some side by side comparisons between both models.
www.jrin.net/2009_08_19/dell-inspiron-mini-10-vs-10v-review
Thank you very much, I do have the 10v!! :) i have vga & no hdmi, plus that 945 thing and i know it takes max 2gb ram from running some checks in ubuntu so it seems so! What a relief!
Cool 👍
how many memory slots are there? i have got 1 gb in my inspiron mini and 1 gb extra. I just want to put the other one in if possible
I am so glad for you info. i was about to open the mini without instruction. I could have destroyed a perfectly good laptop. thanks John!
Dang, that really sucks...
Hey, do you know if it matters if i use DDR2 or DDR3 RAM? Will DDR3 RAM even work in the the Mini 10?
Do you know what the maximum amount of RAM is that you can install in these Dell Mini 10 netbooks?
Daniel Nguyen It's either 1GB or 2GB maximum depending on model. Use the Crucial memory adviser tool in the description to find out what your maximum allowable memory is.
Hope this helps
I see, okay thanks
Yeah, the memory seems to be running fine, although the whole computer now overheats after a couple of hours (approximately 2-3 hours). So I figure I have reevaluate my efforts...
Though the memory seems to be working fine I will have to re-open it to see if I can figure out what went wrong...
fantastic job, dear John !
many thanks for your rescue ;-)
j zuben No problem my friend. Glad to help :)
is it possible to drill a hole at the back, after I remove the motherboard, so I can upgrade my ram anytime without the hassle of removing the motherboard again?
Its possible as long as your mini 10 is the upgradable type, but you'd have to be accurate with the cutting. Also If you did go ahead.. don't just leave the hole open as you'll end up with a laptop full of dust & grit.
+orbiter8 (John) how to know if my laptop is upgradable? I different battery, which is bigger than yours, and a color black at the top, but i think my dell inspiron mini is also 10v, I guess.
+Maximus Marte check Crucial memory advisor above in video description.
+orbiter8 (John) my laptop is 10v. last question: can I add more than 2gb? e.g 4gb. thanks!
As mentioned... Check the Crucial Memory Advisor tool in the video description. This will tell you how much RAM your machine can have installed.
Hello, can u tell me what kind of memory did u use? DDR2 or DDR3? thanks
how about when start appear "missing operating system" do u have solution? please tell me..
You will need to repair the Operating system.. You can do this by.. Opening a command prompt and running chkdsk /r
How maximum RAM capacity, if i want to upgrade?
Btw, thnx a lot for the video..
Sad day... Took mine apart ever so carefully, but now it doesn't boot up since putting it back together. :(
if you have W7 starter, maybe the system needs to be installed from zero. Try a home basic or pro.
Nah... won't even boot to bios. I must have done something to the MB. Tore it apart again to jack the HD and the Ram. Thanks tho! :)
Sorry to hear of your issue. Have you tried removing the 2GB ram and booting with just 1GB again? The reason I ask is that certain models of Mini10 are not upgradable to 2GB. Now weather this means that they won't physically accept 2GB I'm not sure. Try reverting to your previous RAM module?
Also it is possible you picked up a faulty RAM module, this does happen sometimes.
Yes. disassembled and re-installed original ram. Same result. Tried 4 successive times of dis-assembly and reassembly, all to no avail. No worries... It's trashed. :P
Monkey Wrench
That's not good :( .. Oh-well.. I guess it could be a good excuse for a new computer.
I must admit as en electronics hobbyist, I can tell you that with the tiny SMD components used in more recent electronics, it's sooooo easy to unknowingly break off a tiny component and not even know it.
I remember repairing an I phone 4 not so long ago, and it was pure luck that I happened to notice an 0201 sized resistor that that I had broken off, (these are 0.6mm by 0.3mm in size) luckily I found the culprit hiding in the corner of the device before re-assembly.
was the 2gb upgrade worth it? did you see a big difference from the original 1gb? and how much was the memory? thanks! :)
Would the mini 10 motherboard fit in MacBook Pro case
It may fit, but mounting screws & io positioning etc would be way off. Quite the challenge im guessing.
hi, and.... 1.33GHz Atom processor can be replaced with one of greater capacity ??
Javier Rocha no
Thank you very much, it worked perfectly! Just the first time, the computer gave me the beeps (1 - 4 - 3), which meant there was a RAM-related problem. But I just had to do it again, put the RAM nicely in the socket, and it worked like a charm.
Thanks again! :)
Excellent video. Approached this with some trepidation but all worked out perfectly. Only one thing - and that is that 3 of the lugs (the 'nut' part moulded into the plastic components for various screws to screw into) inside broke off (or were already broken off?) as I took the PC apart. Glued back carefully with superglue.
Many thanks for the clear and detailed instruction.
Thanks very much for the kind feedback, glad you got your computer sorted out. Wouldn't worry too much about the captive nuts as there's not much tension between both sides of the case really, just as long as you've got a few screws in there you should be fine. If the broken ones have stuck properly with superglue that's even better.
now this is a Dell inspiron10 1010 and on the website, it says that it is non-upgradeable
Thank you. procedure was perfect. One thing though, no need to take the power button cable out of the plastic channel . Had heck of time pulling out from under the tabs. Felt like it was going to damage it. Thankfully all was well. google only takes 30 seconds to load now with 2G instead of 1 minute :)
😄
Ah ok, thanks. Tip noted for future reference 👍🏻.
Good to hear your machine is working faster again now. 👌🏻
Cheers
John
Thank you so much!
This is the first time I have done this and it works!
Greetings from Mexico
Do I need to replace that processor sticky heat thermal thingy too?
If its degraded or damaged yes. Otherwise you should be fine using it again.. If you're in any doubt just keep an eye on your cpu/gpu temps for a while once you're up and running again.
I used your video today to upgrade my Mini 10 to 2GB RAM. Thank you for your very excellent and detailed video! Life is so much easier when little bits of info like this is made available. Very little head scratching is required. :-) Thank you!
You sir are a scholar and a gentleman! Thanks so much for his. Worked like a charm!
What kind of ram that laptop have? Lpddr3? Also the speed of the ram, thanks
Can you go more than 2GB?
No, I believe 2GB is the limit.
The difference between the soldered model and the removable model is the year of manufacture. If the netbook was a 2010 model, it's soldered. If it's a 2012 model, the RAM can be replaced.
+Stace Johnson Yes they have a few different model variants which can be confusing fro some. I received sooo many questions on this that I ended up adding the Crucial Memory advisor tool in the description for the vid :)
It seems only the Dell Mini 10 (1010) is none upgradable, the 1010 probably being Dells way of interpreting the year :/ All other variants of the Mini 10 (1012) Mini10v (1011) & Mini 10v (1018) are upgradable.
Thank you for commenting
Hey I am getting a dell mini 10 tomorrow thank you for the video really helpful I will be upgrading my ran tomorrow
ok compre una en estos dias pero quiero expandir la memoria a 2 gb como puedo saber si esta puedo colocarle los 2 de ram es una inspiron mini 1012 modelo PO4T
Could you recommend the type of memory to buy? There are so many different types. I want to pay the cheapest price. 2 gigs should be just fine. Thank you
Hi.. Best thing to do is go to the 'Crucial' memory website and use their memory advisor tool, you DON'T have to buy the memory from them, although it IS good memory AND well priced too. Their memory tool WILL show you exactly what memory is required by your particular machine. There are slightly different models of Inspiron you see and some of the motherboards are limited to 1GB RAM maximum. The advisor tool will help with that though and show what your machines maximum RAM capacity is.
Hope that helps
Hi thanks. I used crucial's website to find out I needed DDR2 200pin 2gb max memory. Do you think the installation process is the same for the different mini 10 models? The outside of my laptop looks just like yours in the video... Again, thank you so much
Hi. I'm not 100% sure on that. I wouldn't worry too much though as the one you see in the video is likely to be the worst of the lot for access. And you have a video to help you with that one :)
If you're unsure though... Just video the job or take pictures along the way and then you'll have something to refer to just in case you forget, which is easily done.
Cheers
John
at first I was like "22mins to add memory?", then I was like "oh crap. MB out time!"
thanks for the vid. Mine is now running great!
@orbiter8 Thx for your reply.
Your video is more useful than I expected to be.
Excellent video indeed - very much appreciated - thank you!!!
vulcancreedler.. Thank you for the kind comments.
Regards
John
Thanks very much for your excellent video, without it i would have had my usual collection of screws left over after re-assembly.
Are all of the screws the same size?
great - cheers
Very helpful indeed
Just need a big list of drivers now for a new HDD and OS install.....
Thanks, I couldn't of done it without you.
+Steven Sheldrake Thank you for the kind comments Steven. It's much appreciated.
thanks for the video. after upgrading the memory to 2 GB, the laptop worked fine for a couple of hours then screen turned black. when I tried to restart it, I got a black screen and 7 beeps. sane thing is happening after going back to the original 1 GB memory. I would be grateful for any guidance on how to try to solve this.
Hi.. Sorry to hear of your issues.. Unfortunately This does not sound good at all. It sounds as if perhaps the board has sustained damage (this could be as a result of too much flexing of the motherboard during removal. )
7 beeps is associated with a cpu or Mainboard failure which could be as a result of the solder balls under the cpu cracking, this again is likely due to the board flexing too much, the tiny solder connections can and do just crack leading to bad connections under the chips.
Reflow of the motherboard solder joints is possible as is reflow of individual IC's like the cpu etc.. HOWEVER this is a specialist task requiring a thermal oven and reflow tools, also there are a lot of precautions to be undertaken before attempting this. Even a specialists work is not 100% guaranteed to work due to the intricacy of the work.
There is I believe a temporary fix possibly giving you time to backup your data.. Let the computer beep away for 15 minutes.. Shut down by pressing and holding the power-on button.. Then restart.
Also search you tube for 'Dell 7 beep fix' videos for further tech advice on this issue.
I would perhaps try and get hold of a used Mainboard in this situation.
+orbiter8 (John) thanks John for your quick reply and thanks again for the video.
+Ahmed El-laboudi You're wecome.. I hope you get your machine sorted out one way or another.
Regards
John
All that to upgrade the memory, dang! I'd replace the backup battery while I had it apart... That's what I'm going to do on my Dell Mini 10 I just got off of eBay: upgrade the memory, replace the backup battery, and upgrade to an SSD...
Thanks for the video :)
Yes agreed.. Now that they're getting pretty long in the tooth its best doing the full upgrade as you are 👍
Great video. I have decided to upgrade my Mini and I think your video is a great tutorial.
Thank you for the comments
Planning to upgrade this too..is it good idea to upgrade it to ssd too?
I didn't upgrade to SSD but if you can get a suitable adaptor, then I reckon that would help too 👍
@@OrbiterElectronics suitable adaptor? ther charger adaptor?
@shazwannoor1502 .. Apologies.. I was thinking of a NVMe SSD drive, and not a standard SATA SSD drive, which would fit in the original hard drive bay 👍
Excellent patience! Thanks for the great video.
Great video thanks very helpful. Only a sadist would design such an underpowered PC with the memory right in the middle of it!
Thanks for the video, just put 2GB I had lying around into a machine for someone. Literally the worst layout I've seen on a laptop.
Agreed & thanks for the comment buddy 👍
Excellent guide. Thank you
That was awesome, thank you! Wow, I feel like I just got done doing brain surgery. I didn't even have any extra screws left over when I was done. Thanks again.
Steve Montana .. Hi, you're very welcome, good to hear all went well for you 👍.
Cheers, John
is it mini 1010 or mini 10v???
Worked great. Thanks for uploading.
can this laptop use single stick 4gb ddr2 ram?
Not as far as I know. 2GB seems like the maximum this machine will recognise.
hello from Colombia, which is it specifying the 2Gb RAM to install it on the dell mini 10?
Hi, yes this if for the Dell Mini 10. HOWEVER please note, there are a few versions of the Dell Mini and some of them are NONE upgradable.
I believe you can check if your Dell Mini is upgradable by using the the Crucial Memory Tool on their website uk.crucial.com/gbr/en
***** ok then, ¿what would be the reference memory should I buy?
The reference memory is whatever type is installed in your system already. To upgrade to more memory find out if your unit is upgradable by using this tool... uk.crucial.com/gbr/en/advisor
Xochitl Sandoval If the memory is upgradable (not the soldered-in type) then yes 2gb is the maximum the motherboard/bios will recognise.
Xochitl Sandoval I fitted a 500GB drive in mine with no problems at all.
Thank you so much!
Glad to help 👍
Hi Man , I Have Dell inspiron 1018 I Upgrade Memory To 2GH Kingston & Samsung 1333MH it's Not Working I Have Black Screen
Hi,
Are you sure that your mini 10 is upgradable to 2GB, as some versions are not. Try the Crucial memory tool (link below) to check.
If it IS upgradable to 2GB, I would suggest that you re-check the installation, along with all connections like monitor etc. Otherwise it could perhaps be faulty RAM.
uk.crucial.com/gbr/en
I Checked The Link and it's show me : Crucial 2GB DDR3 PC3-12800 Unbuffered NON-ECC 1.35V PC3-10600 (DDR3 1333MHz) speeds
I Find Something About Memory In EBay: This is a special 8 chip memory module. The standard 16 chip module will not work in the Mini 1018
***** Thanks Man I Found 2GB Crucial memory DDR3 PC3 10600, 1333MHz 8 chip Not 16 Chip in Ebay (PC3-8500) its Work Great < I Know Now 16 Chip Not compatible With My Mini inspiron 1018, Thank Again You Help Me
samir sabagh
Hi.. Good to hear you computer working well again. Thanks for the comments
Thank you for your help and everything
You're welcome :)
Thank You very much Sir! I was looking for a video like this :)
Thanks! Instructions worked for me.
Hi. Good to hear the video helped. Thank you for commenting.
This is 10v not just the mini 10.