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Latitude E6410 - Captive Screw on Access Panel - head is stripped - how to remove Access Panel?
I bought this laptop used in December. It seems to be in outstanding cosmetic condition and working condition. I replaced the hard disk drive with a much larger one. I bought 8 GB of RAM, to replace the 4 GB it has now. When I went to loosed the Captive Screw on the Access Panel, I had no luck. Possibly/Probably when I began trying, the head was already stripped. My wife (she's very mechanical) also tried this. We both agree that the head is stripped and the Captive Screw is not moving. This is an issue I'd never run into before (we have 6 Dell laptops and a Dell Micro Tower in the house). I am going to pray that someone here (Customer or Dell Employee) can tell me what we need to do to get the Access Panel off the laptop. Thank you in advance, for your time and your help, which we greatly appreciate!
ejn63
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February 28th, 2016 09:00
Try the rubber band trick first - use a screwdriver with a large handle on it and wedge a wide rubber band between the tip of the driver and the screw head. That may give you enough leverage to remove the screw. If it does, be sure to discard the screw and replace it with a new one - do NOT re-use it.
LannyM
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February 28th, 2016 12:00
Thank you for replying and for the idea. I wouldn't have thought of that. My wife found an old and wide Rubber Band. Sufficiently wide to cover the hole where the Captive Screw is located. I tried it with 2 Phillips Head screw drivers. One has a shorter Shank and a wider Handle. I would think that one would give me the best shot at success. The other one has a longer Shank and a thinner Handle. Sadly, no joy.
The Screw Head is now shot. I don't think there are any grooves left in it.
I am hoping and praying that you or someone else will have another idea that will be successful. I suspect this is the first time anyone has tried to take the Access Panel off of this laptop, but that may or may not be true. Thank you again for replying and for your idea! Much appreciated!
I
kreayshawn
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September 29th, 2017 18:00
It's been ovee a year but I would have just cut the area around the screw or just ripped the panel off and bought a new one www.amazon.com/.../B00UX3FGWG
LannyM
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September 29th, 2017 19:00
It has been over a year and I had completely forgotten about that. First, my wife tried it. Then, my then 15 year old daughter tried it. She was more persistent. I don't remember how she did it. I think she did get a bite on the stripped screw and managed to get it out. I'm not sure if that's the E6410 I'm using, as I type this, or the one that my daughter uses, but it is working. The Captive Screw is gone, but otherwise the bottom panel is intact. If that ever needs to be done again, my daughter is "the expert" in our house. The "girls" in the house were better at that then I was.