I'll bump this again: How old are the current batteries being shipped in this kit? If you installed the kit recently did the battery have a date code? My Air can still do about 30 min on battery but I don't want to make it worse.

Does the replacement back come with all the sticky bits I need to replace it, including the fingerprint sensor, led and camers cover?

Some idiot stuck a drive in my Vostro 3460 using double sided tape. I got the drive out by lifting up the connector end strongly but gently, but it pulled the label half off the HDD and the HDD was still stuck. To get it out without using excessive force and possibly wrecking the motherboard, I look a utility blade and laid it flat between the motherboard and HDD label, and gently pushed it horizontally in. This sheared through enough of the tape to unstick the drive.

I tried removing the two screws on the bottom of the side cover that partially overhangs the drive but it didn’t budge. Any tips on getting the side cover off?

I am going to try to make a bracket out of cardboard or soda bottle PET. The only M2 screws I have are 8mm long so if they wont attach the bracket to the original screw holes I’ll just glue some stiff foam on the inside of the bottom cover to hold the SSD against the motherboard and call it a day.

These i3 Vostros are pretty useful with an SSD and 4+ GB memory.

My battery swelled and did all the hard work getting started popping the back open so I didn’t need the iOpener to get the back off, but now the iOpener is handy to heat up the sticky foamy factory original adhesive.

I found isopropanol ineffective. I found heat softens it considerably. Just very warm, like hot water warm, is effective. Use tweezers or a plastic blade to help pull it off. Metal blades will either gouge the plastic or, worse, create metal shavings that will wreak havoc.

Are there any solvents other than isopropanol that work and won’t harm the plastic? How do pros speed up this step?

How old are the current batteries being shipped in this kit?