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Hi, The screws on my HP Pavilion - 15-cw0983na laptop chasis (bar those under the rubber feet) are spinning but not coming out. I have used both magnetic and non-magnetic screwdrivers. I’ve tried slipping something under the screws to leverage them out but this is just scratching the chasis and screws themselves. I’m not sure what else I can try to get the screws or chasis off but any help is appreciated TIA!
The plastic around the screws likely broke over time, which is somewhat common on comsumer grade laptops – much less today, but still occurs. More than likely, the palmrest is compromised. Don’t go prying up prematurely as you will do some damage to the bottom as well, but what you can sometimes do is start to unclip the bottom and then back them out slowly, so you aren’t putting as much stress on the “intact” standoffs, if you will. Once you get it off, take a look at the damage and see; if most of them are bad, you may need a new palmrest but if 1 or 2 are broken. If it’s not critical/barely visible, it may not be worth the cost to fix correctly and if you care that much, read on since you can sometimes glue them back together. Likewise if it’s critical, sometimes you can put Epoxy in the plastic where it broke, push it back in and fix it that way. It will probably break again, but if it means you replaced the laptop or have the parts needed, it did it’s job. I wouldn’t glue it in professionally, but if it was my laptop and it wasn’t critical/field failure was low risk, I’ve done it. But these repaired notebooks get “noted” for being fixed this way as it’s a half fix so I know if I take it out, I need to be careful and it may break for good.
