I decided on cleaning my laptop fans today, which I’ve been procrastinating for about a year now because of this one screw. But I just can’t seem to open this with my screwdriver, since whatever I did back when I last opened it it’s nearly circular now. Is there a way to unscrew this?
Old life hack that occasionally works for this is to use a rubber band. Grab a rubber band wide enough to cover the screw head, push the screwdriver into the screw through the rubber band, and pray it has enough grip to twist the screw loose. Good luck with whatever method you use.
Never in the history has that worked for me of doing laptop repair professionally.
Thank you. This is always in the list of handyman hacks, and using a rubberband has never worked for me either. I’m convinced 90% of the people recommending it are just repeating what they’ve heard and haven’t actually tried it.
I’ve tried it a dozen or so times, maybe worked 2-3 of them. I keep it in my arsenal of tricks because it’s quick and easy to try with no negative repercussions if it doesn’t work.
It’s worked for me but with a couple layers of insulation tape rather than a rubber band.
Old Nintendo security screws were easily overcome by melting the end of a pen tube (the clear plastic Bic’s were always my preference), and jamming it in there holding it still while it cooled. Could work in this case.
I have successfully done this with a fuse box.