How-To: Gateway LT4004U Netbook RAM and Hard Drive Access, Upgrade, Replace

[@AK49BWL]

As the now-primary user of this machine, I've put a 128GB SSD in it and installed Windows 7 Ultimate x32 - Can confirm that Windows will detect all 4GB and use 3GB of it, using the PNY 4GB PC3-10666 stick installed in this video. Have not and probably won't try x64 because for my purposes it isn't needed.

[@maxinec2]

Excellent thank u much,hope u consider seriously teaching u have made it so simple ,once again thank u. I did it

[@k5935]

haha, quarantining right now and i just rediscovered my old LT4004u!! will try to follow this video to upgrade!

[@timnye718]

Very well done. Too many videos are done by less than professional people who don't understand how to properly describe what they are doing or how to film it. Your video was straight to the point and a good guideline for performing this task. Thank you!

[@AK49BWL]

I appreciate the feedback. I also can't stand such videos and vowed that mine would never be like them.

[@HAITIANBOMBA]

Thank you for this! Memory upgraded. One of the best tutorials i have ever seen april 21

[@irastern8717]

I recently bought a refurbished Gateway 4010u and I used your video to upgrade the RAM. The video is extremely helpful. It took me less than an hour to do it myself and I saved $. What a difference in the PC performance. Thanks!

[@TimGormley]

Thanks! I followed this to successfully upgrade my LT4004u. The closeups on the keyboard tabs, the door release, and the screws really helped. Couldn't have done it without you.

[@christophersmith4649]

This video works for the LT4009u Netbook also -- same chassis. I left the keyboard ribbon cable attached -- it was still easy enough to work around. Thank you for posting this video; there is no way I would have figured out how to do this without it! This was well worth the cost of $12.99 for a 2GB RAM upgrade & only 15 minutes of time.

[@raybarlow8823]

Thank you for the excellent video! This has extended the life of this cute little machine even longer! Wow! So, you go through the keyboard to get to that cover on the underside. I wasn't upgrading the machine, I just needed to replace the hard drive because it crashed. Thanks again!

[@mjc614900]

Thank you. I didn't do it as fast as you did, but your video made it possible. My little netbook LT4010u was "neat" at first. Then irritating. For only $25.00 I upgraded. And it shows on my computer systems. It's nice now.

[@brucemackenziebcca]

I just followed these instructions on an LT41P02h. Upgraded the hard disk to an SSD and it worked great. Used the Samsung data transfer program that came with the new SSD with no problems. There may be one more tab along the top of the keyboard on mine but it came out the same. The little Netbook was getting almost too slow to use with its original hard drive, and the SSD has made a huge difference.

[@Makhanacora]

This video was great!! I just upgraded to 2GB RAM. It took me all of 15 minutes thanks to your excellent tutorial. I knew exactly what I was doing. Thank you!!!

[@crufflerdoug]

To give you some idea of my electronics skills, I once hooked up a car battery backwards..... But I just upgraded my RAM using your video. Many thanks!!

[@danassefaw1253]

hey Brandon, thanks for the tutorial.... I have this notebook collecting dust as an emergency third laptop... but it was so SLOW ...now wth 2gb is much better... you are a good guy for sharing...

[@antonioalicea350]

Thank you! I found that in the battery compartment are the back of the keyboard tabs which make it easier to pull them back and the keyboard out.

[@mmiller264]

Works perfectly with the LT4009u Netbook as well. The only thing I did differently was to leave the keyboard ribbon cable attached. I think that is actually a little easier since you don't have to disconnect and reconnect the cable. Thanks for the excellent video. It would have been very difficult without it!

[@CesarLopez-bf4iu]

2022 and still helping people like me. Thank you so much

[@al1432]

Just added a Crucial 2GB memory module, worked like a charm thanks to your video, thank you! I did not remove the keyboard cable, worked around it attached instead, that did not cause any real difficulties.

[@thebitingcat]

I also must convey my appreciation for this video. Without it I would just be banging on rocks trying to open that door in the back. For those who are wondering about the 2.99 gb useable, the integrated graphics will nick a GB for its own display use. And the Windows Experience score does decrease with the extra RAM, but I tested its performance on some games and I am happy to report that the choppiness has gone away, not bad for a $20 upgrade.

[@glennselover1446]

Great video, thank you! I have the LT4009u. Had the machine up and running w/ new 2 Gb memory within 10-15 minutes. I went to Crucial's site and they have a program that checks your machine and tells you exactly what upgrades are available. Received the memory in around 3 days! Regular shipping...was like $32 total w/shipping. Don't work for them, just my experience. I did not remove the ribbon cable from the keyboard and it was kind of in the way but to me still worth not having to worry about if I put it back correctly. Like a new little laptop! Thanks again.

[@porchat]

Thank you very much for your video! Excellent! I just did my upgrade and it worked perfectly! 2GB now! :) I would not be able to do it without your help!

[@larrymoreno3298]

Thanks for the video, I was able to add a 2 gig memory stick on a gateway LT 4009u in 10 minutes. Worked perfectly, thanks again

[@weaseloneful]

This was a very helpful video. Worked like a charm. Getting the keyboard off of the last clip was touch and go, but it all worked. Thank you for posting this!!

[@Whynotthem65]

Thanks! I ordered 2GB and used this clip to change RAM. Great job bro

[@model3113]

So I followed the instructions in your video. I just purchased mine last week and I have had a lot of issues with running out of memory. The instructions are pretty straightfoward (I've done this before with previous PCs.) Today I went down to Best Buy and purchased a PNY 4GB PC3-10666 which for 20 dollars was a decent price, as they didn't have any 2GB sticks. I installed it and...nothing. It powers on but the screen stays black.

[@klantic2]

Thanks for the video. You made it much simpler to get the memory installed. Much appreciated.

[@williammartinez9138]

Thanks for making this video. You just saved me a lot of time and head aches. This notebook I have for my daughter has been running slow and could not figure out why.

[@NevadaMikey]

Great video, I just upgraded the memory on my notebook with destroying the laptop. Greatly appreciate the effort you did to put this together.

[@Aubretia]

thank you so much for your help... this thing was a major pain to crack into and I couldn't have done it without your help.

[@SteveSweetz]

Worked for me with an LT-4009U thanks. I had to press a lot harder than expected to get the backplate off. Thought I broke something, but it was fine, just has tight snaps.

[@AK49BWL]

Hard drives are cross-compatible with any computer. Just be sure you get the right size - but since there are only three sizes that I know of (1.8", 2.5", 3.5", the 2.5" variant being the ones in laptops generally), it's not hard to figure ;)

[@AK49BWL]

Absolutely. To my knowledge, there is no limit to the size of hard drive you can put in there, except limited by what's available lol.

[@itsokneeme]

Thank you so much for your detailed "how to" video! Upgraded the RAM easily with your help!

[@matthewvaldez2682]

thanks mate my buddy has this netbook. hes hard drive went bad and had to swoop it out but couldnt figure out how hot to pull that bottom pice of and thanks to this video made it very easy. props mate :)

[@SteveSweetz]

As far as I know the Cedar Trail platform (which is what this netbook uses) will only run memory up to 1066MHz (PC8500). As with any PC you can probably put higher speed memory in it and it will simply run it at the lower clock speed. This could be verified by looking at the actual memory speed (and not the rating which is also shown) in CPU-Z.

[@moivy62]

Thank you. We had a Gateway LT4008u laying around and it was so slow. Always wondered if the memory could be increased. your tip worked. It is a little better to work with but not great. Tried to upgrade to Windows 10 but the graphics media accelerator 3600 series is not compatible. Any ideas?

[@AK49BWL]

+Melvin Ligh I doubt it would even run Windows 10 at a decent speed.. It does good to run 7, lol. And since I don't know of any graphics incompatibility workarounds, I don't think I can be of further help, apologies.

[@moivy62]

+AK49BWL Thank you for the reply. Do you think it would be possible to change the intel chip or would a solid state hard drive help make it faster?

[@AK49BWL]

+Melvin Ligh an SSD would most certainly speed things up. I don't believe the CPU can be replaced in these machines.. Pretty sure they're soldered to the mainboard.

[@sfacp2]

Thanks a lot for the great video! It's impossible to take it apart without watching your video first. Yes, It worked on my LT4009U. I upgraded to 4G although Windows 7 Starter said only 2G usable. I am going to upgrade to 64 bit Pro

[@AK49BWL]

Maybe CDMA or GSM if the card has a SIM slot on it. The laptop has a placeholder for a SIM card under the battery, but no actual slot (you can't insert a SIM card). Next to the wifi card, there's a mini-PCI-E slot, not sure if you can insert and use a 3G card in that or not... Or what it's really for.

[@Polarbearjackable]

Thank you for taking the time to make this video, it is extremely helpful and I will be sure to follow it when I get my hands on some new ram. Thanks!

[@RandomCountryGirl]

Thank you for taking the time to make this video. It made changing my RAM easy :) much appreciated!

[@tranxx2]

method of dis-assembly also works on the LT4008u model from gateway. thanks for the helpful vid, was getting annoyed and didnt even think of looking for the tabs on top of the keyboard...

[@clymer.]

Excellent video! No way I could have installed the memory without it. Thanks.

[@OhMyPoBoy]

Thanks man you helped me out a ton. I was having trouble with the keyboard until I came across your video.

[@laurozambrano6749]

Please need help how you put @ in the gateway 4010u

[@vaughancs]

You're a lifesaver bro! Thanks so much, this works on an LT4010u as well. Your instructions were great! Had a little trouble with the keyboard but I found that using a really really thin library card, I was able to get behind the tabs. A regular credit card was just too thick. I worked though thanks again!

[@CN-yf3lr]

Dear, but tell please what memory to buy for this model please, if I can get over 2gb will be even better. Thx lot!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@suziequeue6510]

It's not easy to get the keyboard off, but I used the corner of my cc and a screwdriver and finally I got it started. Then it came off pretty easy. If u pop a key, just push it back on. No problem.

[@lewzero]

Thank you in the past for helping me in the future! I've been using this thing for my ECU tuning software (NepTune) and whenever I tried to browse the web, it just sucked. Now that I have 4x the ram it's actually useable, thank you so much

[@AK49BWL]

Lol I used the one in this video for HPTuners quite a few times, it's great for that purpose!

[@skyfrost_rouge1216]

So you can upgrade to 4gb ddr3 of ram

[@leosmithonbass]

Watched this vid to get some tips for my 4010u. Well-presented and clearly spoken. Thank you! That keyboard is easy to remove, much easier than on other computers. I just now dropped in a 4GB memory module. May eventually put in a 1Tb HDD too. Putting Linux on this computer might be a good way to get at all the RAM and to improve general performance. I think distros like LinuxMint, Porteus, or Lubuntu would work well.

[@leosmithonbass]

a follow-up on this, 10 months later. The 4Gb module works just fine, but reads in the operating system as only 3Gb available. I'm using this machine mainly to watch online videos (KZbin / Netflix) and listen to podcasts. For a while I had Ubuntu Netbook Remix installed (OS from 2010). On this machine the Unity desktop was a little heavy, so the machine felt unresponsive. Once any app got going, though, everything was fine. Handled Netflix ok. (Had to find a download of Chrome 48 to make that happen.) Recently I decided to install Linux Mint 17 32-bit with the MATE desktop. MUCH IMPROVED feeling and performance all around. Everything worked correctly right after installation. I put that same version of Chome on to watch the Netflix; no problems at all. Memory still reads as only 3Gb.

[@garlandratliff6418]

Yeah, that's the main problem....the netbook is only a 32 bit setup regardless of OS you put on it. 32 bit systems can only access up to 3 gb ram. It has to be a 64 bit system to be able to access higher then the 3 gb limit

[@nordicomsystems8841]

I just used your vid to upgrade the RAM in a LT4010u I bought last night, you're the man. Now has anyone compiled a set of 64-bit drivers yet or figured out how to get 7 x64 running properly? I have a 4GB stick of RAM that I'd like to install and I can find all the x64 drivers...I just want to get some feedback from someone who has a x64 OS up and running on one of these netbooks. Thanks!

[@TBPNemo]

Thanks man, I couldn't find the service manual for this machine anywhere. Cheers.

[@TYSMANJO]

I also did this and upgraded to Win 7 home premium 32-bit. Surprisingly, windows was able to recognize 2.99 gigs, which is more than Intel's spec sheet for the N2600 says it can access (says 2 gigs). I wonder if I could see the full 4 gigs if I upgraded to 64-bit windows? I will wait until 64-bit drivers for the GMA 3600 are released to try that. Also, GMA 3600 now shares 1,274 MB of the ram, up from just ~256.

[@AlexanderMorrison]

Excellent Video! Upgraded to Crucial 2GB + OCZ SSD 60GB so I can run Linux as fast as this netbook allows.

[@boink666]

Thanks to your video I was able to upgrade to 2gb.

[@drumfish999]

Absolutely one of the best tutorials i have ever seen.

[@charlesrogers631]

Great how-to! Ariel, the video is built into the motherboard.

[@carlosguzman2988]

Great tutorial. I was able to successfully upgrade the memory of my notebook. Thanks for putting it together!

[@GabrielleDunnahue]

Hey, thanks for this. I bought the exact same netbook, and will be making almost the same upgrades.

[@AK49BWL]

Bad stick is possible... That is the identical part number I put in hers. I'd try to get a replacement, but if the replacement stick does the same thing, I really don't know what happens from there. Does this checksum error occur before Windows starts loading or after?

[@AK49BWL]

It's also possible you got a bad stick. There's a comment somewhere around here where they got a bad one and the same thing happened to them, they got a new one of the same model and it worked.

[@RSaint92]

Great video, very helpful!! I got a problem with my netbook, i need acces to the SD card slot to remove a stuck card and I couldn't figure out how to get there yet. please help!

[@AK49BWL]

That's a new one on me... But it sounds like an operating system error, not hardware. Did you shut down before the RAM swap or hibernate? May seem like an odd question but it's the only thing I can think of...

[@cloober2099]

awesome video... thank you.. i installed my RAM without a hitch thanks to your video...

[@EAcordeon]

Hi and thanks for the great video. Going to embark on upgrading RAM, however not sure if to order 204 pin or 240 pin DDR3? Which is the correct one? Please let me know thank you.

[@MarcHutchins]

Thanks for the tutorial. I was slow on reinserting the keypad ribbon because the clasp popped off -- crazy trying to figure out how to get it back on. I put 4GB in, but the system is apparently only reading 2. Can upgrade to Windows 8 and use all 4GB?

[@Sonex1204]

Hi, excelent video. After upgrading to 4 Gb of RAM what is the Windows experience index of the notebook?

[@segaman64x]

Hey, I just bought one of these netbooks and I am looking to upgrade the RAM. Could you possibly give me a link to the specific RAM that you used that is confirmed to work? I am new to the computer scene, and I just want to make sure I'm getting the right kind.

[@darthfleckner]

SUPER helpful! Thank you for the walk-through, just successfully upgraded my ram!

[@danielgirard]

Excellent Video! I was able to upgrade to 2gb. Now I am thinking of upgrading the HD to a larger size. Thank you so much!!

[@speeedskater]

thank you very much for this video, the one I helped a friend for the hard drive was dead, but you made it easy to open,

[@Legend1148]

The pins are there for the card on the motherboard but the plastic pieve responsible for holding the ard in there (similar to the plastic slot that holds the wireless card and RAM) is not there.

[@Jeromedollar]

great video. Question -- I upgraded my ram, powered on the netbook and realized I forgot to reattach the keyboard ribbon. I re-opened the netbook, attached the ribbon and went to power the netbook back on but now its completely dead with no power at all. Any ideas as to what could be wrong or if I accidentally disconnected something else. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

[@Viewer19]

If you install 4GB RAM your system will run faster your video will get more shared memory and run smoother your MS graphics score will increase a bit, mine is 3.2 now. 1GB is reserved I have 1.3 GB free. I had the 2GB (it also has reserved memory) which is a noticeable change but the 4GB is a bigger change. The price difference so little that you must get the 4GB. Just a note about Win 8 the Windows App Store requires a minimum res that is higher than this notebook so my advice is Win 7 Home Basic or Premium which is on the LT4004u (others?) ready for an in-place upgrade requiring only a key. It is interesting to note that buying the boxed CD was cheaper, but does require getting an external DVD drive. Making a recovery disc also needs an external drive. I know about Win 8 because I went for the $15 upgrade offer after doing the Win 7 Premium in-place upgrade. I which I had stayed on the 7 the 8 was not usable until I installed Classic Start. Even then there was screen flicker when using any browser I can't remember if that went away after the 4GB install or if it was after 1GB of OS updates, it is gone now. The wifi which had been fine under 7 now starts out fine at the beginning of a session then slows to a crawl so I now have a USB wifi from TRENDA installed without their SW (win just installs it as a second wifi) and problem solved.

[@Sonex1204]

Hi, what memory stick did you buy? What improvement did you get? Thanks for your help.

[@leskimbler5963]

Hi, This video is awesome. TY. I tried the exact same PNY PC3-10666 4GB Ram as shown as confirmed in the video, and my system wouldn't fully power up. It would power on, but the screen would never come on. As soon as I put back in the original ram, it powered up and the monitor came on. I'm assuming as the person below said, you need a 64 bit operating system to handle the 4gb, and this is 32. Will try the 2GB ram and see what happens, but using the one from the video didn't work.

[@mainotaku]

Thank you! Your video made updating my netbook a breeze.

[@myonline88]

That's probably because the on-board GMA graphics adapter has borrowed 512MB of RAM from your 4GB DDR RAM. Some on-board GMA graphics card doesn't have its own dedicated VRAM. I have gateway LT 40 with 2GB RAM but it only used 1.24GB RAM, although it detects and show 2GB RAM. The GMA 3600 borrowed 700+MB of RAM from my 4GB RAM.

[@Vinpoc]

Thanks for posting. Understand that hardware supports 4 gig but when you say Windows 7 Starter only "shows" 2 gig as usable is the full 4 gig accessible or no point in going above 2 gig stick unless OS is upgraded?

[@AK49BWL]

99% chance of yes. I believe there's also provisions for a mini-pci express ssd as well. Not sure on that one however.

[@MatadorMadrigal]

I have a Gateway LT3103u model, it is possible to upgrade the cpu? the netbook currenlty has an AMD Athlon 1 Processor L110 1.20 GHZ. Good Video Thanks.

[@TebTengri]

I have an Intel 520 180GB that will fit in it. I installed it just to see if it'd fit and it did. Detected in the BIOS etc. Not the drive I'm using in it though. I actually used a Seagate Momentus XT 750GB hybrid drive. It's pretty snappy with OpenSUSE on it(given the Atom CPU that is)

[@EAMCO123]

Do you have a video showing how to replace a graphics card for this model of laptop. Because my cousin has one of these but we dont know how to replace the graphics card please respond as soon as you can thank you.

[@heymikes]

Thank You for this video. I got one of these last week and wanted to upgrade. Do you know if it can support a 64bit OS? If I have to upgrade the OS I would normally opt for the 64bit. Since it appears 2GB of ram is a starter imposed ram limitation and the NB will support 4GB the OS needs a change.

[@provost74]

Thanks for the video, would never had figured out how to change the memory. I installed the PNY 4GB DDR3 - 10666 memory like you did and got this error - The file header checksum does not match the computed checksum. Put the 1GB memory back in and PC returned to normal. Any ideas?

[@imaxm]

Thanks B Dubya it worked great. Gateway should give you a professional Cert you are a great tech. thanks again

[@AK49BWL]

As a matter of fact, yes! In fact, you don't even need to upgrade the OS if you don't want to -- Simply upgrading the RAM allowed my mom to access her precious Facebook games quite well lol. Before that, they wouldn't even load at all.

[@mustang2O2O]

Great vid. Thanks. I want one if these for Christmas and wanted to make sure I could add more ram.

[@nylar4000]

I have 7 ultimate 64 bit running on an LT4004u, the only drivers I have not been able to find yet for 64 bit Windows are for the ethernet and wifi. I've only just started looking for them though..

[@jessecantrell7681]

Very good video. I installed the 2 gig last night and it was easy. thank you for sharing.

[@heymikes]

well I put in 4GB of ram and upgraded to W7 home premium. Windows appears to be able to use 3 GB worth of the RAM. Swapped the HD for an SSD and this little book is a real screamer. Quite happy with the results. Did not try a 64 bit OS.... Ram is cheap, OS's are not.

[@sequalofdecay]

Excellent tutorial! Saved me time and fingernails. Thank you very much.

[@CarlosPaleodaRocha]

Did you noticed this netbook have slot for a 3G card? Did you tried to add a card? I am planning to add a card but would like to know if you have already tried it.

[@TebTengri]

Works fine. 64 bit Windows and several 64 bit Linux kernels. I returned it for a similarly priced AMD C series APU based system

[@larrymoniz2747]

I spent nearly 2 weeks trying to get Gateway to honor the warranty on my LT4010u. Turned it off one night and it failed to work the next day. A large paperweight since then despite my efforts to get it working. I'm not a techie, nor am I a neaphyte. I've worked with, built and repaired dozens of computers since. Unable to even get a C prompt and seem to wind up in endless loops when I start the unit. It asks me to use either f2 or f12. - then nothing. Tried repair disk. Out of ideas. Help?

[@KLDozer]

Just put a PNY 4GB PC3-10666 memory stick in mine. I'm still not sure if its using the full 4GB? Like you said it reads it at 2GB, the laptop feels faster than the 1G with the 4GB. I'm assuming since the new hardware is installed and working that its using the full 4GB

[@misaelalejandro4973]

sata drivers for the hard drive of this netbook? im try install windows 8 in this, but windows installer dont load the hard drive :c

[@AK49BWL]

Doubtful, unless you also upgraded Windows 7. Win7 Basic only accepts up to 2GB from the looks of it. Premium detects up to 2.99GB. Only 64 bit will show true usage of the full 4GB.

[@seventhoften]

I did get the ram in, I've 2gb now on my LT4008u. But it was not quite as easy to get the keyboard off. However it wasn't too much trouble. I left the ribbon connected and followed the demo. But after booting up, my spacebar does not work. Any suggestions?

[@meatshackles]

@Samoh Kul that's only with windows, it's dependent on your operating system, with certain versions of Linux this netbook can run 4GB :P

[@MrMac5150]

Very Good video, one question does that netbook have one or two memory slots I was not sure

[@AK49BWL]

Just one.

[@85gbody97]

Great vid but my gateway netbook has a door that you remove from the bottom to access the ram an hard drive. Just like my gateway laptop has. I got lucky upgrading mine to 2gb of ram as the gateway laptop got smashed so I removed the 2 2gb memory sticks an used one in my netbook an was considering using the 500gb hard drive but wasn't sure if the netbook could handle it any info on if the mother bored of these netbooks can run ok with a 500gb hard drive would be greatly helpful

[@AK49BWL]

85gbod Hard drives are near limit-less these days.. You can put anything in there and it'll work.

[@heymikes]

Yes!!!! I put a Corsair P128 in mine and it really wakes it up.