How hard can I pull?

[lydiebreeze]

Hello all,
First off I'm new to this forum, and need some advice. I'm attempting to replace my power supply and have it all out and diagramed for the new one - but I can't easily get it off the Mother Board - how hard can I pull? Is there a trick to it? I'm afraid to crack the mother board/damage the portal...
Sorry if my terminology isn't correct - I'm a bit of a novice.
Thanks
Julie

 

[macdude425]

Some are harder than others. I had to tug quite hard to replace my dad's a few days ago. Nothing broke. Just don't use EXTREME force.

 

[Shumway]

There should be a little clip on it,Just press on the clip and give her a little tug and it should pop right out

 

[lydiebreeze]

Dear MacDude,
This may sound personal - I don't mean it that way!... how big/strong are you?
I'm a 130 lb lady, who can maybe lift 80 lbs without too much effort (with both hands...) - so... just want to gauge how extreme is extreme...

 

[HAVOC]

Squeeze the clip with one hand. With the other pinch the sides of the connecter and pull. Pull as hard as you need too. Yo won't damage anything.

 

[RicoDirenzo]

A okay? The clip they are talking about is a locking device on the connector. When you push in at the top you should see the little tooth on the botton move out from the area on the connector on the mobo and it should just come out with a gentle pull and a little wiggling (of the clip) of the plug. Did you get this accomplished wihtout ripping the plug out of your mobo?

 

[lydiebreeze]

Well, I damaged SOMETHING....
One of the "brackets" maybe? Half of one of those very long black things came flying out of my computer - as well as some card....
The numbers on it are...PC 133U...
What have I done? Is it time to take it in or can I replace that little black bracket?
ANDDD = is there anyway to recover my files from my hard-drives?
I mean - eventually?

 

[macdude425]

Dear MacDude,
This may sound personal - I don't mean it that way!... how big/strong are you?
I'm a 130 lb lady, who can maybe lift 80 lbs without too much effort (with both hands...) - so... just want to gauge how extreme is extreme...

No, I understand. I have no problem telling you I weigh about 110, and can lift about the same amount of weight.

EDIT: Only thing I can think of that would say PC 133 on it would be RAM, and that will go back in without any problem. If the clip came off the memory socket, and isn't broken in half or anything like that, it should clip right back into place.

 

[lydiebreeze]

The clip broke in half. Uh-oh - there is another clip - in the computer - unused... can I attach it to that?

 

[lydiebreeze]

Can my files still be recovered?

I've broken one of the clips on my mother board - trying to take off the power supply...
Does anyone know where I can take my hard drives and get a copy of all my files? *
So I can install everything on a new computer? Not that I want to buy a new computer - but they seem to be cheaper than a new mother board - unless I'm just so naive I don't know what I'm talking about. Although - now that I'm into this project - it might be fun to build from scratch - I just want to save my files if I can...
This is a tower - originally Gateway - but I've reformatted...
* (I have half of them, I think - but certainly not all... jeez, it might just be cheaper to go back to Europe and retake photos and notes!)