[TouchPad Q&A, Help & Troubleshooting] jcsullins:
Not sure if the clips will behave the same after being glued back on, but here's some notes I put together:

Here are some notes on how to reduce the chance of breaking the clips

as you take apart the HP Touchpad while following the ifixit.com

instructions.

The pictures referenced are from:

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/HP+TouchPad+USB+Connector+Board+Replacement/6077

Pic#1 means pic from step #1. Pic#2 means pic from step #2. Etc.

You should click "View Original" or "View Huge" and then zoom in

as much as possible.

Recognizing the Clips and their Locations

Pic#1 shows 7 clips (with red boxes around them). However,

there are really 8 clips. If you look at the top right corner, you'll

see a clip (in red box) and then an orange box below it. The missing

clip is a little below this orange box (notice the notch on the PCB

where the missing clip is located).

In Pic#2, the corner closest to you is the top right corner

from Pic#1. Looking just left of the corner edge, you will see a clip

that is still clipped to the display assembly (this is the same clip

in the top right corner from Pic#1). The spludger in Pic#2 is where

the missing clip is located (you can see that that clip is no longer

clipped to the display assembly). You can also barely see a clip

still attached where the right thumb is located.

In Pic#3, the corner closest to you is the top right corner from Pic#1.

You can clearly see three clips still clipped to the display assembly

in this pic. One just to the left of the corner and two to the right

of the sludger. Note that you should not try to raise the display assembly

this high with the spludger until all the clips have been released.

In Pic#4, the corner closest to you is the top left corner from Pic#1.

In this pic, you can see four clip locations: two with clips attached

and two without clips attached. On the side with the spludger, you can

see the two clip locations without any clips. One of those is just to

the left of the spludger and the other is to the right of the spludger

just left of the camera window (circle on face of display). On the side

with the left thumb, you can see the two clips still attached to the

display assembly (note that these clips are probably already broken

from the back case by trying to raise the display assembly this high

without unclipping all the clips). One of these clips is just under the left

thumb and the other is in the far top left of the pic. NOTE: YOU SHOULD

NOT USE THE SPLUDGER (OR ANY OTHER TOOL) IN THIS CORNER (anywhere

between the two closest clip locations you see in the pic).

In Pic#5, the corner closest to you is the bottom right corner from Pic#1.

Between this corner and the home button location, you can see two notches

in the display assembly for clips (however, there are no clips in these

two locations). Between the home button and the far corner (in top right

of this pic), you can see the location of the missing clip #8 (with no

clip attached). In the far corner, you can see a clip still attached.

In Pic#6, the corner closest to you is the top right corner from Pic#1.

You can see two clips in this pic. The one to the right of the corner

has clearly been broken from the back case; you don't want to see this!

The other is being (very crudely) unclipped from the display assembly

with the spludger.

Note that these pics are for reference only. You should not be pulling

the display assembly as far up as they do in these pics (that's how

you break the clips).

Unclipping the Clips

You want to pull the display assembly up *just enough* (nowhere near

as much as they do in these pics) so that you can unclip the clips.

Use the spludger next to the clip location, but make sure to avoid

locations with the orange boxes, etc. In Pic#6, you can see how you

need to move the clip to unclip it. However, we don't want to raise

the display assembly as much as they do to get the spludger

in behind the clip (as shown in Pic#6). Instead, we want to insert

something (thin flexible spludger, firm guitar pic, very small flat

screwdriver, etc) just above the clip and pry it out of the "box"

that it's clipped into. As you unclip the clips, some of them may

reclip as you work on the others, so make sure to go back and check

them before trying to pull the display assembly up very far.

Make sure to only raise the display assembly just enough so that

you can access the clips enough to pull/pry them out of the "box"

that they are clipped into. Those "boxes" are part of the display

assembly.

Be patient. Take your time.