OK, some of you may remember the problems I had after replacing my laptop's motherboard. The general consensus was that I needed to apply a new coat of thermal compound, and I did that. Problem is, I lost a piece in the process. I got so annoyed I needed a break from all hardware. Now I'm back, but I have no idea what the heck that piece is or where it went. If I did I would just buy another one. It's probably important because the laptop still doesn't run even with that coat of thermal compound.

So, I'm going to describe it, and will you guys try to figure out what it is so I can buy another one so I can get the dang laptop working?

It wasn't an electrical piece, it was a 1/2" square piece of some blue material. I couldn't tell what material it was... It was closer to rubber than cloth, but a lot softer than rubber. I think it went between the heatsink and one of the components, maybe the integrated graphics card, but I'm not sure. It went between something, that was obvious because of the imprint in one side of it.

"What am I?"

Was it an old thermal compound pad? Sometimes manufacturers use a pad instead of the "goo". That's just off the top of my head.

A picture would help.

That what I thought it might be when I took it out of the laptop. It seemed like it would fulfill that purpose.

I would supply a picture if I had one. I took it out and got a good look at it because I had it in my hand, but I never just got a camera out and took a picture of it because I thought I might lose it. Lol, maybe I should have...

So, if it was that, would the thermal grease work to replace it, or do I have to buy a new one? And if you know anything about the way HP Pavilion dv9000's are put together, do you have any idea where it would go? Or do I just have to look through it again and find the most likely place?

I bet thermal grease would work fine.

OK. I guess I can't make my laptop run much worse anyway. Time to take the thing apart for the 5th time now...