Honey, I (Almost) Broke the Mini

All I wanted was some more memory for the Mac Mini in the office because since I started running Lightroom on it, its 512MB of memory did not seem to be um, adequate. Spin Cursor of Death all the time, especially if I had the temerity to do several things simultaneously. So I got 2GB of RAM at the low, low price of $23, shipping included(!). Then I found out what I had gotten myself into. To open a Mac Mini (at least the kind I have) requires a putty knife Not a paint scraper or paint can opener, but a frickin' putty knife. It turns out that an old exacto knife will work if you're careful, but you'll probably file away some of the case. Once open, you have remove four small screws, three of which are recessed, making them difficult to get to, especially if you use a non-magnetic screwdriver. You must also disconnect a jumper cable in the front so you can open the top daughterboard away from the motherboard. It turns out that you can put this jumper back in facing both ways, but there is a clearly a preferred orientation: if you don't put it in the right way, the fan will blow full blast, because the jumper connects the temperature sensor to the motherboard and if it's not connected, the Mini doesn't know how hot things are. Guess what I put in the wrong way? Twice. You must also carefully unclip the WiFi antenna which is clipped to the top. It is possible to pull the other end completely off the motherboard. Guess what else I did. Finally, there is a ribbon cable that I thought connected the hard drive and optical drive to the motherboard. This is actually the sound cable. I managed to not only disconnect it, but also to get the plastic doodad that connects it to the contacts on the daughterboard to come loose. It appears that it's mostly friction that holds the cable and the doodad together. After several disassemblies and reassemblies, the mini appears to be back on its feet and also more responsive. So, I think this counts as a win. Right?