I have no need to remove the HDD. They probably suggest it so theres no data loss or something but that wont happen if the macbook has been powered off and the power supply is remove for about 2 minute. Like bradley i usually go for the hinges but usually i remove the disk drive or cd or cd rom drive. Then i unscrew all the pieces around the hinges supporting the LCD then go for the hinges. Basically thats how i replace the lcd