Laptop is thirsty

eldergamer

eldergamer

CAGiversary!
So we had an unfortuante incident on Sunday. A hyperactive 5 year old accidently dumped coffee on our laptop.

After soaking it up and dumping out the liquid. The computer starts up and runs just fine, however the keyboard seems to be shot. Maybe one thrid of the keys don't work and the mouse has limited function as well.

The wife wants to take it to a repair place as she doesnt want to loose files/photos if we just buy a new one (cheapest laptop is about $300 I've seen)

Is this fixable or should I just bite the bullet and buy a new one? Will best buy or anywhere transfer files for us?
 
Or if you can get any decent function from the mouse/arrow keys, maybe just backup on to a flash drive. You should be able to fit most of it on a 8 gig if it is mainly pics and documents.
 
Is it a laptop where just the keyboard can be replaced? When my old Dell laptop was taken apart, the keyboard was its own individual piece that could be swapped.
 
[quote name='eldergamer']So we had an unfortuante incident on Sunday. A hyperactive 5 year old accidently dumped coffee on our laptop.

After soaking it up and dumping out the liquid. The computer starts up and runs just fine, however the keyboard seems to be shot. Maybe one thrid of the keys don't work and the mouse has limited function as well.

The wife wants to take it to a repair place as she doesnt want to loose files/photos if we just buy a new one (cheapest laptop is about $300 I've seen)

Is this fixable or should I just bite the bullet and buy a new one? Will best buy or anywhere transfer files for us?[/QUOTE]
Maybe your 5 year old wouldn't be so hyperactive if you didn't let them drink coffee.

/smartass

;)
 
The issue is fixable, though it depends if the issue with the mouse and keyboard are just the items themselves and not any damage to the system board.

Depending on the cost of those two items, the keyboard and the top case + trackpad assembly, it might be close to just buying a replacement machine. I'd stick an external keyboard and mouse on it and back everything up to an external drive ASAP, regardless of what you do. If there's system board damage, it could get get worse and then you'll be needing to buy a replacement machine regardless.
 
how old is the laptop? any chance its still covered under a manufactures warranty?

you can get a new laptop for $300-$400 no problem these days. theres a good chance any repair will cost at least half of that. unless you have its a fairly new top of the line machine, it might be easier to back up and replace.

its a good idea to back up everything on to an external hdd (or flash drive) anyway. like others have said, plug in a mouse and keyboard and copy.
 
I would pull the HDD out of it before I did anything else. There may still be some coffee inside... and if it works it's way into somewhere it definitely shouldn't be, you might end up with a dead HDD.

I can't emphasize this any more... but you should always have a back-up, and a back-up of that back-up. I currently have three back-ups of important files (28GB of photos of my daughter, 250ish GB of music, 500Mb of documents/designs).

At work, we keep four copies of our content. All of which are stored in separate locations. We keep two copies server-side, one in the iTunes U cloud, and one in the RAID in my office. It was my job that made me totally OCD about backing-up data.
 
[quote name='eldergamer']bcked up everything to ext hd usiing on screenkeyboard

bcdefhiklmnopqrvxwxy only working keysno space bar[/QUOTE]

Holy crap! Are you using the laptop now?!

Might want to let the laptop go to the light... or attach a USB keyboard/mouse, connect it to a wireless router, and use it as a media server. At least that's what I would do.
 
Try buying a shitload of rice and putting it in a big tupperware bin. Stuff the laptop in there.

It sounds crazy but it has worked for many people who dropped things like cellphones in pools/toilets/etc.
 
[quote name='crunchb3rry']Try buying a shitload of rice and putting it in a big tupperware bin. Stuff the laptop in there.

It sounds crazy but it has worked for many people who dropped things like cellphones in pools/toilets/etc.[/QUOTE]

In those cases we've fared better with putting the items in the freezer. Worked for my cell phone and a PS3 controller. I'm not sure how it would work on a laptop though.
 
[quote name='Dead of Knight']In those cases we've fared better with putting the items in the freezer. Worked for my cell phone and a PS3 controller. I'm not sure how it would work on a laptop though.[/QUOTE]

I don't understand how freezing it would help. Wouldn't the liquid freeze but still stay inside the item and then when you take it out would just melt again inside of the item?
 
[quote name='cheapfrag']I don't understand how freezing it would help. Wouldn't the liquid freeze but still stay inside the item and then when you take it out would just melt again inside of the item?[/QUOTE]

Yeah I don't see how freezing it would help either. If I were to do anything like this it would be the rice thing. Of course back up your files first.
 
[quote name='Dead of Knight']In those cases we've fared better with putting the items in the freezer. Worked for my cell phone and a PS3 controller. I'm not sure how it would work on a laptop though.[/QUOTE]

I've heard of using the freezer for over-heating issues, but never as a means to remove liquid from a laptop... let alone from anything.

Was there anything else in the coffee? Cream, sugar, sugar-substitute? Even with the elimination of the liquid, you may still have some "sticky" issues. I once spilled a soda on my old PS1 controller... and once it completely dried, the up button would constantly stick.
 
[quote name='eldergamer']ypcremer2

best buy tonigt
using onscreen keyboardnow[/QUOTE]

Just a quick thought before you get price gouged at Best Buy. Compare prices online against what Best Buy has in stock. This way you can ask for a price match if necessary.

I'm pulling for you man. I've had two laptops die on me in the past year (both older Lenovos), and have yet to pull the trigger on a new lappy. Anyone who drudges through a computer issue by using the on-screen keyboard deserves mad props.
 
[quote name='metaphysicalstyles']Just a quick thought before you get price gouged at Best Buy. Compare prices online against what Best Buy has in stock. This way you can ask for a price match if necessary.

I'm pulling for you man. I've had two laptops die on me in the past year (both older Lenovos), and have yet to pull the trigger on a new lappy. Anyone who drudges through a computer issue by using the on-screen keyboard deserves mad props.[/QUOTE]

Heh, that's nothing. When my previous laptop died, I was using a disc-based Linux for about a month since somehow my hard drive got screwed up, lost windows, and couldn't install a new OS on it.
 
The theory behind using the freezer method is that it forces damaged parts back into place with contraction of the metal. However, its a very risky thing to do especially with something that already has moisture in it, and is typically used as a last resort only, since it usually only works for a few minutes and can cause even more damage when it thaws. I've done it twice and it worked great once and did nothing the second time. Gave me about 15 minutes to use a hard drive to grab essentials off of it.

I would not recommend it for something that is in a functioning state like your laptop.
 
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