Tank's laptop - not working!

[Tank]

Hello everyone,

I'm letting you all know that I may be delayed in replying due to Albert (my 1 year old) grabbing hold of a glass of water from Freddie's table during breakfast and launching it towards where we 'hide' the laptop.  :'( Sadly the laptop had a good wash and will not work (powers up, shows Vaio symbol and then states that there is no operating system to be found).  It's currently in the airing cupboard!

Sadly, I won't be able to afford replacing it, so the future will be....challenging! Don't worry though, the NGF won't be affected other than my slower replies.

Cheers,
Tank/Chris

P.S. Thank goodness for mobile phones, eh!

[rhysapthomas]

Oh Dear very bad luck

The fact that it will start up means it is not completely ruined at the worst the hard disk may be lost

Leave to dry thoroughly and this could take some time then try it again.  Taking out the battery may help while it dries

You should also be able to take out the hard drive and see if it is wet

Best of luck

[EtchedPixels]

laptop had a good wash and will not work (powers up, shows Vaio symbol and then states that there is no operating system to be found).  It's currently in the airing cupboard!

No operating system usually means it's not finding the disk. That is at least usually a replaceable element although you can hope its just the connectors or the water annoying it.

If the display is still working without mysterious blotches and stuff and it boots that far then that's a good sign that the expensive bits are ok.

Still you'll have a story to embarass him with for many many years to come, and the joy of watching his pained face when you tell it to his girlfriends in fifteen years time 

Alan

[silly moo]

 

Sorry to hear that, Tank. Some fathers do have 'em 

I don't know much about computers but did read about a useful tip for drying out mobile phones that have been submerged, if you have any of those little white bags of silica gel that come with almost everything that's packaged, perhaps they can be used to help dry out the laptop especially if you can put them inside the  outer case.

I always collect them and put them in the drawers where my rolling stock is kept.

I have also read that rice helps absorb moisture but maybe not inside a laptop.

As far as the little bags of silica go be careful to keep them out of the reach of the original culprit.

[Tank]

Thanks for the advice everyone.  All appreciated!  Yes Alan, I'll certainly tell him all about it when he starts asking for pocket money in the years to come! 

The laptop was in the airing cupboard for an hour, and I booted it up with success.  I managed to  take off about 6GB of data off before the Blue Screen of Death.  Back to the airing cupboard for now.............

[oscar]

Hair drier - not too close?

[zwilnik]

Hair drier - not too close?

Never force dry a spill on electronics. The heat does more damage than the liquid usually. If viable keep it in a bowl of dry rice as it'll literally suck the moisture out. For a laptop keyboard that might be tricky, but possibly laying it open, upside down over a rice covered sheet might work.

[Griffo]

  If no silica gel then dry rice every time, airing cupboard for AT LEAST 24 hours.

[PaulCheffus]

Hair drier - not too close?

Never force dry a spill on electronics. The heat does more damage than the liquid usually.

Hi

Definitely agree with you there, however, I washed my USB memory stick and stupidly I didn't have a backup. Someone at work decided to try using the toaster to dry it out (it was held above not put in) and surprisingly it worked.

Cheers

Paul

[zwilnik]

Hair drier - not too close?

Never force dry a spill on electronics. The heat does more damage than the liquid usually.

Hi

Definitely agree with you there, however, I washed my USB memory stick and stupidly I didn't have a backup. Someone at work decided to try using the toaster to dry it out (it was held above not put in) and surprisingly it worked.

Cheers

Paul

Yup, some 'simple' solid state devices like USB memory sticks can survive a scary amount of abuse.

[Tank]

Well, after a day and night in the airing cupboard it seems to work *touch wood*.  Currently uploading everything I can onto another computer as fast as I can.

[scotsoft]

Nothing wrong with backing up your data (says he who never does it lol)

That is good to hear and some salvation for daddy's wee man 

Now to find a new hiding place that is waterproof 

[AndyGif]

a laptop soaked in wee is totally different problem........

[lionwing]

a laptop soaked in wee is totally different problem........

It certainly is...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-24741832

A while back the younger of my two sons decided his elder brother Nintendo DS was dirty and put it into a bowl full of washing up...amazingly and after doing all the usual things it worked.  The only blemish was a little water still visible on the screen!

[EtchedPixels]

a laptop soaked in wee is totally different problem........

But the smell is available from Dell as a pre-order...

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17938_105-57610022-1/pissed-off-dell-laptop-owners-seek-answer-to-cat-pee-odors/