Tragedy: Need Computer Guru Help

[El Presidente]

I have been dry for a week.

Yes, i do this from time to time...3 weeks or 3 months without wine/scotch I have no problem with

All good except while working on the deck this afternoon I managed to spill an entire glass of Coke zero over my Laptop Keyboard.

.....I have never spilt a glass of wine on my keyboard..so much for going dry being good !!!!!!!

Have cleaned it all up but a few problems.

My mousepad will only work for 1o minutes before freezing up. Ok make that 5 minutes because it has just frozen again....I can only tap this out because I use a Fujutsu T900 Series tablet and can tap the screen.

That will also freeze up in a few minutes...has all afternoon....so I had better be quick.

Wireless internet also out. Can no longer connect to Czar cenral. Have rebooted, taken out battery, resynchronised to an earlier date. That is about all I know

What do I do to give this computer every chance of survival?

All help appreciated

....apologies for not getting back to a host of e-mails and Pm's this arvo.

As an aside:

If I need a new Laptop...what would you recommend?

I will be on this one up to 100 hrs a week. Has served me well. I Like tablets.

[gigabyte056]

Hi,

The keyboard is interchangeable, meaning you need to find someone who has the part and they can replace it.

The laptop is fine, the keyboard is probably dead to the world as well as the mouse pad.

here is their address.

http://www.truelocal.com.au/business/fujitsu-australia/newstead

[Reevzy]

Hair dryer

[Munts]

Best bet would be not to use it till it is totally dried out.

I would put into an air tight bag with some silica gel for at least 24 hours.

Once it was totally dry you could then see how it runs and then maybe replace the keyboard.

Also i wouldnt use a hairdryer as you may just end up melting your keys.

[OZCUBAN]

It needs to dry out disassembling might be an issue,a (hairdryer) should do the job the stickyness might be an issue

as for a replacement by a "MAC"

Or at the very least a keyboard protector

Or you might just get lucky when its dry

[NJP]

Like my mobile,pull apart what I can then wrap in cheese cloth and straight into a big bag of rice.

[Upmann2009]

Take the KB out and wash it with water and try them like other item. Just put it back the way you take it out. Only if you know how to take it apart

[Marker]

Only use demineralized water to clean. You will corrode the computer if you use regular water.

[foreese]

Really guys...Water????

Remove Battery and power supply

Remove the KB and inspect for any additional sticking leakage as well as any obvious circuitry being fried.

Use denatured alcohol (not scotch) to remove any stick stuff.

Then follow any of the instructions for drying it out in an air tight container.

Reassemble and test it out.

As for a replacement, I'm partial to Lenovo. I really wish they made a business class version of the Yogi.

[Fuzz]

Doesn't the T900 have a spill-resistant keyboard? Sounds like you may have gotten some Coke on the motherboard beneath the keyboard. You will need to remove the keyboard, and disconnect the motherboard. Then clean everything and reassemble.

[ptrthgr8]

+1 to foreese's how-to. Using water on your laptop's internals is a good way to make sure something that wasn't already dead becomes dead.

As for replacements, my experience has primarily been with HP. I've been using an HP Elitebook 8560p for a couple of years now at work and haven't had any problems with the machine at all. I don't use mine for 100 hours a week (more like 50-70), but when I do use it I normally have a dozen different spreadsheets, web pages, and internal apps running the whole time... so it's definitely gotten a good solid workout. When I upgrade my current machine I'll likely go with a "w" model (8560w, 8570w, etc.) - those are the "workstation" models. (As opposed to the "p" models - personal/professional.) The workstation models are a little beefier, tougher, and optimized for business. Might be something to consider.

Cheers,

~ Greg ~

[canadianbeaver]

Spilled coffee on mine and she was a goner.

Not that expensive to replace ***the keyboard*** and I was back up and running in hours.

The advice above is great but it might not work and the stress/effort would give me wrinkles and we just can't have that can we?

L

****NOT THE WHOLE COMPUTER***

[Ophidion]

As someone who fixes computers and phones for a living I can tell you this: whatever damage is already done, its just going to get worse over time. Coke is the worst thing to spill on a computer other than battery acid and just because its working now doesn't mean it's going to stop working all together eventually.

The components under the keyboard are most likely already corroding and the fact that you cannot connect to wireless despite you best efforts lead me to believe that you have internal damage possibly to the motherboard (unless there is a standalone wireless card in that model).

The best advise I can offer is to back up all your important information as soon as possible and start shopping for either a repair shop or a new computer. Computers and parts can be replaced by a technician or a new computer, pictures of your family cannot.

[tmac77]

Try to back up and save documents that you are still able to access and then go out and buy another one you cheap bugger.

[Scdalak]

Switch to Dr. Pepper...

[laficion]

Dear ROB.

There is 24 hours only in a day. There are days where this is tooooooooo long .

[REASON]

Whole bottle of beer on my Macbookpro, back light is a bit dim now, the keys were sticky for days and now its all fine. Passed the Kids test! I would buy a mac again.

[scradley]

Yep I once decided my MacBook needed to share my beer with me one night too, luckily I pulled the battery and let it sleep in rice for a few days and it worked perfectly after.

[dangolf18]

You should've immediately turned your laptop upside down and let it dry that way. I had the same problem with my laptop (macbook).....I took it in to the Genius bar and unfortunately my hard drive fried and I had to basically pay a flat rate of $280 to get it fixed.

[Random]

foreese and Ophidion are absolutely right. Coke, Sprite and other pop soda are the worst enemies of any electronics internals, especially motherboards.

1. Turn off affected unit.

2. Imminently unplug it and/or remove battery.

3. If you have any knowledge of computer hardware, disconnect and remove your hard drive. Hard Drive is safe in most cases. If you do not have enough knowledge do to it, bring it to the closest computer technician.

4. Remember, all your data is stored on the hard drive (or any other main memory storage device) in your computer. So, no panic.

5. Start thinking about getting yourself a new unit. Once you buy new one, bring both your new laptop and your old HDD (or another memory storage) to professional computer technician. He will help you to migrate to your new laptop with all your old data.

The most important point - do not try to turn your laptop on again.

[jrb5783]

My Macbook Pro decided last fall (only 3 months old at that point) that it really wanted some sweet tea. A whole glass right over the keyboard I was so upset I put it on its side and started shaking the the tea out before it dried I really thought the whole computer was going to be ruined. My keys were sticky for about 2 months especially my spacebar. considering its a year removed and everything is fine. I'll definitely be buying more macs in the future.

ps every try to type a paper with a spacebar that once you push it takes about 5 seconds to come back up the worst thing ever.

[Ophidion]

You could have just replaced the top case for about 180 bucks you silly goose.

[mk05]

ISO MOUSEPAD

[Freefallguy]

Smithy Smithy he's our man, if he can't fix it nobody can!

[rook]

Take out your hard drive and go to the local Apple Store and buy a 15inch Macbook Pro. If you don't want to run OS X software get Parallels and have them (Apple) install Windows on your MacBook Pro. But you should really give OS X a shot, theres a reason why MacBook's are continually ranked as the #1 selling laptop in the world. Then get yourself an iPad with a LifeProof case and use that to do the Live from the Warehouse events if you need a tablet.

I've handed down my 13inch Macbook unibody that is five years old to my dad since I bought this 15inch Macbook Pro and he uses it for work everyday as his main computer. They are built to last, best of all you don't need to buy anti-virus.

Just my two cents.