Saturday, November 3, 2007

Laptop SOS!!

Yes, yes, today I have decided to blog about saving your laptop's life after a spill. Why would i want to blog about that? Well....hmm.....it was coz yesterday my herbal tea almost killed my dear Toshy(toshiba lah!!). So i have decided to provide some tips on how to save your laptop after a spill!!

Wanna know how? Wanna know how not?? Am not gonna tell you hahahaha.........kidding (I know, I know, not funny *sweat*)

Listen here guys, water, coffee, and soda are among your laptop's worst enemies. Just a little bit of such a liquid on your laptop keyboard can damage or destroy your machine or cause you to lose data.


Some laptops are more vulnerable to damage from a spill on the keyboard than others, and it doesn't always have anything to do with the price tag (yes, not all about fancy 5 figures). Some keyboards have a thin rubber membrane beneath the keys with electrical contacts molded right into little domes under each letter; that design may feel squishy and cheap to some users, but it stands up better to a splash or a flood than a more traditional design with springs and exposed contacts. How do you know which type of design you have? Take a look for yourself by prying off a keytop; if you're shopping, you may be able to get the information from the manufacturer or a dealer.




Here's the drill for an emergency recovery from a spill:


1. If you have your machine plugged into wall current, turn off the power at the circuit breaker in your home or office.You don't want to touch a wet wire carrying 110 volts or so.
If you're running the machine on battery power, it's still operating, and you don't see sparks, hear odd noises, or smell burnt electrical components, shut your laptop down through the normal Windows process.

If something is obviously wrong with the machine, turn it off immediately by depressing the Off switch or by removing the battery.
2. Ground yourself by touching the center screw on the faceplate of a dry electrical outlet or by touching some other metal object that reaches to ground.
3. If you haven't done so in emergency mode, remove the AC adapter and the battery, and set them aside.
4. Disconnect any external devices (such as a mouse) attached to the USB, FireWire, serial, or other ports.
5. If you find any liquid on the battery or AC adapter, wipe them carefully and set them aside.
If your spill has thoroughly soaked the AC adapter or the battery, you probably need to consider it a loss. You can get replacement AC adapters and batteries from various sources, including the original equipment manufacturer, laptop accessory companies, and the used market.
6. Remove any cards installed in the PC Card slot.

If they're wet, carefully dry them off. If any water has gotten into the narrow slot, dry out the area with a cotton swab, taking care not to leave any threads of cotton in the internal connector.
7. Wipe off any liquid on the display.
8. Remove the hard drive and the CD/DVD drives if you have them installed in plug-in bays.
9. Open the memory module container; remove and dry the memory modules.
10. Hand-dry the keyboard surface with a lint-free cloth.
11. Clean the exposed membrane or switch cover and the keys themselves.
12. Leaving the display open, place the computer on a sturdy surface supported by two books or small boxes.
13. Reassemble the pieces that you removed.
TADA!! There you go!!.........13 tips!! wow........haha.....didnt know it can be that cumbersome.....

3 comments:

Ken said...

Heres a thought....

Dont drink near toshy! haha

I hope hes ok.... ???

love x

Lishy Wishy ♥ said...

OMG! The same thing happened to me too a couple weeks' ago! O__O
Except that it wasn't my fault =__= and it wasn't tea!! It was beer!! T_____T

I lost several of my keys :(
Including my full stop and comma!!

Miss Piggy Lass said...

ken: haha toshy's alright....infact, am starting to think he's gonna live till 90!! ahaha...

Lishy wishy : thanks for visiting and ahha yes, i think it would be useful information....wow!! i hope your laptop is fine!!