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Fhjklgjofjopgjk;o holy mother mary

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Tryphena Absent

00:01 / 18.09.05

Tonight someone close to me, who I wish to strangulate right now, spilt tea on my laptop keyboard. Now everytime I press the ; key it strings the letters FSA- together. The space bar puts a nice ' after every word and if I'm really stubborn and press these keys a few times the start menu pops up. I cried because I haven't been able to afford insurance until... next week actually.

Is my most expensive possession irredeemably fucked?

Less searchable M0rd4nt

00:24 / 18.09.05

Um. So, this tea--milk and/or sugar? It's important. In any case, it might be a good idea to have at it with a lukewarm hairdryer.

Sounds like you've got a few shorts. Probably sort itself out with some drying time. Either that or the keys are stuck together, in which case you should spend some time with the laptop off, working them loose.

Ganesh

00:40 / 18.09.05

Fate is telling you to go wireless.

Tryphena Absent

00:46 / 18.09.05

It's definitely shorts, the F and the ; can't possibly stick together. I've turned it upside down and I've left it to dry off for the night and I prayed. Yes, I even said Amen.

I'm already wireless. Perhaps god is trying to tell me to spend less time online? I am using strangulation victim's computer. I lie, he is not dead yet.

Triplets

00:48 / 18.09.05

But if he was you'd have a computer to yourself...

Tryphena Absent

00:48 / 18.09.05

No sugar by the way. Yuk, never any sugar in tea.

Char Aina

00:58 / 18.09.05

that alone may have saved you.
the milk aint good, but the sugar is the killer.

Less searchable M0rd4nt

01:45 / 18.09.05

Yeah, sugar is an electrolyte. Milk is just yuck, but sugar will actually create shorts and stuff.

Ganesh

01:54 / 18.09.05

Less time online? Possibly. Myself, spills have provided a convenient reason to buy the fancy keyboard doodah I wanted in the first place.

Shrug

02:43 / 18.09.05

Do you have insurance?
Hopefully it won't be needed though.

Char Aina

03:40 / 18.09.05

I cried because I haven't been able to afford insurance until... next week actually.

Shrug

03:52 / 18.09.05

Oh no.....forget I mentioned it blame weary eyes and skim reading.
It'll somehow be okay. Alt fleece the tea spilling bastard for repair money.

Tezcatlipoca

06:47 / 18.09.05

I cried because I haven't been able to afford insurance until... next week actually.

And why is he not being landed with the bill!?

On the self-repair note, you can try it, but I'd proceed with caution. Laptops are notoriously tricky things to mend, and, to do a decent job, you'd need to open the thing up and clean and dry it properly, which, incidentally, I don't advise. Besides, why try to put the old one back together when you can get a new one out of the clumsy oaf?

A new entry level laptop is only about £400-£500 now, so as long as the current hard drive is safe, you should be able to copy everything over.

As a footnote, I live in a similar fear myself. My partner spends a lot of time at the laptop, with drinks balanced perilously close. I'm convinced the only reason she hasn't
yet wrecked the machine is the knowledge that if she does I can and will ensure she pays for a new one.

Tryphena Absent

12:26 / 18.09.05

Neither of us has that type of money. The keyboard seems to be recovering... only backspace and the right hand side shift button are realy fucking with me now. The spacebar and P have just recovered and shift just literally worked a moment ago, seems that the hairdryer thing really does help. A little worried about L and the enter key though. I'll turn it off again now.

Persephone

13:16 / 18.09.05

Perhaps there can be a witness protection program for partners who destroy electronic equipment, such as, say, very recently running an iPod shuffle and special noise-cancelling earphones through the wash

The shuffle still talks to the computer, but the play/pause button isn't working.

The time I spilled water on the keyboard, it got better.

I should be locked up.

fuckbaked

13:18 / 18.09.05

Most of the keyboards that I've spilled things on have been messed up at first, but they've come around. None of them were laptop keyboards, though. I'm always scared of something spilling on my laptop. I keep drinks away from it, but my friends are always walking up and putting their drinks down next to it when it's sitting on a wobbly table and stuff like that. These are friends who won't be able to afford to buy me a new laptop if they ruin it. And when I move their drinks off the wobbly table they say things like "oh yeah, I shouldn't have put it there. It could have spilled on my notebook." Do you think I give a shit about your notebook? It cost a fucking dollar, and if you spill tea all over it, you can still read it. Sorry....not my thread to rant in.

Good luck with the keyboard.

sTe

13:42 / 18.09.05

Shit happens

It's a bit harsh to harrass someone if it was a genuine accident not borne of any gross inconsideration.

That's just my opinion anyways. Perhaps someone you know might have a spare computer keyboard you could plug in to the laptop somewhere, or if not you can get one for about a fiver these days.

Benny the Ball

13:57 / 18.09.05

Isn't it best to keep the thing turned off for a long while, wipe it with a not wet but not dry cloth, and thenhair dryer it? I'm sure there was a picture guide in an old Mac User somewhere that told you exactly what to do - I'll check to see if I can find it...

w1rebaby

15:18 / 18.09.05

You shouldn't use a laptop that's just had stuff spilled on it, but I suppose it's a bit late for that now.

Sugar would have been the worst problem as it dries and results in nasty gunk. Milk is not great but a lot better than that. At least it wasn't Coke or something.

I would unplug and remove the battery, then take the keyboard off and wipe up as much of the tea as possible from underneath it, as some will have got under the keyboard. (I'm assuming it wasn't a whole mug as that would have completely fucked the whole thing.) Then leave it to dry thoroughly, with the keyboard off to let the air get to it.

I'm told that actual laptop repair people will submerge the whole thing in distilled water to dissolve whatever crap has got into the machine, then dry it out, possibly then rinse and repeat for a major spill.

Tryphena Absent

18:01 / 19.09.05

Well I don't know what to do now. Loads of the keys are just not working... I don't have expendable income to fix a computer with. I have about 30 quid between two people until Friday, which means no fun again, not even chocolate and it's late September and that means Christmas time is coming. So no fun for months.

So I have no computer because I don't dare use it in this condition. Frankly it is not clear to me how to take the keyboard off so if anyone wants to come round and play computer maintenance person that would be Nina-saving. I can offer you hours of Playstation 2 stupidity.

I am beginning to think I am going to have to turn to a life of sordid prositution in order not to be on the breadline for the next five million years.

What model is it?

It's a Dell Latitude D505.

w1rebaby

18:10 / 19.09.05

removing the keyboard

ONLY NICE THINGS

18:12 / 19.09.05

You used to be able to lever the keys off with a butter knife, but I wouldn't recommend it without seeing it.

It's not a perfect or ideal solution, but once it is _dry_, even if the keys don't work it should be safe to use with an external keyboard.

Quantum

18:33 / 19.09.05

Misread the context of a post and thought Alt fleece(Double Shrug) was a key combo to fix a knackered keyboard, like 'CTRL-ALT-FLEECE' to reboot it. If only... best of luck. Give it love and sacrifice to the computer lwa.

w1rebaby

20:08 / 19.09.05

Oh, and I just talked to my flatmate, who knows a guy who fixes computers and will probably have a load of spares for a Dell around. If it's still not working after mopping down the keyboard and the underneath (and do make sure to leave it to dry for a long time after that, three or four days at least) then I can give you his number and he might be able to sort you out for some spare parts for not much money. He's a nice bloke.

Tryphena Absent

20:37 / 19.09.05

Thank you, thank you. I very much appreciate your help and will tackle all of this tomorrow when I am feeling slightly more together.

Shrug

16:26 / 24.02.06

A friend has spilled water on his Dell Inspiron 6000 and the audio or USB hub is not working. Any advice would be appreciated. Turn it off, let it dry off?

Shrug

17:22 / 24.02.06

Actually all fixed now.

Olulabelle

19:54 / 24.02.06

Nina I just got really worried about your computer and then I got to the late September post and thought I had gone forward into the future.

Tryphena Absent

23:10 / 24.02.06

Ha, the keyboard still doesn't work because I never fixed it. I currently use an external as everything else functions okay.

matthew.

00:26 / 27.02.06

The "g" on my laptop sticks. Maybe I typed "OMG" too many times.

Blake Head

12:01 / 13.02.07

Back hurt? Sore eyes? Maybe you need an enforced break from sitting in front of a computer screen all night? Well do what I did and slosh coffee over your laptop while reading the car-crash like joke thread.

Really. Black coffee, no sugar, the keys down the right side have went iffy but nothing else seems to be wrong. So - to confirm - best advice is wipe it dry, turn it off (on a different one now), take battery out, leave for 2-3 days and inspect then? Then start worrying about repairs / external keyboards? Comfort me with sound advice in my time of need.

Kiltartan Cross

12:17 / 13.02.07

Ouchie. Depending on the model of laptop you may be able to remove and reattach the keys fairly easily, although it takes a while to get the knack of it. Each key will have a plastic top and some small interlocking hinges which fit into hooks on a metal plate underneath, also there's a central rubberised button. If you remove the key top and hinges (carefully, so as to avoid damaging the metal underneath) you'll be able to clean them, and the rubber, of any gunk that's got into them. I'd use a tissue or something similar, and make sure the mains is unplugged and the battery removed beforehand just to be on the safe side.

If you lemme know the laptop model I may be able to offer a bit more specific advice.

Blake Head

22:08 / 15.02.07

Holy, holy, holy! Laptop God Almighty!
Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee;
Holy, holy, holy, merciful and mighty!

Thanks for the offer of help Kay, but a few days of rest and it seems to have pretty much sorted itself out. Big intake of breath. My laptop is either indestructable or feeds on coffee now. Maybe best not to tempt fate though...

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