Cleaning laptop internals...

[deevergote]

My mom recently spilled a dirty martini on her laptop... so, she went out and bought a new one. That means I get the old one to mess with! I want to try to clean it and make it work again. It DOES seem to boot up, but it won't fully start. It hangs as soon as windows begins to start up.

Could this mean that just the hard drive is shot? Seems that the motherboard is functioning properly... Either way, I want to take it apart and clean it out. I don't need any remaining martini frying what still works...


Any suggestions?

[Ralphie]

Be very careful. ive worked on lots of desktops but i avoid laptops like the black plague...Hmm windows hangs? Yea could very well be the HD. Try swapping a good HD and if it does the same thing youll know it aint the HD.

[Accord R33]

you usually dont need to take the whole thing apart to change the hard drive. I would also check the RAM as well (you still dont need to take it apart to change that). If that doesnt work, and you do want to take it apart, i suggest doing it in a very clean area. Seperate the screws into labeled groups. DONT FORCE ANYTHING, if something doesnt come out, it usually means its not ready to come out yet, you can break a lot of stuff by using too much force.

Taking it apart is the easy part, getting it back together is a bit harder

[h22sparkle]

I say let it dry before you do anything. Then hit it up with a lil bt of windex and let it dry then hit it up with a nice damn cloth. Let it sit for a couple of hours then turn it back on and pray. I wouldnt bother taking it apart.

[Ralphie]

Yea that and also it could be the ram. Most if not all these days are easily accessible.

I say let it dry before you do anything. Then hit it up with a lil bt of windex and let it dry then hit it up with a nice damn cloth. Let it sit for a couple of hours then turn it back on and pray. I wouldnt bother taking it apart.

[Shippo]

When pulling it apart basicly treat it like a motor, keep everything in order and dont lose it.


Also get some 92% rubbing alcohol and clean it up a bit more on the inside as I've found just cause it runs doesnt mean there wont be some goo that desides to make a contact happen and ZAP!


If its just windows that is hanging try first a reinstall, it might have just got fubared when something got wet and shorted but not killing the laptop. Then run harddrive tools and mem test.


I've done repair on these all the time, and as long as there wasn't high sugar in her drink it wont be as bad.. Sugary drinks make laptops harder to repair when liquid is involved.

[deevergote]

It's dry. It's been days.

I took all the screws out... all were labeled very nicely, so I know exactly where each goes.

The martini was spilled on the keyboard, so I'm trying to get in there to clean it up. So far, I'm stuck with an almost-apart machine. The back of it won't come off...

I think I'll just put everything back together and try another hard drive. Hopefully Meg's drive will fit (she has a Dell, my mom's is a Toshiba... same thing, really...)

[Accord R33]

this is why they tell you not to use laptops on Cinco De Mayo....