Solved possible water damage

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whitelighter

PCHF Member
Dec 4, 2017
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Hello -
A couple hours ago I accidentally spilled a drink on my HP laptop which runs Windows 7 and it almost instantly crashed. Not knowing anything about computers, and it's still a couple hours till the pc repair shop opens, I gently wiped off any visible liquid, then turned it upside down to let any additional liquid drain out from the (motherboard?) area - as I said, I know virtually nothing about this. Just a little while ago I tried almost without hope giving it one last shot, and amazingly, after struggling a bit, it turned on, and now seems to be functioning normally for the most part, except - now it won't shut down, only restart, when I tell it to shut down. I"ve tried going to Startup & Recovery and unchecking the Automatically Restart button, and going to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon and changing PowerDownAfterShutDown from 0 to 1, but the problem still persists.
- Can someone suggest a way to fixt this
AND
- do you think I should still take the pc to the repair shop to have them look it over thoroughly even though for the most part it seems to be functioning now? They'll charge like $100 dollars to take it apart and look it it.

Thanks.
Obviously the moral is to be more careful, placing drinks away from the pc. I learned that lesson the hardway.
 
Hi Whitelighter. Welcome to PCHF.
DO NOT USE as you run the risk of more damage.
Take the battery out, unhook anything USB.
Leave the lid open and let it dry out completely for at least 48hrs.
Household fan would help in the drying process.
If after 48 hrs, we can't find a fix, then take it to a computer shop.
 
In addition to Dougie's advice, burying the laptop in uncooked rice will hasten the drying process. Useful for other devices as well.

A more specific recommendation cannot be offered without knowing the model number. Your report implies that the drink contained sugar or milk, else you would have reported water. Your report also implies that the sugar/milk made its way to the power button. The laptop (maybe) detects a depressed button.
And who could blame the button? I would be depressed if someone tried to drown me.

The laptop interior is likely designed in a way to channel spills to the edges. Only review of the model number can reveal this. At the edges, USB and mem card slots with sugar in them can fry your laptop. Definitely follow Dougie's guidance here.

Removing sugars from a laptop is simple, but tedious. It is not exactly legal to do it the easy way. Tedious can be expensive. $100 to look is one thing, expect a much higher charge for tedious. In all likelihood, you can perform the cleaning yourself. Cotton swabs and rubbing alcohol.

It begins with - please provide the exact model number and identify the beverage.
 
Any update for us whitelighter? If unreplied to within 48hrs this thread will be closed.
 
Sorry for the delayed reply. This has been a hectic week for me, but fortunately I did exactly what you all recommended and now it seems to be working fine. It powers off as it should. Close call, though. I really should be more careful.

But, in case there may still be damage that's not obvious, it's an HP 2540p, and the drink didn't contain sugar - it was Perrier water with stevia and ginger.

Thanks for your help and I'll try to reply in a more timely manner in the future.
 
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That is good news and thank you for letting us know even though you are busy, appreciated (y)

You are welcome btw and no worries about the delay, PCHF getting back to folk is just to check whether or not they still need assistance.
 
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