HELP! My SO spilled soda in his laptop......it's a tragedy :(

[freya]

So, I'm at my laptop this afternoon, ready for Skype date night. Had my movie all ready, as did he.

Waiting for him to call on Skype but it's taking him a while....next thing I get a text.... "OMG I just spilled soda all over the laptop!"

He quickly tried to soak it up and tipped it upside down and wiped it all with a damp cloth. I told him to stand it up like the letter "A" shape and leave it in front of the fan.

He's going to try turning it on in the morning, but I'm thinking we're screwed!

Does anyone have any bright ideas on how to bring it back to life?

I feel like crap tonight because we didn't get our Skype time, and now it looks like we'll have to get him a new laptop....that money could have bought an airline ticket! I'm pretty upset

[Tooki]

Was the computer on when the soft drink was spilled onto the computer? If so, did the computer turn off once the spill occured?

If the computer did turn off as a result of the liquid, it will have water damage and your SO will need to get it repaired.

If the computer was not on and your SO has not tried to turn it on, you could preserve the computer if you dry it out THOROUGHLY. Your SO will need to do a lot more than just leave it in front of the fan. The fan may get the liquid out of the surface areas but there will be internal sections that the fan cannot reach. If your SO has screwdrivers, he needs to pull casing off and dry out the components. He will also be able to see whether any liquid made it into the inner sections of the computer.

I haven't tried but it but one very reliable solution is to leave the laptop in a large bowl of uncooked rice. I cannot speak for soft drink but it is a proven method to fix water damage because the grains absorb the water.

[Jade_Crystal]

I once spilled wine on my keyboard and had to change the main hard drive... Your best bet is to take it to a computer repair shop whenever stuff starts malfunctioning due to hardware damaging.