Make Sure You Take These 5 Steps If Water Gets Into Your Laptop

Technology Blog

It's easy to panic when you spill water on your laptop, but time really is of the essence if you want to minimize damage and prevent a complete breakdown. With that in mind, make sure you take the following five steps as quickly as you can.

1. Turn It Off and Unplug the Cable

The first thing you need to do is turn off the laptop's power. It's normally not advised for you to switch of your computer without going through the proper shutdown process, but that rule doesn't apply right now; hold your finger down on the power button until the laptop switches off manually. Next, pull the cable out of the side of the laptop. You don't want any electrical current able to come through.

2. Drain It

It's important to dry your laptop as efficiently as possible, but first you'll want to make sure that water doesn't penetrate any further than necessary. This will depend on how the water met the laptop. If you spilt water near it and a puddle formed along the bottom, lift it up and shake it to remove as much water as possible, then place it on a drying rack to make sure anything left can drip out. If you spilt water directly onto the laptop, turn it over with the screen open at a 90-degree angle and let it stand on a table; water will drip out instead of draining down further into its components.

3. Break It Down and Dry It Off

It's now time to actually begin drying off the laptop. The best thing to do is take it apart and dry down each component individually, but most owners will be uncomfortable doing this; if that is the case, just make sure you remove the battery and slide out any removable disk drives. Wipe down each part individually, making sure no residue is left over.

4. Resist the Urge to Hit the Power Button

People often underestimate the amount of time it takes for a laptop to get completely dry and will try turning theirs back on within a few hours. Unfortunately, this is likely to cause significant damage and will often cause the laptop to be beyond repair. No matter how great the urge, don't turn the laptop back on until you've taken the next step.

5. Visit a Professional

Ultimately, you need to visit a professional computer technician from a company like Phoenix IT. They will be able to take a look at the laptop and determine the best course of action. If you decide to turn the laptop back on without seeing one, you could be heading for disaster. 

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10 May 2016

Making life easier with technology

When I was a kid I dreamed that I'd have a robot to help me do all my day-to-day tasks by the time I was grown. Unfortunately we don't have robots around the house, yet, but there are a range of technologies that do make my life much easier. From cookers that help reduce cooking time, to robotic vacuum cleaners and timers to make devices turn on at the right time, there are so many new technologies that can make life around the house much easier. This blog is all about technology for the home. Thank you for stopping by!