Think I've done it this time: Wet labtop

[Sapphire225]

Okay, so I own a Dell Inspiron 1545 and discovered a few hours later it got wet. The computer will not turn on, but I hear the exhaust and a little green light comes on on the side whenever I hit the power button. Also, it lets out 4 beeps at a time every few sonds after being turned on for about 30 secs.

I let the battery dry for a little over a day and I've tested it about 7 times. I've heard the rice method works but I don't have any on me (since I live on campus).

Do I have to buy another one, or can it be fixed via manually or will I have to see Geeksquad or whatever?

[shooraijin]

You're pretty much dead. By turning it on after it was wet, it's probably got a short on the inside. The hard disk may be okay, but I doubt the logic board is. It's time to take it back to the shop.

In the future, if you're handy with tools, sometimes you can rescue a dunked device by immediately pulling the battery and power supply, cracking it open, making sure it's clean and then letting it dry for a few days. I've done this myself and most of them survived. But since yours was powered up while it was probably still wet inside, it's very likely to be permanently damaged.

[Sapphire225]

You're pretty much dead. By turning it on after it was wet, it's probably got a short on the inside. The hard disk may be okay, but I doubt the logic board is. It's time to take it back to the shop.

In the future, if you're handy with tools, sometimes you can rescue a dunked device by immediately pulling the battery and power supply, cracking it open, making sure it's clean and then letting it dry for a few days. I've done this myself and most of them survived. But since yours was powered up while it was probably still wet inside, it's very likely to be permanently damaged.

Argh! Well, since its out of commision, it looks like I'll have to have the GS at Best Buy check it out. If they can't fix it, it looks like I have to buy another.

Thanks for letting me know. With my warranty expired, Dell would have charged me a fee for advice. x_x

[Hiryu]

The beeps are error codes the bios sends when something's wrong. You can either look in your motherboard/bios manual to see what's wrong or you could let geeksquad take care of it.

[Mithrandir]

...Also, it lets out 4 beeps at a time every few sonds after being turned on for about 30 secs....

Based on this alone, I'd say Shooby's correct. If I'm not mistaken, the 4 beeps (and no other pattern) probably means your MOBO/CPU cache is bad - most likely indicating it's a logic board issue and will require a pretty pricey fix. You can take it to geek squad, but I would be surprised if you could get it fixed for much cheaper than you can get a new(er) laptop. If you don't need a lot of processing power, it seems even more likely.

You might try looking on gazelle.com to see if they can give you any money for it - just be sure you get your data off the hard drive out first.

[TheMewster]

Wow. No advice here, but God bless you! I assume the laptop is probably dead. Since my conputer almost died yesterday, I can feel your pain. I hope you can get this issue resolved!
Also, sorry to throw religion into the situation (not really), but the Holy Bible says not to fix our eyes on what is seen, but what is unseen because what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. So even if you can't get a new computer, use the situation to remind yourself to focus on the Lord God! That's what I did (after a few minutes of panicing and crying, but whatever )
Man, I love throwing Biblical advice around like there's no tomorrow!

[Sapphire225]

[quote="TheMewster (post: 1466205)"]Wow. No advice here, but God bless you! I assume the laptop is probably dead. Since my conputer almost died yesterday, I can feel your pain. I hope you can get this issue resolved!
Also, sorry to throw religion into the situation (not really), but the Holy Bible says not to fix our eyes on what is seen, but what is unseen because what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal. So even if you can't get a new computer, use the situation to remind yourself to focus on the Lord God! That's what I did (after a few minutes of panicing and crying, but whatever ]

Actually, that was what I started doing. I began reading the Bible more and realized that my labtop was my whole life up until now. I have to admit, thanks to losing my labtop, although I have to go to another building to print, access internet, type up papers, etc., I ironically focus more on my schoolwork than ever before.

Just goes to show ya': God is first and being addicted to my labtop stood as an obstacle between Him and I.