Good news: we got the internet yesterday! Bad news: I spilled tea on my laptop and now it doesn't work properly. :(
I know, I know, how stupid can I get?? It's been turned off, upside down on a tea towel for the past two days but I just tried to turn it back on and the keys are malfunctioning. I can't even log on because the shift key is messed up and I assume it's typing random capital letters in my password!
It's an old laptop and I have actually been saving to get a new one, but I don't really want to spend so much money on a stupid mistake! Maybe I should get a second hand one or just use the University's computers? Maybe I could even get this one repaired. I haven't really thought about it much beyond OH NOOOOOO! :-/
I can't even say "that's life" because that's not exactly true. It's more "that's clumsy me.. again"!
13 comments:
Could you try to dry it in an airing cupboard or on a radiator? That happened to me at uni, my mums house contents insurance covered it- might be worth investigating!
If the keyboard is playing up try plugging in a USB keyboard as a temporary measure. Then have a look at refurbished laptops. I had a return from tesco's eBay outlet last year with warantee as well. But if you can temp fix for now you can shop around x
http://www.getonlineathome.org/
Poor you. How terrible. Penny Wise had a good idea, that is what i would try.
My DIL did that recently - only a small amount of water - ruined the whole thing, had to take it to the shop and it cost $800 to fix. Horrible horrible horrible.
Hope it starts working again.
Press caps lock and watch to see what happens--if the caps lock key comes on. `Pop out the whole keyboard for more drying and cleaning. Sometimes a smidgen of a chip will get under a key and keep me from typing that key. I put a bit of the edge of paper under the key and dislodge the offending piece of whatever. Do you think maybe liquid made some of the inevitable dust and lint form a glob that is hindering they key/s?
I agree try the airing cupboard, then if that doesn't work try a usb keyboard, if that works it's just the keyboard and a new one will cost you £20 (depending on the model of your laptop, could be cheaper :) ) from ebay, there easy to fit you can watch demo's on ebay.
Thanks for the advice, guys! To be specific, my problem seems to be an overactive keyboard, not one that's stopped working all together. It thinks that I am holding the shift key down. Not sure if I have shorted it out.
I tried the USB keyboard advice, but unfortunately the laptop's keyboard overrode it, so that the shift key was still being held down so I couldn't type my password properly.
Ouchy $800?? I could buy a brand new one for lots less than that (I have a really old one, lol). That getonlineathome website was definitely worth a look though, thanks! :)
The keys do work, so I wonder if drying and cleaning the whole thing is the way forward, as suggested. Many thanks everyone! :)
And of course, if it doesn't want to work, a new keyboard - as suggested - isn't terribly expensive and you know someone who will be able to fit it don't you ;)
Take a piece of paper, the corner of a glossy magazine, and poke around under the shift key. Keep hitting the key hard and fast to try to dislodge anything and watching for the little caps letter/symbol on the right of the keyboard to pop or or the greyed one to pop up.
If the shift key seems to be the problem, as a last resort you could pop it off and see what is going on underneath it. I still think cleaning is the problem. Popping the key back on the little spindle is easy. You can still use the shift key function; it is just uncomfortable to hit it.
Are you typing this on the wet computer?
Hi, no, I was typing on the boyfriend's computer. We did pull the shift key off and clean it completely. Still no luck.
I started the computer in Linux using a live CD and used a word processing programme to test the keyboard. Turns out that shift key doesn't work at all now (it's not permanently held down, as Windows keeps telling me, it's permanently turned off!)
For now I am using the computer in Linux rather than Windows as I don't need a password to use it. It's working fine apart froma couple of dodgy keys. I might get a new keyboard for it and hope that fixes the problem. :)
How frustrating! But I have a cup of tea next to my laptop all the time so I can't judge you.
Hope you find an inexpensive solution.
(I'm sure your boyfriend was thinking of upgrading, wasn't he? Maybe he could give you his 'old' one?)
Sft x
No advice, but loads of sympathy!
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