Lifehacker Saved My Laptop!

I'm a regular reader of popular tech blog Lifehacker. I owe them thanks to over 30% of the really cool (free) applications now housed on our various computers. But today, my greatest debt is owed to this little trick I learned over a year ago on Lifehacker - dry out soaked electronics in uncooked rice. Words can't describe the hysteria that ensued shortly after Gabby accidentally spilled a cup of water onto my laptop Sunday evening. We were sitting around the table looking at the pictures I took of Grandpa's ordination service when Gabby spotted something funny. She reached up to point it out to the others, and before you know it there was a nearly full cup of water covering the table, baptizing my laptop.

Ok so truthfully, panic and hysteria are not my thing, but I can't begin to tell you how dearly I would have missed my Dell. There is so much on this machine that would be near impossible to replace, not to mention the incredible inconvenience of having to live without all the things I have come to depend on it for....portability for school, movie collections, and business applications. In addition, my most complete music collection (34+ GB's!) is housed on my laptop. And the most difficult loss of all would be all the great giveawayoftheday.com free applications I've downloaded over the past year and a half. The programs and apps can't simply be reinstalled since I paid nothing for them and their only available on 1 day for free download.

So after a few minutes of vigorously shaking the machine upside down hoping to expel as much water as possible, I turned it over only to see the blue screen of death staring back at me. I immediately put on my shoes, ran out to the grocery store, and picked up a 10lb bag of rice. Once I returned I emptied half the rice into a medium-sized garbage bag and began dismantling the laptop. I removed the battery and hard drive, setting them aside to begin drying in the rice. Once I had the inside of the laptop open I put it into the garbage bag and scooped as much rice as I could into it, under it, and over it. I set the bag out of the way and went to sleep, determined not to think about the potential tragedy of suffering such a terminal loss.

The next morning after breakfast I began my recovery. Ten minutes of vigorous shaking to remove all the internally embedded rice grains, replacement of the battery and hard drive, a quick vacuum and dig out of grains stuck under the keys, fingers crossed, prayers for the best, and.....

...I am elated to be typing this very post on my dearly resurrected Dell! Thanks Lifehacker!

posted by D. (Lisa's hubby)