Laptop catastrophe

  • Thread starter Thread starter matt.riddle
  • Start date Start date
M

matt.riddle

My girlfriend spilled sprite and or water all over my laptop and it
turned off right away. I naturally flipped out and thought everything
was ruined for good. I went out and bought a hard drive enclosure for
the laptop HD and got it all put together and I plugged it into my
girlfriend's desktop via usb. It recognizes the drive, i can see the
folders but I can't access them. I went to find the security tab to
take ownership and there is no security tab, unless I'm looking in the
wrong place. If I look in disk management it says my HD is nearly full,
yet when I try to view the folders it says they're all empty.

My questions are:

1.] Are my files still actually there?

2.] How do I go about accessing them if they are? -and-

if they aren't is there any way to recover them without taking out a
loan.

Any help is greatly appreciated!

-Matthew
 
The file system is NTFS.

When I go to share the folder there is no Sharing and Security option.

(Note: I'm currently not on her computer.)

I won't be able to try it on my girlfriend's computer until I get home,
where unfortuantly I have no internet service at this time.

Can anyone verify for me that my files are there and that the machine
telling me the folder is empty is a byproduct of not having access to
it? Like I said, in disk management it says the drive is near full
(which it was before the incident). This leads me to believe my files
are still there. Is this something that will require professional data
recovery?
 
Can anyone verify for me that my files are there and that the machine
telling me the folder is empty is a byproduct of not having access to
it? Like I said, in disk management it says the drive is near full
(which it was before the incident). This leads me to believe my files
are still there. Is this something that will require professional data
recovery?
Click to expand...

Unless you dropped the laptop in a vat of Sprite, the HDD is probably fine.
You just have to get past the security stuff. If you wash out the laptop,
you might get it to work again...but the keyboard might be trouble.

-John O
 
I'd like to clean it but I'm afraid of wrecking components or just
generally mucking things up. I only know enough to be dangerous and
paying those in the know gets to be a little too pricey.

As far as I know the liquid never even touched the hard drive, I guess
maybe I'm worried the liquid surged the power and fried it or
something? I mean, if wiring gets wet it's pretty much caput, isn't it?
I don't know what liquid kills and what it just temporarily damages.

Thank you though, my mind is a little more at ease.
 
I'd like to clean it but I'm afraid of wrecking components or just
generally mucking things up. I only know enough to be dangerous and
paying those in the know gets to be a little too pricey.
Click to expand...

Well, what have you got to lose, then? :-) All you probably need is a
decent-quality small (#0) phillips-head screwdriver. Dell has complete
disassembly instrux available, maybe others do, too? With that you can clean
the parts that need cleaned.

As far as I know the liquid never even touched the hard drive, I guess
maybe I'm worried the liquid surged the power and fried it or
something? I mean, if wiring gets wet it's pretty much caput, isn't it?
I don't know what liquid kills and what it just temporarily damages.
Click to expand...

Nah, the power supply might be hosed, but just as likely it might be fine.
The other parts should be OK...the hard part is getting all the sugar out.
If any got into the CD drive it'll probably be a goner though. Look on ebay
for a duplicate system with a broken LCD or something, and make a swap.
Thank you though, my mind is a little more at ease.
Click to expand...

Girlfriend is off the hook.

-John O
 
Well, not to say I haven't already taken it apart. I'm just afraid to
do much once everything is taken apart.

Though I guess you're right. If it's broken already I may as well jump
in and get some experience with hardware.
 
My boss from IT said that the paths may still be there, but the data
may be corrupted. Anyone know anything about this information?
 
The data is probably NOT corrupted.
You already have NTFS.
Have you taken the appropriate steps to Take Ownership as I stated in my
last post?
They are different depending on which version of Windows XP.
 
I tried taking ownership, I went into safe mode and went to the drive
and there was no option for that. If I look at the drive's properties
there is no option for that and if I try it on My Documents it says
"Access Denied". I tried every possible menu and tab and I could never
find any option for sharing the file(s). [this is on XP home]

I also see no reason why I shouldn't be able to just boot from the
disk, but the things I don't know about computers could sink a ship.
 
Matt;
The drive should boot in another laptop.

Was the original computer also Windows XP Home?
Or if it was Windows XP Pro and the data was encrypted, you have other
problems.

Otherwise NTFS, Safe Mode and the Security tab should get you access.
 
My friend has a similer laptop, but since I'm on spring break that
won't be avalible till next week. The laptop also has Home on it as far
as I know. Would the service pack installed have anything to do with
compatibility? I'm not sure what service pack my girlfriend's computer
has. As far as I know mine was updated recently. Or it could be the
other way around.

-I know the file system is NTFS
-I booted in safe mode
From there I go to My Computer, right click the drive and find nothing
Click to expand...
that allows me to take ownership of it. I go into the drive and right
click on My Documents and I have only three tabs, none of which are
security.

It may just be lack of knowledge on my part, but I tried everything as
per your instructions as well as a good half hour exploring other
methods myself and I still cannot get to a screen that allows me to
take ownership.

Do you have access to any kind of screenshot that could rule out
ignorance on my part?
 
Matt85 said:
My friend has a similer laptop, but since I'm on spring break .....
Click to expand...

Ahhh ... now we see how the, er, "sprite" got in the keyboard :-).

But seriously, if you decide to go the take-it-apart-and-clean-it route, you
might be interested in an article in the current (April) Maximum PC --
"Build Your Own Laptop". Pretty detailed (9 pages, illustrated).
 
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