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Steps
Shut it off! Immediately remove the battery, the A/C adapter, and unplug the device after the spill. The biggest danger at first is the device shorting out. The electrolytic activity of combining electricity and liquids will begin as soon as the liquid contacts the powered circuits so removing the power and battery immediately is essential. Turn it upside down immediately to stop the liquid from traveling deeper into the machine. Clean up any part of the spill you can get to. Use paper towels or any absorbent material that is lint-free. Inspect the keyboard. Some keyboards are designed to protect the internals from liquids:
Pour out any liquid contained in a keyboard enclosure.
Remove and clean an easily removable keyboard.
Wipe up anything sticky. This may include the screen, the keys on the keyboard, and any buttons. Use a clean, slightly dampened, lint-free cloth. Disconnect and remove any and all external devices. Insulate yourself from static discharge. Static electricity can be very high voltage. Static discharge from your hands and body can destroy even a dry computer. Learn how to Avoid Destroying a Computer With Electrostatic Discharge.
Disassemble the case. If you cannot get to the whole spill, then it may be necessary to remove the laptop's case. Most spills will contain chemicals that can corrode internal circuit boards:
If you aren't comfortable taking your device apart, then get it to someone who is, as soon as possible.
Pull the hard drive to protect your data.
Remove as many cards or drives as you can.
Remove dry residue. Use a toothbrush or lint-free cloth to gently remove any dried residue from non-water stains such as cola or coffee. Blow the residue away with compressed air, or use a vacuum cleaner with an adjustable power setting or bypass valve to ensure a gentle attempt is made at removing the residue when it has dried to a powder. Rinse off the residue. If you spilled anything besides water on the laptop, rinsing it clean will be the most dramatic part. There are several ways to rinse your machine, depending on the kind of spill, and how much risk you are willing to endure:
Think about what has been spilled on/in your computer, and determine whether it is water soluble or petro-chemical based. In the case of the former, deionized water will work fine. If it is oily, etc., then rinse with denatured alcohol, and then rinse with deionized water.
Rinse with water. Take any components that have residue (a fresh spill or an old spill of cola) and rinse them under the tap. Most circuit boards and similar non-moving components handle water well, as long as they are not powered. Some internal components with moving parts may not handle water well, for example, fans and CD/DVD drives.
Rinse with deionized or distilled water. Many people prefer to rinse with deionized water over tap water. Regular water will leave deposits that can cause electrical shorts, but deionized water will rinse clean, dry, and leave nothing behind.
Don't get too carried away rinsing your machine. Water and laptops do not mix, either. Rinse as much as you need to, and not more. Carefully blot up excess water, if any.
Let it dry. Be completely sure that the parts are dry before you proceed. As with rinsing, there are different theories on drying:
Dry naturally. Prop the machine up, away from surfaces, so that air can circulate in and around the entire unit. Leave the machine to dry for 24 to 48 hours.
Dry with light heat. Place your deck on a warm radiator or on top of a warm sill or shelf - out of direct sunlight - or near other source of warmth. Do not use high levels of heat, just moderately warm sources of heat. Let it dry for 12 hours, or so. A nearby dehumidifier may improve drying time. High heat will drive moisture and humidity further into the device and will ensure ongoing problems as that moisture causes oxidation and corrosion.
Never use a hair dryer, as this will cause static problems and fill your machine with more contaminants and dust. A hair dryer at a high setting could also melt some of the plastic components. In extreme cases the hair dryer will drive moisture deeper into the circuits and components and that moisture will oxidize and create capacitive load connections under and inside of integrated circuits and connectors, eventually causing failure of the device. The best way to remove all residual moisture is to patiently draw it away with a vacuum cleaner held over the affected areas for up to 20 minutes in each accessible area, having already removed the majority of liquids and moisture manually and dried all visible moisture by hand, so that none enters the vacuum cleaner. This method is preferable to leaving it to dry naturally as it halts any oxidation from occurring deep inside small surface mount components and connections, such as can result in issues later on.
Clean with a solvent. A second rinse with a solvent-based cleaner is recommended by some, and abhorred by others. It is recommended if the unit has been sitting long enough to be subject to corrosion and oxidation before repair and cleaning is attempted. Always use gloves and ensure good room ventilation when handling any solvent or alcohol based cleaners as some are known carcinogens.
If you suspect that your first rinse did not remove all of the residue, a chemical rinse of this kind may be worth the risk. The advantages of such a rinse are: there is only one substance to apply and remove; that substance, typically, evaporates; long drying times are not required. The disadvantage is that, if you use the wrong solvents, you can literally dissolve your computer.
Buy and use 99% (not 90%) isopropyl alcohol. Never, ever use gasoline or acetone to clean computer parts.
Using a cotton swab and/or soft toothbrush, carefully rub or wipe each component of the board, until it is clean.
Try flux remover, a spray-on can available in electronics stores, rather than isopropyl alcohol.
Put the laptop back together , and test it to see if it is working.
Video:
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In our previous article we presented the new Windows Mail and its features. We also made a step by step tutorial on how to create your first e-mail account in Windows Mail. Today we will show you how to manually migrate all your e-mail accounts, messages and your address book from Outlook Express to Windows Mail. As you will see for yourself, the procedure is not very complicated even though it might take you some time to do it.
This article in split in two parts. The first part covers the export procedure that you need to perform in Outlook Express and the second one explains how to import everything in Windows Mail.
Outlook Express
First, you need to start Windows XP and launch Outlook Express. If you have a dual-boot configuration (Windows XP and Windows Vista) you should export everything to a location that is accessible from both operating systems. If you have Windows XP installed and you plan to erase it and upgrade to Windows Vista, we recommend that you save everything to a back-up disk and import from it later, after you install Windows Vista.
Exporting the Address Book
Go to the File menu, select Export and click on Address Book .
The Address Book Export Tool will be launched. Select the second option - Text File (Comma Separated Values) - and click on the Export button.
You will be asked to select the path where you want to export your Address Book. Click on Browse , go to the folder where you want to save your Address Book, type the name of the file in which it will be saved and click the Save button.
The CSV Export window will open. Here you will have to select which contact details you want to export. Select the ones you want or, for more safety, select all the fields and then press the Finish button.
The Address Book has now been exported to the chosen location.
Exporting E-mail Accounts Settings
In Outlook Express, go to the Tools menu and then select Accounts .
A window with all your internet accounts will be opened. Go to the Mail tab and from the list of e-mail accounts select the first you want to export. Click on it and then press Export . You will choose the folder and the file name where your settings will be exported. After that, click on Save .
Repeat this procedure for all the e-mail accounts you want to export to Windows Mail.
Exporting E-mail Messages
Go to Tools and then select Options .
Go to the Maintenance tab and click on the Store Folder button.
A small window will open and you will see the location where Outlook Express stores all your e-mail messages. Copy that location, close Outlook Express, open that location in Windows Explorer and then copy all the content to a different location.
If you have a lot of messages, the process will take quite some time to finish.
IMPORTANT: Make sure none of the files you are backing up are "Read only" otherwise when you start the import, it will fail.
Windows Mail
After you have finished the export process, reboot and start or install Windows Vista. When you are ready to import all your e-mail accounts, messages and address book to Windows Mail, go to the Start Menu - All Programs and launch its shortcut. IMPORTANT : during the importing process we recommend that you run Windows Mail as an administrator. If you do not run it as an administrator the import process might fail.
Importing the Address Book
In Windows Mail, go to the File menu, select Import and then Windows Contacts .
In the Import to Windows Contacts window, select the first option - CSV (Comma Separated Values) - and press the Import button.
Now you have to Browse to the file where you exported the Address Book from Outlook Express and then press Open . When you are done press Next .
In the CSV Import window choose the fields you want to import. If you are not sure which fields to select, select all of them and press the Finish button.
Now the Address Book has been moved from Outlook Express to Windows Mail.
Importing E-mail Accounts Settings
First, go to Tools -> Accounts . In the Internet Accounts window, press the Import button.
Now you have to browse to the location where you exported your e-mail accounts settings and select the file containing those settings.
Repeat this procedure for all your e-mail accounts. All the restored accounts settings will be listed in the Internet Accounts window.
Importing E-mail Messages
Go to the File menu, select Import and then click on Messages .
In the Windows Mail Import window, you need to select the third option - Microsoft Outlook Express 6 - and click on Next .
Select Import mail from an OE6 store directory and press the OK button.
Now you have to browse to the folder where you exported all your e-mail messages, click the Select folder button which takes you to the next screen at which point you then press Next . IMPORTANT : Some of our readers reported having a duplicate node problem. Before pressing Next , check that the folder displayed does not contain duplicate nodes.
Select the message folders you want to import and press Next .
After the import is finished, the wizard will show a Import Complete message. Press the Finish button.
Now all your e-mail messages from Outlook Express will be available in Windows Mail. By default, all your imported messages will be placed in the Imported Folder . You can move them to any other folder using the drag and drop procedure.
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In this tutorial we will show you how to create a backup of your Inbox in Microsoft Outlook. The procedure works with both Microsoft Office Outlook 2003 and 2007, even though the screens are a bit different. If you follow these instructions you should have no problems.
First, start Outlook. Go to the File menu and select Import and Export .
The Import and Export Wizard will start. Select the "Export to a file" option and press Next .
In the Export to a File window you can choose the file type of your backup. For regular users, we strongly recommend the Personal Folder File (.pst) format. After you have selected the desired format, press Next .
In the Export Personal Folders window, you can select the folders you want to backup. We recommend that you select all your mailbox and check the "Include subfolders" option. This way, you will backup all your e-mail messages, your contacts, calendar, tasks and notes.
After you have pressed the Next button, you will be asked to select the path where your backup will be stored. Click on Browse and select the backup location. After that, click on Finish .
Now, the Create Microsoft Personal Folders window will open. Depending on the version of Outlook you are using, you will see different options such as encryption settings, or password protection . You can set the desired level of encryption and protect your backup with a password. When finished, press on OK .
Microsoft Office Outlook will start creating the backup file . This might take a few minutes, depending on the size of your Inbox.
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Applies to
Microsoft Office Outlook® 2003
To back up the Contacts folder, you need to export the folder to a file in Personal Folder file format.
1. On the File menu, click Import and Export .
2. Click Export to a file , and then click Next .
3. In the Create a file of type list, click Personal Folder File (.pst) , and then click Next .
4. In the Select a folder to export from list, click Contacts .
5. If you have subfolders below the Contacts folder that you want to include, select the Include subfolders check box.
6. Click Next .
7. Click Browse , choose a location for the file, such as My Documents, and then type a name for your backup file, such as ContactsBackup.pst .
8. Click OK .
9. Click Finish .
10. In the Name box, type My Contacts Backup .
11. Type the encryption and password settings if you need them, and then click OK .
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