[Josllyne]

Errr TWO small questions: I have an EMachines E620 (Acer) Laptop. 160GB Hard Drive. Spilled coffee on the backside of the computer. Cleaned it up and removed the battery which was where the bulk of coffee spilled; dried it all off and checked under all the other other covered areas and didn't see any spills; and powered on again. Worked just fine .. for about 20 minutes. I walked away for a moment and when I came back I had the 'blue screen of death'. I immediately turned it off; and rebooted as instructed to see if it would recover. Not a chance. Said 'check cable' and it couldn't find the OS (Vista). Called Emachines tech support ($60 later) and they said "yup your hard drive is toast". I had already powered on a couple times and was able to get to the BIOS and of course it doesn't 'see' the Hard Drive.

Finally went to Best Buy to talk to the Geek Squad and see if a drive enclosure might allow me to recover all my data. The guys there just plugged my hard drive into their unit there in the store and we couldn't see it. When they took the hard drive out of the small 'tray' that it was mounted in .. we could see that coffee had gotten on the circuitry in one corner so I'm sure that's why its fried. There is no coffee anywhere else on the laptop inside or outside.

Just two questions now: is there a way to recover my data (I don't hold much hope of that) and since everything looks clean and there's no coffee anywhere else .. am I safe getting a new hard drive and installing or am I going to risk ruining another one because of whatever happened the first time? Machine powers on and can get to BIOS so that's not at issue.

Also, is there a way to 'clean' a hard drive before I send it back to the manufacturer? If I don't send it back; they won't honor the warranty they said. If I send it back, I get a new HD for $0. I have lots of critical (and confidential) business information on that drive and I don't particularly want someone else to have access to all my data if indeed they could access it.

[TheOutcaste]

It might not actually be fried, the coffee residue may be causing a short that is preventing the drive from being detected.

Head to the drug store and get some Isopropyl Alcohol, aka Rubbing Alcohol. Make sure you get the 99% pure version - some may have additives that will leave a residue.

Then use a Q-tip dampened with the alcohol to remove the coffee residue. Use a small dish or shot glass to hold a small amount of alcohol, do not stick a used Q-tip into the bottle, or some of the crud it picked up will end up back in the bottle, contaminating the alcohol.
A small toothbrush can be useful for getting around component leads, use the Q-tip to get some alcohol on the residue then gently and slowly use the brush to drag any residue to an area you can clean up easily with a Q-tip. Brushing to fast will just splash the residue around.

When you get it as clean as you can, use some fresh alcohol and clean Q-tips to clean up any remaining residue, let it dry, and give it another try.

As far as removing the data, if you can't access the drive there is not much you can do short of physically damaging the platters, which I'm sure would void the warrenty. A very strong magnet might scramble the data, but we are talking industrial strength magnets, not the kind you'd find at home, even in a high powered speaker, and you'd have no way of knowing if you were successful.

[DoubleHelix]

Did the manufacturer actually say a replacement hard drive would be covered under warranty? User damage usually isn't covered by a standard manufacturer's warranty.

If the data on the drive is truly confidential, then you should pay for a replacement drive out of pocket and not send it anywhere for replacement or repair. Depending on the nature of the business the data, you could open yourself up to legal action should the data be recovered after disposal.

[Josllyne]

Thanks Outcaste and DoubleHelix for your input. I'll definitely try the alcohol on this tomorrow and I had already considered not sending them my HD. I doubt there would be any law suits against me due to data on the old hard drive - but there would be the possibility of someone accessing my confidential info ie bank info; passwords; business financials etc and that would NOT be good.

The tech people heard me explain what happened to the laptop and didn't flinch about sending me another HD. I had read that too - that usually this kind of thing isn't covered by the warranty but they were more the ready to ship one out today. I'm gonna try to 'access' my data .. if it doesn't work; I'll have to get a new drive and start from scratch.

Thanks again you guys .. appreciate the help.

[bp936]

just curious, did the cleaning help?

[Josllyne]

Originally Posted by bp936

just curious, did the cleaning help?

I'm in process of doing that today actually and I'll definitely let you know! I was just thinking this morning.. not ONLY did I lose all my data but I had just retired from a 19 year career and had emailed all my email contacts to myself at home so I could stay in touch with people .. and all my well wish emails from co workers upon retirement .. All gone now *boo hoo .. HOO!*

I am going to give this my best effort and see if I can save the drive but I honestly don't hold out alot of hope .. we shall see!

Thank goodness I at least had all my eBay business data on another machine and also on my external drive .. if not, that would have been cause for a quick and painless dive over the bridge here in our fair city! The Perrine Bridge in Twin Falls, ID is one of the premier base jumping structures for people who love this extreme sport and it legal to jump here (meaning they won't arrest you afterwards!!). Come on out to Twin Falls everyone and 'watch' or take a leap yourself!

[bp936]

I might throw my laptop sometimes over a bridge, but would never do it myself, it's insane, I'd rather stay a chicken.
good luck with the cleaning.

[Josllyne]

Well my issue is solved in a manner of speaking .. I ended up buying another hard drive because the cleaning made it look pretty but the drive is still not operational .. I was sure crossing my fingers but I really mucked it up guess .. oh well this at least gives me a great excuse to try Windows 7 Thank you everyone for the great advice .. I'll save this info just in case a friend does the same stupid thing I did with my coffee. Enjoy your weekend all!