My computer shorted out. Will it ever start working?

1. It won't work again.

2. Possibly, but can't know for sure that the drive is still good.

3. Take it to the Apple retailer ASAP. Remove the battery, disconnect the charger, turn it off.

4. Expect resolution to be expensive.

Caroline1266 wrote:

1. How can I possibly get my computer to start working again?

2. If I ever get it to work, then will all of my files, applications, safari stuff (cookies, search history, etc), etc be deleted?

3. Should I do or not do any specific things to help "revive" my computer?

1 -

Immediately disconnect all peripherals, power cord & remove the battery. Turn the computer over with the lid partly open and the hinge facing upward to let the liquid drain. Do not flop it over and lay it flat - you want to separate it from the moisture. Place paper or cloth towels under the machine to sop up the mess.

After the computer disgorges whatever you spilled on it, don't turn it on for 72 hours or longer. You want to computer to dry out completely before turning it on again.

Some users here swear by hairdryers. Blow drying the innards may bake whatever was in the liquid onto delicate computer components. Better to let the computer air dry.

Use plain tepid water to clean out the computer. If you spilled iced beverage more than likely this ice fried the hot motherboard.

Sugary, acidic or milky drinks will almost always cause problems later on as the residue starts slowly corroding the computer innards.

Swab down any sticky parts with distilled water or denatured alcohol.

If none of the above works, you will need to take the computer to a repair shop. Apple Care does not cover liquid or food damage. Believe me, they can tell. So the old "my computer stopped working" line is not going to work. 😀

2-

Unknown. if it happens, use your backup.

3-

Same as 1.

I agree with Kappy. It's unlikely to work again without some expensive repairs. I do think that the sooner you get the hard drive out of it, the better. If you have a unibody model, that's fairly easy. You don't mention your specific machine, but I'll put a link here to a set of instructions. If you don't have a battery you can easily remove, you probably have a unibody. You need a small Phillips (00) to get the drive out, and a Torx T6 to remove the side bumpers. Given the situation, you can probably skip the part about disconnecting the battery. Once you have it out, you can mount it in an external enclosure which is also easy. If it can be read on another Mac, at least your data is safe and you can use Migration Assistant to move it all to a new machine when you get one.

The only good news here is that at least you got 5 years out of it. I've seen posts here where the machine was only 2 weeks old when it got soaked.

http://www.ifixit.com/Guide/MacBook+Pro+15-Inch+Unibody+2.53+GHz+Mid+2009+Hard+D rive+Replacement/1518

http://www.amazon.com/Sabrent-2-5-Inch-Aluminum-Enclosure-EC-TB4P/dp/B005EIGUD4/ ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1395158430&sr=8-3&keywords=2.5+enclosure