I'm an idiot, basically. I got water on my Macbook Pro.

hiya there. I accidently just spilled water on my macbook pro. it was on and I immediately wiped it up and went to see if my touch mouse worked, which it did, then went away to get a blow dryer and paper towels and it stopped responding. I turned it off and (yes I know, a stupid move) turned it back on, and got the blinking question mark folder of death. I immediately turned it off, took the battery out, and set it in front of a fan.

any suggestions? should I let it dry a few days? remove the keyboard? take it in tomorrow? it's somewhat imperitive that I have access to it, as I need it for school and such...ugh, but I have learned. I feel like *such* an idiot.

For now, keep the battery out, and don't plug it in for at least two days. Assuminng the damage isn't already done (question mark folder isn't encouraging) give it time.

Feel free to wait longer as well.

You should have immediately grabbed the laptop and turned it upside down so the water wouldn't get into the computer and fry it. This is a critical move if you ever spill anything on your computer.

Thank you, thank you, I really appreciate it. I'll just have to wait it out.

I did do that, I turned it on it's side and dried it off with a towel nearby before going to get some paper towels to clean it up totally, and came back and it had frozen/the touchpad had become unresponsive.

Switching it back on was the worst thing you could have done.
If you spill any liquid on your computer, yank out the power cord and take out the battery. After wiping off any excess liquid, let it dry for two days in a dry, warm room. Do not switch it on in the meantime! Do not use hair dryers or anything to accelerate the drying procedure.

Yeah, I know that now, unfortunately. :\ I've never spilled any sort of liquid on a notebook/computer/anything before so I just freaked out and panicked, I guess. Blegh. Thanks for the help, I won't turn it on for at least two days. Thank you again, I really appreciate it.

So are there any waterproof keypad covers for the MBP?

Someone else said that the ISkin had saved his wife's MBP from countless spills from her son. Worth a look...if my baby pulls through this (or even if she needs repair) I think I'll definitely be looking into one of these. ;)

you might wanna go to ifixit.com and check out the guide to remove your top case. then let the computer dry for a few days.

here's some critical questions: how much liquid, where exactly did it go in, and what kind of liquid?

(I've seen whole glasses of wine in laptops... smells great, but not good...)

I looked at that tutorial on ifixit but this is my first Mac and I've never opened up a laptop at all, it seems a bit advanced for me...I don't want to further damage it, haha. I might have my boyfriend try, we'll see.

It was water, just a little bit, but obviously enough, I guess. I wished it'd gotten in through the keyboard it but actually got in through the mouse/trackpad...so yeah, I'm really worried that maybe I killed the hard drive. I immediately took the battery out and it's now drying in a moderate, dry room, on it's side.

Blegh. Thank you for replying!

Well, it's actually better that it seeped in through the trackpad area... In terms of possible damage anyway. Going through the keyboard down, would be where the logic board is... a very expensive repair. While the trackpad is above the hard drive, it's more likely that it damaged the HD connector as opposed to the hard drive itself.

From what it sounds like... the top case might need to be replaced, along with the hard drive flex cable or hard drive itself. The good thing is that it sounds like there's a good chance the logic board is ok.

Oh goodness, that's the best news I've heard all night. That's great to hear...thank you for saying that. Where exactly is the HD connector? How expensive would it be to repair? What exactly is the top case, which part of it do you mean?

If you're an idiot for spilling water into your Mac notebook, then I'm an idiot three times over. :cool:

If I have any good news to report, it's that none of those incidents (one of which involved mountain dew, not water) resulted in permanent damage. Erratic behavior (especially of the keyboard), perhaps, but not any damage.

Sorry to hear about your hard drive. But for the moment, operate on the assumption that the water didn't cause any damage and troubleshoot accordingly. Try booting your laptop in target disk mode, if possible, and see if the internal drive is accessible through Disk Utility. You never know -- you may get lucky!

Don't lose hope, even if your machine isn't responding properly. It took over three days in dry, Utah desert air to dry out my laptop. Give 'er time.

A fan circulating the air helps.

Also take the down time to check your homeowners policy or if you have Safeware,com insurance.... you are covered!