I have a 4 year old Dell laptop which worked great prior to getting a little wet; is it pooched?

At that age, it’s probably worth less than the cost of repairs.

Make that touch pad.

I’ve heard these tips on here used with success especially the hair dryer one I’ve also heard that leaving the laptop open in a box filled with rice will work the rice absorbs the excess liquid

If it were me, I’d atleast attempt to dry it out prior to tossing it and shelling out for a new one. I’ve had success drying out wet cameras and wet phones.

@SpatzieLover True, that does work often enough to try. All I’m saying is that if it doesn’t work, it’s not worth pouring lots of money into.

@jerv Oh yeah…I wouldn’t spend more than time on it…no dough.

It’s probably just the keyboard / touchpad assembly (as far as I know, they’re an integrated unit) that is fried, and those are relatively cheap to replace. Find a computer salvage / used computer shop in your area and have it checked out. It could be a whole lot less expense than you think. If I took it to my guy, he could have it fixed while we had a hot fudge sundae, and I expect that the ice cream would cost more.

Let it sit for a long time in a warm room. I was cleaning the toilet one day and my iPod Touch slipped out of the pocket on my hoodie. It took about a week for it to start working again. But it did eventually work and then I mailed it to PnL since I was getting a new one.

So don’t give up on it yet. Evaporation takes time.

My wife dropped her smartphone in the toilet last week, and it was acting all crazy. She removed the battery and let it dry out for > 24 hours. It works fine now. @SpatzieLover might be onto something with the rice. I have heard of that.

Give it some time. Electronics sometimes have bizarre instances of “healing” themselves.
That laptop is getting old though. If it was already running slow, and you just use the computer for lighter things like email, IM, youtube and fluther, I’d probably just go for a netbook.
They’re as low as $180 and up, and are good for people who like to get around, but still want a keyboard instead of a touch screen.

My Dell laptop is the same age. I lost the touchpad too when I spilled water on it over a year ago. A usb mouse with a retractable cord was $14 and not all that inconvenient to tote around.

As @Prosb said, let it dry out for a week. Take the battery out and let it sit. If it was just a little moisture and not a deep soaking, there’s a chance that nothing really got “fried” and the moisture is just shorting out some micro circuitry making the touchpad inop. When it dries out completely, it could work fine again.

Okay, so, the cursor is working on the touch pad, but, you’re not able to click on the right and left buttons (touch pad). The wireless mouse and usb are not working (I get a notification on my DELL that there is a malfunction there. Perhaps, the usb was damaged from the rain?). They’re not working, if you plug the usb into another laptop. I wonder if I get a new usb and mouse, that perhaps, it will work on my DELL?

@Jude Worth a try. Buy a cheap wired mouse and see if it works, or ask a friend if they have a spare you can borrow. In the mean time, try using other devices in the ports, to see if they work.

“Get a new USB”... huh?

USB is controlled by a chip on the motherboard. If that controller went out and didn’t fix itself when the system dried out, it’s permanently and irreparably busted; it’s motherboard replacement time. However, if your wireless mouse doesn’t work with other computers, maybe it’s only the mouse that got mangled. Do other USB things (printers, iPods, Flash drives…) work with your laptop?

Tried a new mouse and it works. The old wireless mouse is fried.

So, yay, I don’t have to get ‘er (laptop) fixed.

@Jude Hooray!

Woohoo!

I always say that if you paid good money for something you should ride it out until the wheels fall off. Or in your case, until the touch pad stops working. But even then you should get innovated. And you did! My laptop cost $500 and is almost 4 years old, and tackles just about any task I give it. As long as it keeps working I don’t care how old it gets.