Can a little drop of water on a closed laptop cause it to stop booting at the hp logo?

[Folasae_22]

Hi... I mistakenly poured water ( a little ) on a hp laptop while it was closed and it stopped booting, only showing the hp logo. My question is that is the water the cause of this? Or the laptop already has an issue before that? And what can be done in this case?

[NonSequitur777]

@Folasae_22,

Welcome to our HP Community forum!

As a matter of fact, yes, it's very likely that the water spill is the cause of the issue you're experiencing -even if it was "just a little" and the laptop was closed.

 

Why?

• When water enters a laptop (even when closed), it can seep through ventilation holes, keyboard edges, or hinge areas.

• Water causes short circuits or corrosion on the motherboard or internal components, which can lead to the system hanging at the HP logo or not booting at all.

 

What You Can Do Now:

1. Stop Trying to Power It On
   If you’ve tried turning it on several times, stop immediately. This can make the damage worse.

2. Unplug and Remove the Battery (if removable)
   Disconnect all power sources to avoid further shorting.

3. Let It Dry — but Drying Alone Is Not Enough
   Even if the laptop seems dry outside, internal components may still hold moisture. Leaving it to air dry (for several days) is only a partial solution and doesn’t clean or prevent corrosion.

4. Professional Inspection Needed
   Take the laptop to a trusted technician/local PC or laptop repair shop as soon as possible. They should:

   • Disassemble the laptop

   • Clean the motherboard and other affected parts with isopropyl alcohol (99% preferred)

   • Check for corrosion or shorted components

   • Reassemble and test

---

Can It Be Fixed?

• If you're lucky, the water only affected non-critical components, and a proper cleaning may bring the laptop back to life.

• If unlucky, the motherboard and/or critical electronic component(s) may need replacement.

Let the technician know exactly what happened and how soon after the spill the laptop was powered on.

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[Folasae_22]

Thanks so much for your reply. It was really helpful.

But here is the issue: I was able to run some system test on it and it showed that the only problem the laptop has was with the hard drive. It stated that "hard drive SMART is unavailable" and some other hard drive test showed warning. But carrying it to a "technician" he claimed that the issue is with the RAM. Please how true is that? And what step do you advise me to take from here?

[NonSequitur777]

@Folasae_22,

If the problem was with your RAM, you would get a different error message.  From what you described, the problem appears to be with your hard drive.  My suggestion: find a different technician who knows what he/she is talking about.

Look, troubleshooting a PC or laptop which may have been compromised by moisture requires some closeup attention/troubleshooting by a competent tech.

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777