Question : Problem: I spilled water on my laptop and now it boots into Dell Media Center.

I spilled a glass of water onto my laptop yesterday. I let it dry out. Now it turns on, but it boots into the Dell Media Center (Dell Vostro 1400 XP Home). I'm afraid that something has happened that mapped the power key to the dell media center in the bios settings. Is that possible? Any thoughts on how to fix this? Thanks.

Answer : Problem: I spilled water on my laptop and now it boots into Dell Media Center.

This error can be caused by software problem (device driver/corrupt Windows install etc), or a hardware problem (in this case possibly a hard drive failure).

If your data is backed up, and as long as this is not a hardware problem the quickest fix will be doing a Dell PC restore. To restore your system to Factory Defaults it can be done by pressing CTRL + F11 at the Dell Screen when the computer first turns on. Be sure to press and release the keys at the same time to access it. Sometimes pressing and releasing the keys several times in a row at the Dell screen can make it easier to access. Please be aware that this can take several attempts to successfully access this menu.

Here is a guide that can be followed on how to get the PC Restore option to work for this system: http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dsn/en/tree?c=us&l=en&s=gen&journalid=48F3D10339CF3DB1E040A68F2728687F&treeid=FFA33DA99941FEDFE030030ABD62041A&Query=&SystemID=&ServiceTag=&contenttype=&os=&component=&lang=&doclang=&toggle=&dl=

 Note that this will remove all the data that has been added on the system. If for some reason this does not work it could be because the drive is having a problem or the restore partition might be damaged.

An alternative method to fix the system is to request the Windows disks for the Dell system. To request a free set from Dell please see this link:

https://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dellcare/en/backupcd_form%20

After receiving the disks a repair install or a complete reinstall can be performed. If this last method does not work the hard drive might need to be replaced.

I hope this helps.