Cat Pee & Computer Guts...

[Nicolego]

do not mix especially when the sides of the case are off for installing new stuff!

Any idea's/suggestions/hints on what I can do to make sure all the cat pee is cleaned off the m/board, ram and internal cabling?

I've gutted the machine and wiped everything over with clean cloth and water and then a dry cloth and have left them all out of the case to air dry even more.

Im going to assume I've lost parts but just dont know how much just yet. (hoping that at least the new hard drives have survived!!)

btw, 6 pissy kitties going cheap! Free marking of your furniture at no extra cost!!

[JustADude]

Um, ouch... well, since you're already expecting to have lost components, all I can say is to make sure everything has dried out THROUGHLY, then plug it in one piece at a time.

Start with just the Mobo, CPU, and 1 stick of RAM, NO HARDDRIVE, to make sure you don't blow up the MoBo just from powering up before you risk anything else. From there, add in the peripherals one at a time to see what's still working. Make sure to test all available slots for each component if it doesn't work the first time. That way you can tell if it's the component or the slot that's blown. Write up a list of failed parts and replace. If the MoBo blows, or it has dead slots you need, add it to the list.

[rvdammit]

I'll just add visual inspection once it's all dry before adding power. It's possible that there may be residue on the parts that needs a second cleaning.

[Geek King]

May I suggest getting a large cardboard box to put over the computer in the future to keep curious kitties with deathwishes from the PC?

Especially when you are going to leave it for awhile. Even well-behaved kitties can't resist all the dangly bits in a computer case.

[technical.angel]

Heh, I just realized I left the side panel off my work computer....

I love the fact that I can hot swap my second SATA harddrive... although, hotswapping does fail if you UNPLUG YOUR MASTER!!!!!

[Nicolego]

pretty sure the mobo is dead, with possibly the CPU and ram but those I cant test now... shall re-clean everything again but im not hopeful. Just as long as the Hard drives survived... got an external enclosure so I can test those.

Yeah, I shoulda covered the box, but the cat that opened the door, stopped doing that years ago, when he found out I 'booby trapped' a couple of doors (nothing serious, just scary noise stuff to stop him from doing it). I kinda thought a closed door was protection enough.... fool on me

good point about this... time for an upgrade so I can play NWN2!!!

bad point about this... timing, which means no gaming comp until after christmas

Thanks for all the help guys n gals, shame you all had to confirm what I feared

[technical.angel]

I suggest when you clean everything again, using rubbing alchol rather than water.

[Seshat]

I'm even more cautious than the Dude. If your motherboard is of a type that gives power-on signals that whine with missing CPU, missing RAM or whatever, start by giving power just to the motherboard, with nothing at all connected. Make sure it gives the correct power-on signal.

Other than that, nothing to add. The rest of the party seems to have covered pretty much everything.

My sympathy.