We look at the solutions for all your gadget mishaps, from waterlogged phones to lost photos.
Old PCs used to be safe and reliable. After all, they just sat there on your desk, never went anywhere, and the worst thing that was likely to happen was that you spilt coffee on the keyboard. But now we carry our mobile phones, laptops and tablets around with us all the time, exposing them to all sorts of dangers. Laptops get dropped down the stairs, phones go down the toilet, and now that we're online all the time there's the ever-present threat of viruses and scams. So here's our guide to common digital disasters and how to cope with them.
Liquid laptop
Spilling drinks over a laptop keyboard is one of the most common computing cock-ups. Mind you, it's not just tea and coffee that do the damage. Urinating pets can be a bit of a problem too, according to Gary Perryment of Dixons KnowHow tech support team. "Cats really like laptops," he tells us, and the KnowHow team have seen quite a few laptops that have been subjected to a 'technicolour yawn' from their owners too. Fortunately most modern laptops are fairly well sealed against liquids, so you should be able to wipe away the offending fluids with something like kitchen towel and just leave the machine to dry. We can't make any promises about the smell though...
Splash damage
Not surprisingly, water damage comes top of the list of mobile mishaps too. "It's the bane of the industry", says Mo Hussain of accessory specialists, MobileFun.co.uk, "and it's not covered by your warranty either." Plenty of people drop their phones in puddles and even down the toilet too. The main thing, according to Mo, is not to turn the phone on while it's wet as that could fry the electrics. Remove the battery cover, and any other parts of the casing that can be removed, wipe it over with kitchen towel, and then just leave it to dry naturally. You can leave it in an airing cupboard or near a radiator to speed things along - just don't put the phone right on top of the radiator.
Drop 'n' Drive
Lightweight laptops are great, but their portability can have its drawbacks too. "The most common thing with laptops is dropping them down the stairs," according to the Dixons KnowHow team. Quite a few people also leave them on the roof of their car and then send them flying when they drive off. Some internal components, such as the hard disk, can easily be replaced without needing a technical expert (you did back up all those important files, right?). However, the screen is the weakest part of a laptop and if that gets broken then you're probably going to need a bit of specialist help.
Itchy and Scratchy
The smaller screen of a mobile phone is less likely to shatter when dropped, but daily wear and tear can still scratch up the screen, as well as the back and front cover of the phone. Companies like MobileFun sell special polishing kits - liquids containing very mildly abrasive elements - that can help to smooth out small scratches on the screen. Just don't use them with the touch-sensitive screen on a smartphone as it won't stay touch-sensitive for very long. But this is really one instance where prevention is the best cure - a protective screen overlay is a worthwhile investment in order to protect a smartphone that may have cost you hundreds of quid.
Spare-part surgery
People are always complaining about the battery in their phone, but most are easily replaced when they're getting on the old side. Spare batteries are sold by many accessory companies and are far and away the most common spare parts sold every day. Other popular spares include those little trackballs for BlackBerry phones (moving parts are always the weak link in electronic gadgets), and even entirely new cases or glass screens. There are plenty of companies selling these components online, but it's worth checking with your mobile network or the manufacturer of your phone to see if there's a particular source of spare parts that they can recommend.
Missing memories
It's easy to accidentally delete photos from the memory card inside your camera. However, those photos actually remain on the memory card until you start to shoot new photos that over-write the previous ones. As long as your deleted photos haven't been overwritten then you should be able to use special data-recovery software to locate and 'undelete' them. There are several data-recovery programs freely available on the internet that can do this for you. Alternatively, you could look at commercial software such as DataRescuePro from Appsmaker.
Lucky numbers
We've all done it - lost our phone, or bought a new one and forgotten to copy all our contacts and phone numbers onto it. Sometimes you just end up sending out a blanket email to all your friends on Facebook to ask for their numbers again. However, you can avoid having to type all those numbers into your new phone if you just sync your contacts onto your main computer, or onto an online cloud service first. Services such as Google Sync can store your contacts and other info online so that you can download them onto a new phone or a new computer whenever you want.
Viruses
Viruses and other forms of malware are a daily threat for anyone using a computer - and prevention is better than cure. There are some good anti-virus programs, such as AVG, that can be downloaded for free from the internet, but if you're not a real techie then it could be worth paying for commercial software such as Norton Internet Security, Kaspersky, or McAfee. These programs can monitor your PC for viruses and help to protect your personal information from 'phishing' and other online threats. They're regularly updated to combat new viruses as they appear, and also provide helpful technical support in case a virus attack damages your PC.
