Ants in a laptop?

[ben]

Serious post this.

My GF left a sugary drink on the computer table the other day before bed, and when we woke up, the ants had all arrived (a good amount of them drowning themselves in it for some reason).

Of course we cleared it all up, but still a few days on, there are a worrying amount who've now decided to live inside my laptop keyboard

Is there a simple way to get them all out? They are causing havoc when they run across the screen and I keep thinking they are the mouse pointer ... lol

 

[Modette]

I would treat it the same as any ant infestation. They send out scouts to look for food sources. If you kill the scouts they will send more. The scouts go back to the nest and let the rest of them know where the food is. Buy some little ant traps that are filled with poison. They will come and take the poison back to the nest, this will kill the queen and once she is dead the rest will go.

The traps are better than the powder because you can move them around and put them in discreet places.

Alternatively, you could just buy a new laptop and have this one as the most expensive ant farm ever

 

[ben]

So I should put the traps in my room, or outside the door or something?

 

[Davren]

Is there a simple way to get them all out?

Vacuum cleaner?

 

[Focus Owner]

remove battery wait a while then gas em.
do the entire house. killing all bugs

 

[ben]

Can't gas the house, it will kill the gecko collony that live here And they are very useful for eating the mosquitos and spiders

 

[bludvl_x19]

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=spray+can+cursor


Seriously though, I reckon a good solid vacuuming would do the trick

 

[ben]

Not if they think there is more food here.

I did leave a Pad Thai on my desk too, but I don't think they liked that.

Haha - now there are 3 of them running over your birds signature...

 

[TallTom]

Just take the laptop apart and then hoover it, normally a 5 minute process to get the keyboard off and then hoover below it, be careful though

If not I have stripped a laptop to the motherboard in around 30-45 mins and that should allow you to get them all

 

[Modette]

So I should put the traps in my room, or outside the door or something?

If you can figure out where they are coming in then place the traps there, otherwise just leave them near your laptop. The other tips here are good too, give everything a good clean so that there are no food sources. Getting the keyboard off if you can is a good idea,, all sorts of nasty stuff falls in there and they may have found a food source there that you cant see.

 

[trich926]

put your gecko in the disk drive and see if he gets em

 

[ben]

ahaha ... I like that, yes - hide him in the CD drive and let him pop out every few minutes for a nibble

I'll go to Carrefour now, see if they have any ant traps

 

[dave]

http://www.freedownloadscenter.com/Best/pc-bug-remover.html

 

[ben]

Ah cack - I forgot to buy this ... got a bicycle instead, which I don't think is going to help ...

 

[ChrisUK]

Personally I'd spray bug spray in the vents and gas the little buggers out.

 

[Modette]

My son just suggested that you run a game or some application that makes the laptop hot and wrap it in a towel until it overheats and turns itself off. You may not even have to wait that long. It should kill them all.

I had an accident with my macbook a few months back, a bit of over enthusiastic spraying with the Mr Muscle window cleaner on the screen and a huge water mark appeared right up the middle of it.

I left it running on my bed for a few hours and the heat dried it out completely.

 

[udtrev]

Do a claim for a warranty on the screen, it keeps getting these moving black marks

 

[Modette]

Do a claim for a warranty on the screen, it keeps getting these moving black marks

 

[ben]

Haha...

Laptop is already super hot, I'm suprised they can bear it.

Actually this evening I haven't seen so many - maybe they've given up looking for food here?