1 Introduction2 Five Ways of Getting Ants Out of Your Laptop2.1 Sealing Your Laptop2.2 Giving Your Laptop a Shake2.3 Baiting the Ants2.4 Using a Water Moat2.5 Getting Your Laptop to Overheat3 Final Words
An ant infestation in your laptop might sound like a bizarre situation, but it is a quite common problem people end up facing. Although there’s no true explanation as to why ants would live inside of your laptop, scientists speculate that it could be because the ants are drawn to the magnetic field. Having ants build an entire colony could be harmful to your precious device. It can cause internal and external damage to your laptop, causing it to short circuit or malfunction. There is also the risk of losing data in such cases, as well as the expenses of trying to get repairs done to your laptop. Because of this, it is extremely important to get rid of the ants as soon as possible. We have complied together a few solutions one could opt for to debug their laptop. Also Read: Are Decals or Stickers on a Laptop Unprofessional?
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Five Ways of Getting Ants Out of Your Laptop
Sealing Your Laptop
Sealing your laptop in a plastic bag is one of the most common ways of getting rid of the ant infestation in your machine. Simply place your laptop inside a plastic bag and use an electric bag sealer to get rid of any air that might be present there. This will deprive the ants of oxygen and get them to rip through the plastic bag and evacuate the laptop, including the eggs and larvae. However, there are also chances that the colony might simply just die inside of your laptop. And while this may seem like yet another desirable outcome, any eggs present inside of your laptop could hatch at any given point, and cause the same fiasco to your laptop like the previous colony did. For this method to work, you will need to open up your laptop and thoroughly clean it to get rid of any ant eggs that might impose a threat of forming a new ant colony. Also Read: How to Clean Laptop Touchpad
Giving Your Laptop a Shake
Have you ever seen a group of ants scatter away after you shake a piece of food that they were feeding on? Sometimes, a slight touch or two is all that is required to drive out ants from an undesirable place. Grab your laptop firmly in your hands (so that it doesn’t end up falling during the process) and shake it vigorously. The movement will scare the ants and cause them to file out of your laptop instantaneously. Make sure to do this in a place where you can kill off the ants with pesticide and get rid of the problem once and for all. Don’t be too rough as shaking your laptop too much could cause internal damage. Just do it enough so that the ants would want to escape, without damaging your machine.
Baiting the Ants
Ants are quite fond of sweet and sugary items, so placing food or items that fall under this category will “bait” the insects out of your laptop. Sugar water mixed with boric acid is a very common solution that usually does the trick. The boric acid present in the solution will develop gas inside of the ants, block their intestines, and cause them to die. Insecticides could also work the same way. Since the dead ants will still be present in your laptop, opening your laptop and cleaning it will effectively get rid of the entire colony, including the eggs or any newly hatched larvae. Also Read: How to Clean Dust From Laptop Without Compressed Air
Using a Water Moat
Using a water moat is an effective way of getting rid of most insects, including ants. But this doesn’t mean that you should go and dump your laptop in a tub of water! For this method, it’s best to use a container that is both large enough to fit your laptop but also secured so that chances of your laptop getting submerged in water are none. Fill the container with water, and place something inside of the container that will act as an “island” with your laptop being placed on top of it. Next, add a ruler or a fork that will act as a bridge so that the ants residing in your laptop can evacuate. When the ants move out of your laptop as they usually do, they will realize their colony has been isolated, and will thus feel threatened and anxious. This will cause the entire colony to move out of your laptop, leaving your laptop ant-free! This is a bit of an unorthodox method which needs to be executed carefully! Water can cause serious damage to your machine which is why you want it to be secured. If you’re not cautious, you could end up doing a lot of damage to your machine!
Getting Your Laptop to Overheat
The heat ends up being unbearable for most living things, humans and pests alike. Running any high-end software or game on your laptop will cause it to heat up. The excess heat will end up driving the ant colony outside of your laptop. Some people recommend placing your laptop in the daytime sunlight while doing so, so that process ends up being faster, however that’s not really a good idea since direct sunlight can damage your laptop! Also Read: How Hot is Too Hot For a Laptop Yet another way of heating up your laptop is by placing thick cloth or towel and covering all of the exhausts on your laptop for a few minutes. This will raise the overall temperature inside of your laptop, making it uncomfortable for the ants inhabiting your laptop. The heat will then force the ant colony to make its way out of your laptop. Like the water moat method, you need to be careful! It’s not a good idea to overheat your machine for a prolonged period of time. You should only heat it enough so that the ants escape, once they do, make sure to bring your laptop back to room temperature since overheating can be harmful.
Final Words
Usually, ants end up occupying a laptop if there are any food particles that might have fallen over while you were busy snacking during a movie session. Or it could be due to a few splashes of soda on your laptop that dried up on their own. Therefore, it is always recommended to keep food and drinks away from your laptop. However, if you do end up snacking with your laptop nearby, make sure to clean off any food pieces that end up falling on your laptop, especially sugary products. Such preventative measures will avoid you from going through the hassle of getting rid of ants all over again. The above given tips have proven to be effective for most users, if not all. However, if the problem still persists, it is recommended to go to a professional and seek help from them.
