Mouse and keyboard do not work

[AnnaKay]

So, this spring I spilled water on my laptop.  I opened everything up and dried it out for a day or two with a fan.  When I put everything back together it worked pretty well except the left shift key stopped functioning.  Everything has been fine since then until....my computer became completely non-functional yesterday.  When I try to click on anything it pops up and then immediately disappears.  The same thing happens if I use the keyboard to navigate.  Shutting the computer down (which by the way took about 10 mins) fixed the problem for a minute or two, but other than that I can't do anything with the computer.  If anyone has any ideas of how I could fix this problem or why this would have happened I'd be very grateful.  Thanks, Anna.  

I guess it might also be worth mentioning that a series of beeps are emitted when booting up.  This happens sometimes, but not always.

Dell Inspiron 5100, 3.5 yrs old

[GX1_Man]

So, this spring I [highlight]spilled water on my laptop[/highlight].  I opened everything up and dried it out for a day or two with a fan.  When I put everything back together it worked pretty well except the left shift key stopped functioning.  Everything has been fine since then until....my computer became completely non-functional yesterday.  When I try to click on anything it pops up and then immediately disappears.  The same thing happens if I use the keyboard to navigate.  Shutting the computer down (which by the way took about 10 mins) fixed the problem for a minute or two, but other than that I can't do anything with the computer.  If anyone has any ideas of how I could fix this problem or [highlight]why this would have happened [/highlight]I'd be very grateful.  Thanks, Anna.  

Liquid and laptops don't mix. It may have just taken this long to complete the damage that was noticed immediately. You may need just a new keyboard, but it may require more.

What machine and how old? The question would be if the cost of the repair exceeded it's worth.