skylord

I have dealt with a lot of extremely dirty computers, and a part of a toothpick won't bother the inside of your case. The fans are probably the only things it will do anything to, and it will just be knocked away from it. I would say the worst case, Final Destination (the movies) type of problem that could happen is the tiny piece of wood absorbing moisture and causing a short on one of the printed circuit boards... haha, but that would be Hollywood movie worthy. A desktop case fan is one of most easily replaced parts in a computer. You can get one for a few dollars, or even cheaper if you buy a used one. If it dies, you can probably get away with not having one as long as your CPU fan is in decent condition and not as furry as a yeti, especially if you don't have a performance graphics card installed. I know you didn't ask about this, but I figured it might interest you since it is so cheap. You would just have to turn your PC off, unscrew 0-4 screws (some computers use fans held in with clips), unplug one very easy wire and put the new fan in, following the same steps. Just measure the fan with a ruler in millimeters, or convert inches and round to 60, 80, 92 or 120mm. I would bet it is an 80mm fan though. Also, look for an arrow on the outside of the fan that points in the direction airflow, and aim it in the same way the last one was, most likely going out of the case. Shipping will cost more than the fan itself, unless you buy a high-performance one or get free shipping. If the fan has a white piece of plastic at the end of the wire with 4 holes, which it most likely does, then it uses a molex connector. Total repair time is like 3 minutes. There is one on Amazon for 60 US cents. Spend a dollar more than that to drastically increase it's lifespan, and to get one that doesn't have an overly bright LED on it that can't be turned off. Sorry, I know this is probably overkill, but I just joined the forum and want to contribute. Also, I love computers and just happened to be in the mood for doing this.

A quantum computer is inherently different from the cloud, which is a network of non-quantum computers. Like Strange, I don't see what you are trying to say about how they are similar in any way. Maybe if you mean parallel processing? The supposed promise and strength of quantum computers (as I barely understand it) is that they may somehow, some day be unlimited in the amount of concurrent computations. Maybe if you have enough CPUs working together in a network for guessing a number between 0 and X, with X being the number of CPUs you are using, then it can represent some kind of similarity? I don't know, I'm just trying to go off of what I can gather from your question, which is vague for me. I may be way off from my interpretation, so, sorry if I am.

The fact that it is a relatively old laptop can work for you or against you. It can be helpful since the price for a similar one would be a fraction of what it was when it was new, especially if it is used (which is probably going to be the only way you will find it). Even better would be if you could find the same laptop, or one similar enough, that is being sold "as-is" due to a defect in a part that is unrelated to the screen, but the screen is the most delicate part, so that may also be hard to find. The way in which it being old can work against you is: if it's not only old but also a model that wasn't popular, it may be hard to find at all. Check eBay for the same model number or the screen itself. Also, a laptop similar in age isn't going to be expensive, unless it is an Apple product. For $300 you can get a laptop with an AMD A6-4400m APU (CPU + graphics chip in one) that is relatively amazing for its price, given that it can run 3D games better than anything in its price range. $300 is the price for it new, too. I doubt you want to hear anything about buying a new one, though. So check eBay and Amazon. I find that eBay is better for used electronics. If you choose to do something besides repair it, you can take the hard drive out of it and collect your data off of it pretty easily if you have a desktop computer. You may also be able to just plug the laptop into a desktop monitor and run it as normal, allowing you to rescue your files that way. What is the laptop's manufacturer and brand? I may be able to help you find a screen. (Edited the name of the APU; forgot a zero.)