Question whitish powder inside laptop

[it4u]

I tried to resuscitate my failing laptop, took it apart, and discovered alot of very tiny specks of whitish powder inside, which I have no idea what it might be and/or how it got there. The laptop did / does not have any battery, so it cannot be leaked chemicals from a battery. While the laptop is probably beyond any repair, I am curious to know what it might be, how it got there etc, as a preventive measure for my other laptops. Photos are available for those who wish to view it. Thanks

The whitish powder is all over the inside of my laptop

 

[COLGeek]

Looks almost like it was submerged into salt water (and then dried) at some point. If not something like that, it was used in a very dirty, dusty environment for a long period of time.

 

[hang-the-9]

Last system that looked even close to this, someone lived by the ocean and had their windows open a lot with the computer on a desk near the windows. Basically corroded the system from the inside out. That looked maybe 1/6th of the mess this one has inside it and it had more corrosion visible on the motherboard.

Where was this system kept? It also almost looks like what a heavy smoker's system looks like except it's not black tar and ash.

 

[it4u]

This notebook was a "gift". Hence, i do not know its history. except that it was given to me by a person who works at an IT help desk. The user was a corporate user

 

[COLGeek]

Will compressed air remove that gunk? Have you had any luck reviving it?

I don't recall ever seeing a system that dirty, other than deployed systems in a desert environment.

 

[Bearmann]

Well, it must have had a battery at some point. I would guess that the battery leaked and was removed.

 

[ElectrO_90]

That looks like pure corrosion and I would agree with Bearmann that it was a battery leak.

 

[it4u]

some additional info:
the whitish substance does not feel or appear like salt residue
the notebook is believed to have been used in an office air-con environment
it is unlikely to have been used near a seaside environment, as there aren't that many such environments around where I am located

I am not able to ascertain if there was a battery leakage as I do not know the previous owner nor its history
Anyway, surprisingly, it was working once (with AC Power), but has since died suddenly and without any warning ... now, now destined as scrap

thanks to all for your responses