Alt+Ctrl+Del not working for logon .... IT experts please help

Hello IT gentlemen/ladies.

I am a Mechanical Engineer working offsite, with minimal IT background. I work offsite and do not have proper access to IT department of my company(or, in this case, I dont want to bother IT department)

So, here is the issue: On the other day I spill glass of water on my work HP Elitebook. Keyboard was covered with water. Laptop was OFF at the time. So, I took out battery, left it to dry for 3 days with a fan and very low heat(far away - warm only) air under supervision. I also lifted the keypad to dry within, although I didnt notice much water. I also removed the hard disc to dry on the lower side......3 days to dry and today i put back battery, the keyboard(was not disconnected, just lifted) and HD back in. I was extra careful in this disassembly/assembly process.

I booted the system. It started fine/normal but when it goes to Ctrl+Alt+Del, nothing happens, so cant put my login info to start. Basically computer acts as if I didnt press ctrl+alt+del at all.
Main mouse of laptop work, as well as the little mouse in middle of keys on keypad.
I tried safe mode, same thing. I tried another keyboard as USB attachment, same thing.
Even the laptop keys seem fine as up-down keys work(went to safe mode with F8), etc

I am badly stuck. Cant call IT folks because I work remotely and also dont want to disclose the water story. PLEASE help ASAP if possible. Has this got anything to do with removing and putting back the Hard drive.

 

First, try a hard reboot if not then go to the below search page:

https://www.google.com/#q=ctrl+alt+del+not+working+so+cannot+login

read through several threads on above search page, hope you can solve the issue.