discovered that I shouldn't use a vacuum.....after the fact!!!!

I vacuumed inside the case because it was filthy and now it will not power up at all. Please tell me I can save my puter!!!??!!

 

No your not supposed to use a vacuum as it can zap components with static but enough about that,try a cmos reset first as removing the power supply from the mains can often cause this,find the small coin shaped battery on the motherboard "with the power disconnected" remove for 10 secs then replace and try to boot your machine.

If this doesn't work you have to remove every component apart from memory 'a known working stick if you can',CPU and vid card,then try to power up,if still no joy remove the memory and try then remove the vid card and try,your just looking for the fans to spin on that last test.

If you get the fans to spin start replacing components memory first,then vid card until you hit the roadblock.

If none of this works you need to test your power supply which I will go into later,also check the fuse in your plug and use a spare mains AC cable if you have one.

 

Wow...Rikky, you are quick AND comprehensive!!!! I am on a neighbour's computer so I am about to be offline til who knows when. However, I have a question.....What do you mean when you say....apart from memory 'a known working stick if you can'?
Thank you so much for your help!

 

This is the quote in context,remove everything but leave the CPU,memory and video card in the computer and if you have a stick of memory that you know to be working use that to rule out memory.

No problem,thank kestrel13! she linked me to your thread.

 

I don't want to interrupt Rikky's excellent advice but I once had a clear cmos jumper fall off my motherboard during a move and had a similar no responsive motherboard problem. If you had a similarly loose jumper and used a vacuum you might have removed that jumper. You might take a look around the battery for the clear cmos jumper to make sure it is still there just to rule out this unlikely scenario.

 

LOL you don't want to interupt be then you just go ahead anyway :-D thanks for the compliment...

 

Gosh!

I sympathize, several occassions when I used to do p.c sales, people would come in looking for a new p.c because of this issue, vacuming inside. I have to admit to doing this once or twice myself prior to being made aware of the static charge issue... guess I was lucky. If only other piece of advice I can offer is check to see if the power supply at the back of the case has a switch that may have cut of the power feed... this happened to me once and took me a few minutes to figure out LOL

Good luck with this one L8r guy:wave

 

Alright guys, thank you all for your caring and informed replies! I left my neighbours and came home depressed. I did not feel confident enough to attempt all the suggestions. I did feel like it was within my capabilities to replace the power cord. What do you know!!?? Puter immediately powered up!!! Whew! I just knew my ocd (jk) killed it! I know better now! Thanks Again!

 

Sorry to derail the topic a bit, but whats this about not using a vacuum!

I've been using them for years to clean my comps.

How is it different to air moving in the other direction? (ie, blowing)


Q

 

That's great news texasharper! Glad it was a simple fix.

~Q~, I think the general concern is a static charge damaging the MB. In my case it would be having a jumper or loose screw end up in the vacuum cleaner bag. Luckily, I barely keep up with vacuuming the rugs no worries for me about pulling out the vacuum just for the PC. LOL

 

Ahh, so it is not a problem if you keep yourself grounded or wear a static strap as you should


I thought i'd been risking all my babies guts and gibbons for years for a moment then :|

 

In that case I think i'll be using the air compressor from now on!

Wish somone had told me that about 15 years ago