Static Shock?

[Fweak]

Hi,

Bit of background about my issue:

I decided to clean inside the case (Desktop PC), clean the dust out etc, noticed the cpu heatsink was clogged up with the stuff as was the graphics card heatsink (it hadn't been done in a long time!). Did all this with the upright vac on the carpet, had to take the cpu fan off to get in, took the graphics card out and sucked the crappy dust out, etc. Once all back in place, plugged back in and.....I got to the logo of the first screen to appear (American Megatrends) - where usually while this is showing before Windows boots, there's all the technical info as bios loads its stuff. The screen just stays frozen on that logo.

Did I do something wrong?

Can I reset the Bios/Cmos or something if I gave it some static from the info described above? Maybe it's something entirely different, but was working fine before....only thing I can think of.

How to get around this issue via someone's help would be much appreciated!

[GuiltySpark]

It's possible that static could cause it especially from a standard vacuum. You should always use a proper anti static vacuum cleaner for this type of work however, I once new a guy that always used a standard vacuum attachable (thin nozzle for getting into the corners of stairs etc), he used insulating tape to tape a long flexi/bendy straw sticking out of the thin nozzle so he had the distance and minimum contact with any components when cleaning machines out. He used this method without fault for years until he could finally afford a proper one.

I would start by unplugging the machine and removing the fan and checking whether or not it needs thermal paste also remove the graphics card again.

After applying thermal paste (if needed) to the cpu fan, re-seat the fan and graphics card making sure they are seated correctly and leaving for a couple of minutes, then fire things up again and see if that fixes the issue.

[Fweak]

Thanks for the replies!

How do you reset CMOS on a Advent Win 7 64-bit machine?

[Fweak]

Thanks again Ganon! I also found an image of the motherboard with the clear cmos jumper highlighted.....which I guess is the same as popping the battery once the jumper is placed on the other pin.

Great stuff, highly appreciated!!

Btw, my system is the DT2216

[chriscbd_19]

So I could use a standard vacuum to clean all the dust out of my machines as long as I have an attached nozel?

I hope that doesn't sound rude lol but I'm just curios because I have dust built up in my machine but I can't afford to get the proper equipment for the job

[Britec]

You can use a Shopvac or you can use Datavac or a compressor  but compressor can produce moisture, so you have to give it a quick blow before use to clear moisture

[chriscbd_19]

Oh, ok I'm glad I asked instead of going to my pc room and sucking up pc parts with my standard vacuum lol

Thankyou Britec

[Fweak]

Good news! Popped the little battery out, reseated the bits I'd moved about, and Hey Presto...worked first time round.

Only errors I got was with the browser loading the homepage - in this case Google - saying it's security certificate was invalid. Giving the dates valid from some time in 2014, and telling me today's date was some time in 2012.

That had me puzzled for a moment, but obviously resetting the cmos took it back in time to it's original build date. A quick restart, updated bios clock and was surfing Google within seconds.

A good result all round! thanks again for the help.

[Britec]

Sometimes you don't see the damage from static shock until later on down the road. Its the same with electric surges, brownouts, lightening and static, all of these can cause damage to hardware and not fail right away.