My system had a sudden shutdown, and it won\'t start.

[Lord Garfield]

Hey, does anyone here have any advice on what needs to be done after a circut shuts down instantly to make the computer work again? Some jerk placed a metal object in the USB-Input and my computer shutted down instantly. I know they do that so that people won\'t fry themselves, but I wonder, is there anything that needs to be done to get it to work again?

[Biblost]

Could you give a bit more details on what exactly happens when you try to turn on the computer:

 

-Nothing at all?

-Some lights and sounds, but no screen?

-Blue screen?

-Strange flickering underscore (_) on top of the screen?

[Illiad86]

yes, more details...but unplug the PSU, turn the switch off on it, and wait 10 minutes.

 

But it's probably worst case scenario and your jerk there fried the PSU :(.

[Biblost]

yes, more details...but unplug the PSU, turn the switch off on it, and wait 10 minutes.

 

But it's probably worst case scenario and your jerk there fried the PSU :(.

 

Just by plugging in the USB-stick? I thought the worst that could be done was format the hard drive, in which case you would get the flickering _ on top of the screen. I thought the PSU wasn't directly controlable by applications other than the motherboard itself.

[Lord Garfield]

Well, it\'s totally dead, no flickering, no... Well, nothing.

[Illiad86]

He said someone put a metal object in the port, not a USB stick. What did he put in there? A paperclip? lol My boyfriend once accidentally hit his graphics card with the tip of a molex connector for his fan. It zapped and shut down, only thing he had to do was turn off the PSU switch, unplug it, and wait. No damage was done, he was very very lucky.

 

USB is powered, I think it's like 5V. PSU supplies power to the motherboard, CPU, GPU, RAM, and any of the controllers on the board (Firewire, eSATA, USB). If you have a defective PSU and plug in a USB stick or other powered device, it can cause a short. The exact thing happened to my dad's computer. We were installing Windows and such, got through that just fine. I put my USB stick in the front panel to get drivers off it and we heard a zap and that was the end of it. It didn't kill my stick thankfully :P But his PSU was dead. With my cousins as well, his screen would flicker or darken whenever we put a USB stick in, once again a bad PSU. Somewhat rare, but happened to two computers I fixed lol.

 

edit: ah hah you responded. What the heck did he put in the port?

[Biblost]

You mean like the problem isn't anything electronic, but just a short circuit with the power supply? Might be possible if the metal object is put deep enough into the port, although I never experienced this myself.

 

Sorry for not reading the post thoroughly enough. I'm a little lazy :).

[Illiad86]

Doesn't take too much to zap your PSU if you're putting a metal object that's not meant to be in the USB port :P Like I said, my boyfriend was incredibly lucky when that molex cable hit his graphics card...it could of killed the card itself or killed the PSU all together...damn electronics :P

 

There's really no fear of getting shocked by your computer, unless your touching something while it's on :P

[Lord Garfield]

*Edit* I fixed it by leaving for 10 minutes like you suggested, thanks.

 

 

 

Oh, and it was an Italian stilletto knife, my computer was stabbed >_<.

[Illiad86]

...........................you've got to be kidding me right? Wow......wow...make him pay for a new PSU....wow people like that shouldn't be near a computer. Why in the heck did he put a switchblade in the USB port?!

 

Take a quick check inside your computer and see if there's anything blackened or blown (capacitors, etc.) If nothing on the motherboard is fried, you need a new PSU.