Computers - I love them. I love the hardware and what a computer can do. You make use of it more than you think you do for quick everyday things: research, social media (I feel sorry for those that melt their brains on this crap, but to each their own), business, email and so on.

Last Thursday night, I decided to do what I do at least once a year with my computer and give it a decent cleaning.

The family went to bed and around 9pm I power off the computer. I flip the power switch off on the PSU and unplug the power cable on it. After 30 seconds I unplug all the cables from I/O and I take my tower and set it on the table I'm going to work at. I removed the side panel and set it to side on a chair next to me.

I'm barefoot, in shorts and t-shirt while doing all this. I have a metal screwdriver in my hand, so I've grounded myself before I start pulling case fans out, the GPU out and fan filters. I didn't do anything with the 24/8 pin power cables for the MB and CPU. I didn't touch the CPU or H100i cooler or anything else - just removed the GPU and case fan and fan filters.

With a can of air I blew out the GPU. I then took a small brush and cleaned off the fins on the fan and on the heatsink as good as I could get to it with brush, through the fans. I didn't remove the GPU shroud at all. I then brushed off all the fans and I used canned air to blow out the PSU and any loose dust on the inside of the case. I know how to handle canned air, I didn't spare any condensed solution from the can on any part of the computer.

With things cleaned out I put everything back together. None of the case fans plug into the MB. The case has a built in fan controller for 3 fans, the other ones connect directly to a 4pin molex. I put the GPU back in, connected the power cables on it. I made sure nothing else got bumped and everything was plugged back in as should be. I then plugged everything back into the I/O panel on the MB, plugged the PSU power cable in, flipped the power switch on the PSU to "On" and pressed the power button on the tower....'click'....nothing powered up. Odd, so I did a quick look over everything again and seeing nothing out of place or unplugged I powered the PSU power switch to off, reseated the PSU power cable on the PSU and made sure it wasn't unplugged from my surge protector. I turned the PSU power switch to "On" and pressed the power button on the tower....'click'....no power.

Damn it, what the hell?

I take the tower back to the table and I check the jumpers on the motherboard for the power switch, reset switch, HDD LED and so on - nothing is unplugged. I checked all power cables again - nothing unplugged, all power cables are plugged in. I take the power cable for the PSU and plug it into a completely different out let and tried turning the computer on again....'click'....no power.

Well, guess I'm starting over with my computer. So I dissemble it. I grab a cardboard box. On the box I only have the MB, with the CPU installed, the H100i and 1 stick of RAM (no HDD, GPU or anything else connected). I verify the PSU has the 24/8 pin power cables plugged in. I plug the PSU into the wall outlet and try to power the computer using the onboard power button on the MB....no power.

Shit, maybe the PSU has failed. I disconnect the power cables on the MB and I dig around to find a paper clip. After about 5 minutes to find one (they're very uncommon in the house, we don't really ever use them) I test the PSU - she turns on. Okay, she powers, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's good. So I go grab my spare Seasonic 750W 80+ Gold and test the MB with it....no power. I did the paperclip test on the spare PSU. She powers up. It's starting to look like the issue is the MB. By now it's around 1:30 am so I call it a night.

I left work early on Friday so I could drive to MicroCenter (thankfully I have one fairly close to home). I look over all the motherboards for 1150 socket and I decide upon an improved version of ASRock board that I have at home that's not working. I get the Z97 Extreme4. I get home and get thing setup on the new MB. I have her on the box, just the PSU, 1 stick of RAM connected. I try to power her up using the onboard power button....no power. For ****'s sake.

Now I'm really irritated. I go get the spare PC the kids use. I remove the PSU from it because I know it works. I connect the known working PSU to the new MB....no power. Shit, DOA board.

I now have 2 computers pulled apart on the table and taking up a ton of space. I was hoping to have it all cleaned up before the wife got home with the kids, but the DOA board I just got put me in a bad spot. Family gets home, cook dinner, I walk the dogs and so on and around 7pm I drive back to MicroCenter. I swap the board for a ASUS model and get home around 8pm.

After the kids were put to bed around 8:30 and I took the dogs out again, I try my luck with the 2nd new motherboard.

Screw setting everything out on the box. I mounted the new MB in the case, installed the CPU, installed the H100i, installed 1 stick of RAM. I took the known working PSU from the spare computer, installed it in the case and plugged in the 24/8 pin power connectors. I connected the power and reset jumpers to the motherboard. I connected the computer to one of my monitors, powered on the PSU, pushed the power button on the tower....SHE POWERED UP! She POSTed!

I swapped PSU and she still powered up with my normal PSU. I then installed all RAM and the SSD. She posts, but won't load windows 7 (I figured as much). I'm okay with this since I backup my OS driver every night to my backup HDDs so I'm not missing any important info/pics and so on. I reformat the SSD, re-install Win7. I then connect my other HDDs and handle the cable management. I plug in the GPU and start the computer up - everything loads and runs as should be. I fell asleep during the Win 7 install around 1am.

I spent a good chunk of my Saturday morning installing Windows updates and all necessary programs I use. Thankfully my Steam games are all a storage HDD so I didn't have to download and re-install them all.

As irritating as the dead MB was and all the time and money I spent getting it back up. I enjoyed solving the puzzle it created and successfully getting the computer back up and running.