Computer is stuck in standby!

[Kalmah]

I noticed a few days ago when my cat stepped on my keyboard that the little key in the top left corner that says 'user' puts my computer in standby.

So several hours ago I was running out of the house for a bit and decided to push that button to put it on standby before I left.

I come back about an hour later to find that my fan alarm was beeping. (an accessory I put in my computer that monitors temps and fan speeds.. I never hooked up the fans properly so It always beeps when I turn the computer on, and continues until I hit the button)
The computer was on, as indicated by the power light and the fluerescant lights mounted inside. (I could hear the chassi fans running as well, but it was really quiet because the cpu and video card fans where not running) The monitor had no signal.

So I hit the reset button and nothing happend. Pushed the power button as well with no luck. Held down the power button for 10 seconds... I turned off the power strip that the computer is plugged into. Turned it on.. back to the same thing. I turned the PSU switch off for a minute then turned it back on.. I hit every key on the keyboard, clicked and moved the mouse.

The hard drive indicator light is solidly lit up. The hard drive is not running though, it makes no sounds. So I am pretty much certain that that indicated that it's in standby.

I remember from a while back, that their is an option in the BIOS that lets me allow for keyboard/mouse to bring the computer out of standby. I never enabled it. The first time when the cat stepped on the standby buton on the keyboard I was able to bring it right back out of standby by pushing the power button.

The motherboard is an Asus P4c800 deluxe.
Windows xp home.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[Slikkster]

Did you try unplugging everything AND removing the CMOS battery for several minutes before reassembling? I'd wait a half hour with everything unplugged and off, and the battery removed.

 

[Kalmah]

No, I didn't remove the cmos battery. I am unsure of how to do that. (I'm sure I can find out; that is not an issue)

Before I go ahead and give it a try, what exactly would this do to the computer? Is that going to reset my bios?

Lets say I reset it, and it works.. isn't all the standby data that was loaded onto the hard drive going to still be their?

I appreciate it.

 

[Kalmah]

Ok, I cleared the cmos. Still no luck.

The computer isn't posting or anything. No beeps either. The hard drive light is constantly lit, but no hard drive activity.

I opened up the case to have a look. It seems that the cpu and gpu fans are running. I'm guessing one of them is running at a slower speed because the computer isn't actually on. (which would explain why it's quieter than usual)

I unplugged the hard drives and flipped the power switch on the PS... same results.

The floppy drive and cd drives seem to not be operational.

When a computer is put into standby, where is the data put that allows it to know that it's in standby when it's turned on? Apparently not the hard drive(or cmos? not quite sure what this is)

I don't have any backup hardware to swap things out. So that is not an option. I don't believe it's hardware failure anyways, it's just stuck in standby.

The keyboard has power, I can turn on the 'F-lock' and it lights up. capslock doesn't function though. The light on the mouse doesn't turn on when moving the mouse. I've tried holding down the power and reset button at the same time as well.

%#$%@$@ :evil:

EDIT: Just to clarify..
The power and reset button do not function. If I unplug the computer then plug it back in the computer automatically powers up even without hitting the power button to turn it on.
The hard drive light is solidly lit.

Anyone? I'm desperate here!

I'll probably strip it down to barebone, clean it out after work tonight.

 

[Kalmah]

Bump.