dropping a screw inside case/motherboard cause of problems?

[IS300]

I was trying to replace a PCI card, and a screw accidentally fell in and hit the motherboard. Hours later, my slave HDD started showing bad sectors, then failed (basically couldn't complete chkdsk). On next boot, Windows XP was really slow. From then on, XP would get stuck forever on the Windows splash screen (the green progess bar would keep going back and forth).

So I tried reinstalling XP on the C: partition, which also took forever. Now it would take 20 minutes to load and subsequently more or less freeze.

Basically I took that as another HDD failing. But today I tried in an external USB enclosure, and I can access all partitons on the drive.

So I guess my motherboard is damaged, and possibly took my slave HDD with it? I don't have another spare HD to try testing the motherboard right now, but I'm curious:

How often has a screw falling on the motherboard damaged it - has it happened to you?

 

[natto fire]

Was the motherboard powered up at the time? I have dropped quite a few screws, but I always turn the PSU off whenever I am tinkering in my case. It sounds like a coincidence to me, but it is a possibility the mobo was shorted.

 

[IS300]

Hmmm, the PSU wasn't even connected...

I guess it can still be shorted?

 

[Zepper]

Murphy's Law:
Corollary 13: A dropped item will seek the spot where it can do the most damage. If dropped on the floor, it will seek the most inaccessible spot - slipping into a parallel universe if possible...

Of course, it could all be coincidence.

.bh.

 

[jkresh]

if you left the screw then it could have caused a short when it turned on, if the screw fell when the pc was unplugged then a short would be almost impossible, though i guess it could have it a capacitor or something on the motherboard and caused physical damage... I guess its possible you damaged the motherboards sata controller when dropping the screw or working in the case.

 

[NikolaeVarius]

Or it could be coincidence. That would suck.

Doubt it. You probably killed something on your motherboard that you can't see.

 

[Puffnstuff]

You say you dropped the screw but where did it go? Did you remove it from the system before you reapplied power? It could have shorted something when the power was turned back on.

 

[IS300]

Originally posted by: Puffnstuff
You say you dropped the screw but where did it go? Did you remove it from the system before you reapplied power? It could have shorted something when the power was turned back on.

I definitely found and removed it before plugging the power back in. I'm going to get another HDD and see if it's the HDD or the motherboard.