No Signal on Monitor--Not booting?

[imported_blip]

I have an AMD Athlon 64 3000, 2GB Ram, WinXP, GeForce 6800 connected via DVI to Hanns-G 19" LCD...
I was rearranging some cords, and I shut down then switched off the power switches.
--EDIT: I remembered that after I did this there was dust everywhere, so I vacuumed around the case and on the fans. Is it possible I vacuumed something out of place or caused some electrical problems??--
Now I have no signal on my monitor. The monitor is on, just telling me there is no signal, as it does when the computer goes to sleep. Also, the mouse (a microsoft wireless) doesn't come on, as there is no light on the receiver thingy. The keyboard lights flash at first, but then are off, and num lock and caps lock won't work. I'm not even sure if the computer is booting. The fans are on, the vid card fan starts and the led lights up, not sure if the HDD is spinning (it's fairly quiet).

I removed and reinstalled the vid card, in case it came loose, and I replugged the monitor cables. Could it be something on the motherboard, since the mouse and keyboard aren't working? But the ethernet port does light up on the back, and the firewire cord for my ipod has power, since my ipod lights up when I plug it in.

I'm totally lost, and fearing that somehow I fried my HDD. Is there a way to boot by bypassing the HDD? I used boot disks back in the day, but haven't in years so I don't know where to start.

Could this actually be from cutting the power strips? Some stuff is on when I kill the power strip, such as the speakers and modem, since they have no power switches. But the computer had been safely shut down (the monitor may have been on).

Any and all help is greatly appreciated. If you need any more info, just let me know. I'm at work, so I can't try anything right now...
Thanks!!

 

[KGB]

Try clearing the CMOS on your MB using the procedure in your MB manual.
This usually involves removing the battery and temporarily moving a jumper.

 

[mpilchfamily]

There is a slight possibility that there was a static discharge between the power strip and the vacuum. If that's the case then the PSU or the motherboard may have been damaged. Cutting the switch at the power strip only cuts the power between the wall and the strip outlets. But if a static charge hits one of the strip's receptacles that charge will travel threw the PC and could damage things.

 

[imported_blip]

Thanks for the help! I reset the CMOS and I was able to boot up. I thought it was from the vacuum, so we switched off the power strip last night (trying to save energy), and this morning, same problem. I re-reset the CMOS and it worked again. Any reason switching off the power strip would cause this? Don't know if it makes a difference that the modem was still on (it's on another power strip)?? Guess i'll leave the strip on for now.
The only problem now is no sound. I tried updating the drivers through device manager, and the system recognizes my card (chaintech av-710), but no sounds. Would resetting the CMOS cause this? It gives me the "found new hardware" prompt for my printers. Do I need to reinstall everything? Will I have to physically remove the sound card, or just reinstall drivers somehow?
Thanks again for the help!

 

[nineball9]

If your mobo has onboard sound (most do), resetting the CMOS may have defaulted to onboard sound instead of your audio card. Poke through your BIOS settings, preferably with the mobo manual.

Also, check your devices in Device Manager.

 

[imported_blip]

Originally posted by: nineball9
If your mobo has onboard sound (most do), resetting the CMOS may have defaulted to onboard sound instead of your audio card. Poke through your BIOS settings, preferably with the mobo manual.

That did it! Switched off the onboard sound and switched on PnP, just is case. Thanks for the help!