I only gave my PC a light cleaning by brushing dust off the fans with a small brush, but now it won't start. What should I check first?
4 Answers
Inspect all the cables carefully and methodically, including the motherboard power connectors, graphics card power leads, front-panel connectors, and any cables near the fans you cleaned.
Make sure the power cable is connected firmly at both the wall and the power supply. Also check the switch on the back of the PSU—it's easy to accidentally leave it turned off.
That rear PSU switch is surprisingly easy to overlook. I’ve had the same panic before.
Start with the simple possibilities: reseat the RAM, check the power supply switch, verify the case power-button connector, and inspect every internal cable. Something was probably nudged loose during cleaning rather than suddenly failing.
If the computer wasn’t fully powered down, unplug it from the PSU and hold the case power button for about 10 seconds to discharge any remaining power. Also consider whether the brush had metal parts or wasn’t designed to be anti-static, since the wrong brush can create a static discharge risk.
Using an anti-static brush is important here. Not every small brush is safe for cleaning PC components.