Computer won't boot; lights flashing

[Xee]

Got a quick question regarding a computer that won't boot.

I was doing some cleaning today and accidentally snagged a cord and pulled my surge protector's plug out of the wall. My computer, which is plugged into the protector, wasn't on at the time. I plugged the surge protector back in and all the leds in my comp started flashing in sync with each other at a steady pace (motherboard light, light by the power button, etc). I tried to boot up but pressing the power button did nothing.

The thing that ticks me off is that this happen once before. That time my computer had actually been on when I accidentally stepped on the power switch to the surge protector. The exact same thing with the lights happened. I just can't remember for the life of me how I got it running again.

Anyone have any suggestions?

 

[Xee]

Well, I tried turning off the switch to the PSU, unplugging the power cord, and then hitting the Clear CMOS button. After I plugged the power cord in and turned the PSU switch on though, the lights started blinking again and the computer still wouldn't boot up.

This is definitely a head-scratcher. I can't imagine how anything could have been affected, especially since the computer was off at the time.

 

[scaarbelly]

Did you try plugging it in without the surge protector? it might of fried.

 

[Xee]

Sorry to necro this thread but I just thought I'd post the final solution to this problem in case anyone ever comes across it in a search.

Yesterday I unplugged my computer for about an hour to clean out the dust. When I plugged it back in the same issue happened as described above. Remembering the advice above, I unplugged it from the surge protector, plugged it directly into the wall, and pressed the power button. The issue was still there.

I plugged it back in to the surge protector and tried again. Still nothing. Then, remembering some other advice I had gotten the last time I had this issue, I decided to unplug any extra USB devices. The only thing I had plugged in besides my keyboard and mouse was the OnAir USB HDTV tuner which, coincidentally, had an LED which was blinking in time with the computer. With the computer still plugged in to the surge protector, I unplugged the tuner and tried again. This time it came on with no problem.

Not sure if this means the tuner is acting as too much of a draw on the PSU for it to boot up correctly or if it's something inherent in the tuner itself. Anyway, just thought I'd make it known to save anyone the frustration of having to figure this out.