No power, did I short it out?

[rflores]

I was taking the dust off my fans and when I was done I was putting the side of the tower back on and a screw fell into the opening of the hard drive. when it fell I saw a spark but the hard drive led was still on but I turned off the main power supply to avoid further damage. I shook the tower till the screw fell out. I turned the power back on and now nothing turns on, did I short it out? can I fix this? please help!

 

[scout_03]

unplug that drive and the system should start .

 

[rflores]

unplug that drive and the system should start .

you don't think I shorted it out?

 

[rflores]

I think it's the motherboard actually not the hard drive, it's that little metal box with a fan where all the wires come out

 

[scout_03]

give the name and model of your motherboard and where exactly it made the spark you could also use a magnifier to check any burn spot on the motherboard and the hdd where the screw fell .

 

[hunter315]

The little metal box with the fans where all the wires come out is your power supply, not your motherboard. Does the power cord from the outside plug directly into this box? If so then it is definitely the power supply and if you saw a little flash then the screw shorted something out and probably left some scorch marks on the board which would cause issues. Swap out of the PSU, it isn't worth having a potentially damaged PSU that could nuke the rest of the system.