Help! Laptop Just Died!! Possible Short?

[joko]

I have an asus x5500, and just now as i reached down to plug some headphones in, i THINK i missed and put it in the usb port, which is millimetres away, i moved it to the right place but suddenly the whole thing just went off... Everything.
no lights or sound.
checked the power lead in another socket, nothing.
weirdly the charger has no light but it was making a very quiet hum.

i am not 100% sure about the headphone and usb thing, but in assuming that's what happened.

any ideas? Is it likely that could kill a laptop? Stupid place to put the earphone socket if so.
is there anything i can do? Or just send for repair?
will i lose all my stuff? Hadn't backed up in a wee while.
thanks

[snags]

https://www.google.co.uk/#q=headphone+in+usb+by+mistake

[SlackAlice]

Remove power cable, battery and hold power button down for about 10 seconds. Reassemble and try to boot up.

If no response then you've probably 'shorted' the motherboard and need the attention of a competent repair shop.

[joko]

thanks SA, its working now! so relieved

thanks also snags, you could say that about almost any question on here, so may as well close AB down eh?
i did google, and found loads of people with mostly a similar, but not quite the same problem, and getting useless opinions rather than help, so i came on a site that i know people can actually offer specific help and advice ... call me crazy

[SlackAlice]

He He! panic over, otherwise you might need an appointment with an optician

[joko]

lol, i didnt look, i just kind of 'felt' for it, as its on the side - i will make sure i look in future!

its actually not that unusual a problem according to google - it seems a fair few have done this - i do think its a slight design flaw if its that easy to do - some people said they just brushed the metal opening with the jack and it happened, so perhaps they shouldnt put them so close together.

fortunately the usb port still works too!