I got it up .... the PC. Went back and started checking each connection one by one. Turned it on and it powered up .. and stayed on! All I gotta do now is bring back to the computer desk, attach the monitor, etc. and see what happens.
Grats! I was starting to think that maybe you did indeed have a stuck power switch on the front of the case (since holding the button for five seconds is the signal to shut down for a modern PSU). And GBurg's right - that's pretty much the first step for the job. Successfully replace something without shorting out everything in site and lighting it on fire.
Best story along those lines I ever heard was a guy who tried to swap out a stick of RAM, cut his thumb wide open when he scraped it across a solder joint and literally dumped enough blood in the case to fry the board. I was working phone support for HP at the time and he knew he had violated the warranty so he wanted to pay to get it repaired.
The computer division (Pavillion) was brand new at the time - had only been around for about four months and all the units were 100% under warranty. HP had no system in place to handle non-warranty repairs. Customer satisfaction okayed the repair gratis as thanks for being a valued HP customer. I suspect he still buys HP to this day.
