Broken ribbon cable

Ok so I was changing NIC cards in my dell (Yes, I know they suck) and when I hit the power button nothing happened. So I open it up again and I instantly see the problem. The cheap shit ribbon cable connecting the front USB, headphone, and power button to the motherboard had broken at the end. The actual cable part had come out of the end connector and the little plastic strip that holds it down had come off. On the motherboard was I guess the bottom of the connector and It had a bunch of small pins on it that matched small holes on the cable. No plastic broke and I can snap the top of the cable back but I am just afraid I will bend the small pins that go into the ribbon cable. Anyone seen shit like this before? I've never seen a ribbon do anything like this.

god i hate dell

Umm... not really sure... what you're describing is a little vague to me. The ribbon just ends and there're a bunch of holes in the plastic?

If so, then you can replace the ribbon onto the pins and press the cap back on. You have to be sure the the ribbon goes back on the same way it came off or there will be bad trouble.

so what? just shove the wires back in, if the pins bend, bend them back. ALl they are doing is supplying power to LED's and allow the button to complete a small circuit to turn the comp on. Just make sure none of the pins bend and touch each other.

Okay it took a few minutes but I got it all back together. The pins were stronger than they look. I just didn't want to bend them and have to deal with the lovely dell support for a stupid cable.