Computer will not power off

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Bluemouse

Posts: 180   +0
Hi all,

I have Windows XP Sp2 running on a machine I built a little while ago. I seem to be having a problem with my computer not turning off after XP shuts down. The fans just keep running, and all of my LED's stay on. When I try to power it off by the power button (even if I hold it for 10 seconds) it does nothing, and I have to resort to killing it with the switch on the PSU. If I just leave it, I can't even turn it back on again until I kill the power with the switch.

Mobo: Asus P5NSLI
Bios: Phoenix Bios

I can't see the APM tab under the power management in Ctrl panel, but I have already enabled APM to the best of my abilities in the bios.

Please help

Cheers :)
 
Pull out the CMOS battery or use the CMOS "clear" jumper on the motherboard to reset your systems bios. This should correct the problem
 
How did I know you were going to ask that ;)

The CMOS jumper is near the CMOS battery. The battery is located between the 2 PCI connectors nearest the edge of the board, near the SATA connectors. This jumper block should be marked something like CLear and NORmal. On some higher-end boards, the clear CMOS is in the bios, and no jumper is present
 
How do I check without replacing everything? lol

It seems like something powers up, or a fan increases speeds or something once the computer turns off. There is an INCREASE in noise, but i cant tell if its my gpus, the HDD or the cpu fan, or a combination of all 3.
 
I hate to be the bearer of bad tidings. Oh, who am I kidding. Anyway, you don't have to replace everything, just the power supply. that will cover the 2 variables. I can only speak for Intel boards but all of the power management functions are BIOS dependent. My G965WM board won't even allow windows to offer stand-by until the Intel Quick Resume Technology Drivers are installed. It probably doesn't matter which parts are running after attempting to shut down. It would be predicated on which voltage as still present. A fan would probably speed up after BIOS shut down due to no longer being controlled by the Mobo's PWM fan monitoring. On the bright side, It never hurts to have a spare power supply laying around.
 
Before you replace anything look HERE it`s the ultimate shutdown troubleshooter.

If things were working previously,then it is unlikely to be a PSU problem.

It`s usually a device driver or a changed setting somewhere.
 
Things have been like this since I built the system.

Specs:

Core 2 Duo, e6600
2x Nvidia 7600GT Graphics cards
2x Sata Drives
Asus P5NSLI mobo
2 Gigs Ram

What is weird is that in the bios when I check it says im at 11.9V on the +12, but then when I check in windows it says I'm down to 11.31V. Could this be due to the same thing? 11.3 Volts seems very low, doesnt it?
 
Did you enable ACPI when you installed XP ?

If you didn`t you might have to reinstall and enable it.

More in the link above.
 
It says that is for Asus P2B-F, P2B-VM, or P2L97 mobos only.

The rest of those solutions don't apply/dont work.
 
for whatever it's worth

Bluemouse said:
Hi all,

I have Windows XP Sp2 running on a machine I built a little while ago. I seem to be having a problem with my computer not turning off after XP shuts down. The fans just keep running, and all of my LED's stay on. When I try to power it off by the power button (even if I hold it for 10 seconds) it does nothing, and I have to resort to killing it with the switch on the PSU. If I just leave it, I can't even turn it back on again until I kill the power with the switch.

Mobo: Asus P5NSLI
Bios: Phoenix Bios

I can't see the APM tab under the power management in Ctrl panel, but I have already enabled APM to the best of my abilities in the bios.

Please help

Cheers :)
Click to expand...
Antec states that "soft off" (shutdown without turning off the power supply switch), is a feature built into the power supply. They also state that the power supply voltages should be checked with a meter, " because board and OS measurements tend to be inaccurate".
 
Don't know why, but it's there

Bluemouse said:
Hi all,

I have Windows XP Sp2 running on a machine I built a little while ago. I seem to be having a problem with my computer not turning off after XP shuts down. The fans just keep running, and all of my LED's stay on. When I try to power it off by the power button (even if I hold it for 10 seconds) it does nothing, and I have to resort to killing it with the switch on the PSU. If I just leave it, I can't even turn it back on again until I kill the power with the switch.

:)
Click to expand...
In Windows XP, >Control Panel>(Classic View)>Power Options>Advanced Tab> There is a setting "When I push the power button on my computer". For some bizarre reason there is a setting that says "Do Nothing". (It' a small drop down menu). I Guess this might be useful in a business environment. I suppose It's worth a look.
As to if I think you should BUY another power supply. My advice is BORROW a known good one first. Although...... the power supply in a computer is the part that does most of the heavy lifting, and is usually only sized, just enough to get by, by the manufacturers. It never hurts to have a spare.
Try Control Panel first.
 
captaincranky said:
In Windows XP, >Control Panel>(Classic View)>Power Options>Advanced Tab> There is a setting "When I push the power button on my computer". For some bizarre reason there is a setting that says "Do Nothing". (It' a small drop down menu). I Guess this might be useful in a business environment. I suppose It's worth a look.
Click to expand...


I am going to be one to ask questions, but where did u find this as in more details, I have looked and cannot find this?
 
The Search Is On......

Go to Control Panel. In the upper left corner(below the menu bar) 1st Button (bar) select "Switch to Classic View", look for the icon that says "Power Options". It's somewhere near the lower third of the icons. double click it. That will show the "Power Options Properties" tabbed window. The 2nd tab is advanced, click there.
It's right there under power buttons. One enables the computer shutoff button the other enables the sleep button on the keyboard. You can also find the "power options" icon in "Category view" under the "Performance and Maintenance" menu. The first tab in the power options properties is "power schemes" this enables the automatic standby when you walk away for coffee. This helps?
 
Just to add,

The sound I hear (fans) when the os shuts down is the same sound I hear when my screensaver activates.

Does that help?
 
Bluemouse,
I really doubt if a new power supply would help this problem... What's left is a corrupt boot drive (Bad hardware driver or software conflicts) or a dieing or corrupt bios motherboard
 
I Got Why, But Not Cause....Sorry

Bluemouse said:
Just to add,

The sound I hear (fans) when the os shuts down is the same sound I hear when my screensaver activates.

Does that help?
Click to expand...
Bluemouse said:
Just to add,

The sound I hear (fans) when the os shuts down is the same sound I hear when my screensaver activates.

Does that help?
Click to expand...
Not a whole heck of a lot. Screen savers use a fair amount of processor. So that when they're working the processor heats up some. The BIOS then kicks up the fan voltage to compensate. This is why I don't use them, I just let it go to standby. Cheaper to run.
If the fans accelerate, then 1 of 2 things is happening; either the processor usage is increasing or there is un-(or semi) controlled voltage at the fan headers. Voltage could be measured at unused power connectors or at the board fan headers. Is all power on is it just the 12V, how is that important? Not sure. If Windows is in fact shutting down COMPLETELY, then the problem is in the BIOS or PSU. Unfortunately, at that level it doesn't seem likely that someone other than a computer repair tech could tell without a process of elimination excursion.
 
I just upgraded an AMD Athlon XP 2400+, 2.0GHz Asus A7VN8X-VM motherboard system.

This system used a Western Digital 80GB IDE hard drive. This drive was reformatted and XP was reinstalled, with no change in the shutdown problem. 512MB of DDR 2100 RAM was installed. Since it was built, about 3 years ago, it had a problem with not shutting down in XP Home, SP2... When you tried to shut the system down, Windows would get to the "shutting down" screen and freeze. The computer would make a clunking sound, but the fans, lights and CD would remain active. You had to turn the power supply switch off to get the computer to shut off. I upgraded the motherboard, CPU and I installed a 160GB Seagate SATA Drive. This system shuts down perfectly.

I put the old ASUS motherboard including the processor, memory and power supply in another case. Only the hard drive (a 40GB Seagate IDE) is different. The system shuts down normally. I have to come to the conclusion that the 80GB Western Digital drive was causing the shutdown problem all along
 
Yea, I get the clunking sound as well. What could the harddrive do? Harddrives shouldnt be causing a power problem....
 
Isn't it worth a try to replace the hard drive and see if your system shuts down normally with a new drive?
 
If I have a second (sata) drive with vista on it, could I just unplug it and check? Or would I even need to do that? I've never tried shutting it down with vista, so maybe that would work?
 
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