XP power down?? (XP Home Edition)

Topic

New Reply

I was wondering if anyone else was having this problem with XP. When I was using Windows 98 when I would click shutdown my computer would power down. Ever since I installed XP it does everything right and it stops at the screen that says ‘It’s now safe to turn off your computer”. I then have to hold the power button in for approx. 5-10 seconds and then it shuts off. I hope that some of you guys can shed some light on why this is taking place because it sure seems like a step backwards to me. Oh yeah, I check MS support section, but there was nothing listed that was any help. Thanks for any responses to my question.

Regards,
Jeff T.

Reply | Quote

Replies

Sorry Jeff, I’m not gonna be able to answer the question, so we’ll have to wait for one of our Lounge’ers who might know the answer. The only reason I posted is because I had the opposite experience with my XP Pro installation. I have a homemade machine, with a pretty decent Intel motherboard in it that I built when I was still using WinME. Ever since I built it, power down has required pressing the power button at the screen you mentioned. However, after installing XP, this sucker started shutting itself off when I tell XP to shutdown! I’ve wondered about it but not taken the time to ask anywhere. It must have something to do with APM or ACPI or one of those other acronyms like that. I looked in my BIOS and in the Control Panel Power Options app, but I didn’t see anything. So here we wait, two peas in opposite pods

Reply | Quote

Have you installed all of the critical Windows Updates? I believe there is one related to this, but I may be wrong.

DaveA I am so far behind, I think I am First
Genealogy....confusing the dead and annoying the living

Reply | Quote

Sounds like XP decided to install itself using the “standard PC” configuration, which means that it doesn’t think your system can control the power options. Check that first by going to Start – Run and typing in DEVMGMT.MSC. This will being up the Device Manager (there are other ways to get here, but this is fast and direct). Click on the “plus” sign next to Computer.

• If you see ACPI in the description, as in the attached screen shot, you have ACPI enabled on your computer, which is a key component the power management.
• If you see Standard PC or something similar, ACPI is not enabled on your computer and you’ll need to manually install the HAL (Hardware Abstraction Layer, the software between Windows and the physical hardware it runs on) for ACPI computers. Make sure your computer supports it under Windows NT/2000/XP by checking with the manufacturer.[/list]Some things to check:
  • Q315664: Computer Does Not Shut Down Properly if Selective Suspend Is Enabled
  • Q266169: How to Troubleshoot Problems with Standby Mode, Hibernate Mode, and Shutting Down Your Computer in Windows 2000 (remember that Windows XP is Windows 2000.1, so a lot of the same things apply)
  • Q308535: Description of the Different Advanced Power Management States
  • Q302414: Unable to Use Power Management Features
    [/list]Let us know how you fare….I’ve given you a lot of homework!!

Reply | Quote

Mark, you hit the nail on the head. When I checked in Device Mgr. my machine is configure as Standard Computer, ACPI is NOT enabled. My machine is working so well other than this minor problem I’m not going to reinstall or attempt to install HAL. MS warns NOT to change this in one of the help sites you sent me.

Thanks to all who responded………I greatly appreciate the help. If it was something simple like changing a BIOS setting or something I’d do it, but I don’t want any hassles with my machine.

Regards,
Jeff

Reply | Quote

Jeff, did you by any chance look at the MS article Dennis posted? Since (thanx to Mark’s pointer) now I know why my machine shuts itself off, I looked at the article Dennis listed, and it says that in Control Panel, Power Options there is an ” APM ” tab. I assume I don’t have one because ACPI is enabled. But do you have an APM tab in yours, and if so, what happens if you try what MS’s article says? Weird that a fella would have to re-install the OS because it didn’t detect something correctly. Since Dave mentioned it, it would be worth a look at the list of updates to see if there was one on this topic.

Reply | Quote

[indent]

---

Weird that a fella would have to re-install the OS because it didn’t detect something correctly

---

[/indent]Just a quick note on that – it’s usually because ACPI is disabled inthe BIOS during the first phase of setup. Once Windows 2000/XP detects the BIOS settings and selects the HAL, that’s all she wrote – without another reinstall, because hardware is enumerated differently under APM than it is under ACPI. Thus, when setting up a 2000/XP machine, make sure you have the BIOS settings you want, and can live with.

Reply | Quote

“Learn Something New Every Day,” says Big Al’s motto. Mark, do you mind one more question on this topic, my learning for today? Whilst following your leads into the MS KB I was reading this page of information on XP and ACPI. [indent]

---

ACPI Configuration in the BIOS

An ACPI system consists of a series of 10 tables. These 10 tables define which devices are present on the system and what their capabilities are as to configuration and power management. These tables are built by the system BIOS at startup. When the computer starts, the system BIOS looks for specific entries in two of these tables, the Fixed ACPI Description table [FACP] and the Root System Description table [RSDT], to determine whether the system is ACPI-compliant.

---

[/indent] I’ve not experienced this whole topic before. Where do you suppose the tables are – would they just be in memory while the system boots or might they be on the hard drive somewhere?

Reply | Quote

Al,

The tables you’re referring to are hard-coded into the CMOS chip, which is usually software upgradeable (if it isn’t then you’re getting ripped off). All of the basic tests and information that are visible on-screen come from the CMOS, which does not surrender control until it passes the POST (Power On Self Test) and attempts to read in the boot sector. Once that happens, you see the now-familiar Windows NT/2000/XP boot loader, or if it’s Windows 9x, the startup process that it is configured to use.

The ACPI tables are read in by the chosen operating system’s ACPI driver for later use, because accessing ROM is a slow way of doing things and would severely impact performance. In fact, as I understand it, Windows NT and its successors largely ignore the BIOS after reading it in at boot time. By “on the hard drive” I presume you mean files that can be looked at in some way, and I don’t believe that to be the case – the hardware is enumerated in the registry and is actually in disparate locations.

Reply | Quote

Edited by WyllyWylly to make URL live…see the Quick Guide

If your PC won’t power itself down EVERYTIME when you turn off computer, you may try the following way which is a very popular solution for most people:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?…b;en-us;Q313290%5B/url%5D

If your PC won’t power itself down SOMETIMES, not everytime, when you turn off computer, it has something to do with the IME installed. MS has a solution on its WinXP updates. This is the problem I had before.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?…b;en-us;Q307274%5B/url%5D

Reply | Quote