xp pc will not power down

[bluefish]

my pc will not power down.It will shut down then i will hear a click type noise when the power should turn off but the power stay's on.
i have looked at posts with similer probs and the answer is normaly to go to control panal then open power managment then make sure automatic power supply (i think that is what it is called)is selected. My machine does not have this aps tab in power management, i think this is something to do with the fact that it is compatable with auto shut down so xp automaticly shuts down pc and does not give you the option to turn it off(something i read on microsoft web site).
I am woried that as i leave my pc on all the time if the fan breaks the pc wont be able to automaticly turn off if the cpu overheats.
A bit long winded sorry but trying to give as much info as poss.
thanks:confused:

[Budfred]

Welcome to http://www.pcguide.com/ubb/pcgubb.gif

When you say it won't power down, what exactly do you mean?? If the power to the box is still on, there is always some power going to the computer... Are there fans running? Do you still have something on the monitor? Is the power on light lit? If the answer to these questions is "no", you probably don't have a problem. If it is "yes", at least one workaround is to turn off the power coming into the computer. Also, I would check to see if there are any background programs running that are refusing to close...

[bluefish]

windows saves all information then says windows is shutting down.
the hard drive light flickers and you can hear it working then it stops.
at this point usually on my pc it makes a noise then power turns off but now i hear the noise but the power stays on as far as windows thinks the power is of, i need to unplug to get the pc power off.
like i say all programs have closed and pc thinks the power is of,i am woried incase my fan breaks when i am not there and my pc over heats
yes the fan is still running and power is going to monitor.:confused:

[Budfred]

Have you tried holding the power button down for about 5 seconds to see if it will shut down completely. Computers used to require that you turn them off manually and it is still possible to set them up to do so. I am not sure where to find the settings, but I believe they are in the BIOS. If you can hold the power button down and it goes off, it indicates you are in the manual shutoff mode.

The monitor usually will not shut down unless you turn it off separately.

The CPU has a very low risk of overheating, especially if it is a P4 which has built in heat shutoff protection. What CPU are you talking about?

[bluefish]

it is a p4 1.6ghz i new there was a shutdown if over heating happend but thought it required the pc to switch its self of.
If the cpu can shutdown itself without the power to the pc being of then i don't have a problem that bothers me too much now.
It is cause i am going broadband and my pc will be on until i need to shutdown for new software or new hardware that i was worried about the over heating.
if you confirm that a cpu shuts down with power still going into the pc this will keep me happy.
Thanks for your help:)

[Whyzman]

Have you downloaded SP1 along with other patches Microsoft deems necessary??

[bluefish]

the pc has been working fine for months my copy of xp has sp1 on it and was installed by the firm i took my pc to for upgrading,but i do need to do a windows update which i will do in the next few days when i get broadband connected.:)

[Whyzman]

If it has been working fine...have you added any new software??

[bluefish]

after i installed new softwear i would restart and sometimes i would get the problem so i would manualy switch off power then restart the pc, then when i done a shut down it would work fine until the next time i installed another bit of softwear(new softwear did not allways cause the problem)but now it will not power down at all windows is still shuting down compleately apart from the power down.
There is a post saying that if the cpu over heats it will shut down can anyone confirm that the cpu can shutdown with the power still going through the pc as if the fan breaks i will get a over heat the pc will try shutting down but it wont power down:confused:

[deddard]

If installing new software (including Microsoft)caused any of the problems, then the likely causes are:


Power settings (start-control panel-display- screen saver - power settings) which may be set to do nothing when you power down.

faulty installation of Windows (you may need a utility such as Norton Utilities to sort this)

Malware/virus activity - some nasties don't like anything trying to alter the registry, which often happens when new software is installed.

If a CPU overheats then it is likely to shut down, BUT you should at least take comfort from the fact that unless the cooling is inadequate, overheating is unlikely. Many of us leave our computers on 24/7 with no ill effects.

I'd first of all check the power settings by going through the routine above, these can cause all sorts of problems if they are not set correctly. If this does not solve anything, and you don't have a utility such as Norton (perhaps someone else could suggest an alternative) then:

next in line is to download some of the malware/av/trojan software listed in MJCs links. A HijackThis log posted here will help the net and security gurus check if there is any nasties starting on your machine.
ad-aware, trojan scanners etc will likely find anything and kill it.
Other things such as a good antivirus and a firewall can protect against the bugs, and it would be a good idea to download a couple of removal tools from symantec.com (blaster, welchia etc) which are always good to have to hand.

I'm not saying that it is definitely a problem with viruses etc - don't panic! but stuff like this is an obvious candidate for suspicion, and everyone needs to be protected, whether they are suffering a problem or not.

[bluefish]

Deddard

i have zone alarm and avg anti virus done scans and there is no viruses to be found and they are upto date but i know this does not mean that i am not infected for sure.

Power settings seem fine.

About the cpu i am worried incase my cpu fan breaks then there wont be enough cooling for the cpu then it will over heat but does the cpu shutdown even if the power is still going through the pc?

Or does the over heating safty shutdown only work if the pc powers down compleatly?

Could it be the power supply that has a dodgy switch?:confused:

[Budfred]

You never did reply to the question about holding down the power switch on the case... This is the switch on the front of the case that you use to turn on the computer, not the power supply switch. Have you tried holding it down for 5 seconds after Windoze shuts down the system?? If you do and it shuts down, it is probably a matter of BIOS settings.... Also, if the computer has shut down and is still waiting for the final power shutdown, the CPU is not active anyway and would not be heating.... If you try the switch, you will help sort this out........

[bluefish]

sorry for not answering
Yes the holding down of the start button for 5 sec's does power down the system :)

[Budfred]

Then check your power settings in BIOS to see what you have about autoshutdown. I don't remember where I have seen it in BIOS, but it would vary depending on your BIOS anyway, so just look around a bit....