Computer Not Powering Down

[makesus]

Hello all,

I have been having an odd problem with my PC lately and was hoping someone might have some insight. The computer is about five years old and only started having this problem around 6 months ago. When I shut down windows xp it turns off normally, but about 20 seconds later things start turning partially on. It's like some of the hardware is still being slightly powered and will never turn off unless I flip the switch on the power supply. The CPU and case fans, for example, all spin slowly. The lights on the graphics and network cards also stay on. There is a light on the case (I think for the hard drive? Picture of a cylinder next to it) that also blinks here and there. Another strange thing is a clicking noise coming through to the speakers after the computer shuts down, though this slowly fades. There is nothing being output on the monitors.

I have searched for a solution to this, but mostly just come across posts about the OS not completely turning off. I can't think of anything I might have changed to cause this problem (changed bios, installed new hardware), so I was thinking maybe some piece of hardware has come down with some troubles. At any rate, I'm at a loss here so any help would be much appreciated.

 

[mfenn]

Could be the motherboard or PSU. You can test the power supply by unplugging it from the motherboard and shorting the green wire to any of the black wires. While shorted, you the case fans should spin normally. If the fans continue to spin slowly once you remove the short, then the PSU is the culprit. Else I would suspect the motherboard.

Background:
In the ATX spec, the motherboard tells the PSU when to turn on. It does this by doing the equivalent of shorting the green wire to a black wire. That's why you can recreate the power on and off situation in this manner.

 

[makesus]

Thanks for the reply mfenn.

I'm not familiar with how to short the wires. Other than that I follow your logic and will have to try this when I get home (where there is, unfortunately, no access to the internet), once I figure out how of course.

 

[Googer]

Hello all,

I have been having an odd problem with my PC lately and was hoping someone might have some insight. The computer is about five years old and only started having this problem around 6 months ago. When I shut down windows xp it turns off normally, but about 20 seconds later things start turning partially on. It's like some of the hardware is still being slightly powered and will never turn off unless I flip the switch on the power supply. The CPU and case fans, for example, all spin slowly. The lights on the graphics and network cards also stay on. There is a light on the case (I think for the hard drive? Picture of a cylinder next to it) that also blinks here and there. Another strange thing is a clicking noise coming through to the speakers after the computer shuts down, though this slowly fades. There is nothing being output on the monitors.

I have searched for a solution to this, but mostly just come across posts about the OS not completely turning off. I can't think of anything I might have changed to cause this problem (changed bios, installed new hardware), so I was thinking maybe some piece of hardware has come down with some troubles. At any rate, I'm at a loss here so any help would be much appreciated.

How about making a youtube video of the problem so we can all get a better idea of your situation and then give you a better diagnosis.

For quicker shutdown, I would modify the HungAppTimeout value in your windows registry. I belive default is 30 seconds, you can change this to 20. However, the trade off is getting the unresponsive program message in the taskmanager a bit more frequently. But this isn't a big deal as you should just wait a while when you see it and let the os handle it.

EDIT:
I found this article for you. It should go ways in explaining this.
http://www.mydigitallife.info/2006/...00-windows-xp-windows-2003-and-windows-vista/

 

[mfenn]

Thanks for the reply mfenn.

I'm not familiar with how to short the wires. Other than that I follow your logic and will have to try this when I get home (where there is, unfortunately, no access to the internet), once I figure out how of course.

"Shorting" two wires simply means connecting them with low resistance (i.e. with another piece of wire). To short the wires you'll need a paper clip (or other similarly conductive piece of wire). Look at the ATX connector and identify the green and black wires. Then stick the ends of the unfolded paperclip into into the holes on the front of the connector corresponding to each wire that you identified.