System shutdown, why are there two different outcomes?

[MustISO]

On some machines, selecting Shutdown in windows turns the machine off, on other it just puts up a screen that says it's safe to cut the power. What determines which will happen. Of my 4 machines, two do it one way and two the other.

 

[sohcrates]

It can depend on a few things.

Whether or not your HAL is set to ACPI or Standard PC is one factor. Check device manager and you should be able to determine which one you have.

Also, i believe only ATX mobo's can power down by themselves.

 

[MustISO]

All of my motherboards are ATX so I'll have to check the ACPI. I generally don't run any power saving controls and I'm running Win2K pro on all machines if that matters.

Thanks for any help.

 

[sohcrates]

<< All of my motherboards are ATX so I'll have to check the ACPI. I generally don't run any power saving controls and I'm running Win2K pro on all machines if that matters.

Thanks for any help. >>




yeah, check your HAL then. If it says "standard pc" then that's why they're not shutting down. If it says ACPI, yet you're still not shutting down, then we may have to look further into this..

 

[NukemAll]

APM(Advanced Power Management) needs to be enabled in the power options in the control panel for non-ACPI, or ACPI-Disabled systems to automate power down.

 

[MisterNi]

<< APM(Advanced Power Management) needs to be enabled in the power options in the control panel for non-ACPI, or ACPI-Disabled systems to automate power down. >>



I was having the same problem, and the above solution solved it. Go to Control Panel -> Power Options and your APM tab and enable APM. And thanks NukemAll