Trouble Shutting Down/Restarting/Sleep

[TierAufTier]

For the past several months I have been having an issue where my computer is unable to successfully shutdown, restart, or go to sleep. When I select any of these options it will go through the shutdown motions and get to a black screen. The HDD light will go off but the computer will sit at this black screen with the fans running for as long as I leave it there. I have updated any drivers I thought might be causing it but after booting the system in safe mode, the problem persists leading me to believe it might be a hardware issue. I have tested the RAM with no issues, but other than that I am unsure of where to start without just swapping out components. There are no errors in the Windows event log either.

This is Windows 7 Home.

Any ideas??

 

[Bubbaleone]

At some point in the recent past you may have inadvertently enabled a setting that is causing the conflict. Windows has built-in power management, you'll want to disable all power management in the BIOS.

Otherwise, the two fight with each other, and neither works properly. Motherboard manufacturers don't assume that everyone is using Windows, so many of these settings exist for non-Windows users.

Unless you're on an office/production network and need Wake on LAN, you're BIOS Power settings should look like this:

Setting in the BIOS Power section

After Power Failure - Stay Off
Wake on LAN from S5 - Stay Off
ACPI Suspend State - S3 State <----(Be sure this is S3)
Wake system from S5 - Disable

If the BIOS was already set like this, and/or the problem persists after making these changes, continue with the following procedure:

In Windows, open the Display Properties dialog box.

Click on Screen Saver; set to "None", click Apply.

Click the Power button; Click on Power Schemes; change all settings to "Never", click Apply.

Click on Advanced; set "When I press the power button on my computer" to "Shut down", click Apply.

Click on Hibernate; uncheck "Enable hibernation", click Apply.

Close all dialogs, reboot.

Test to see if the PC will shutdown and restart, normally, with these settings. If it does then turn back on ONE setting, reboot, and test to see the effect that ONE setting has. Repeat this until you duplicate the problem you're now experiencing. That setting will be the culprit.

 

[TierAufTier]

The BIOS settings were as you stated. I actually remember checking this long ago, just completely forgot to mention it. I tried all the various Windows Settings but nothing helped the issue.

I also noticed more so that usual that the time it takes to startup seems to be getting longer...It will take upwards of 2 minutes for the BIOS to display. Today when I went into the BIOS it was loading each screen line by line and would take 30 sec PER PAGE in the BIOS to load. I'm thinking maybe the BIOS is corrupted in some way? I could attempt to flash it to an updated version, but I'm a bit worried that in this state I might cause more damage. (Note: I'll probably try this anyway, because that's how I am!).

 

[Bubbaleone]

Before you try a re-flash, reset BIOS to default by removing the CMOS battery for 90 seconds, reinstall battery, reboot, and post back with result.

 

[TierAufTier]

I actually just replaced the battery because it was almost dead Reset all and no change. Going to flash tomorrow when I have some time.

 

[sm625]

Today when I went into the BIOS it was loading each screen line by line and would take 30 sec PER PAGE in the BIOS to load.

Can you try a different video card? If using IGP, then try using a video card.