Unable to shut down completely. some hardware is persistently stays on

I am aware that this problem is not unique, and read dozens of posts on this forum, on Microsoft forums, and on the web before posting this.

This is a new Windows 7 Pro SP1 installation of two weeks ago, and am unable to shut down completely. At installation it worked fine and then one of the Microsoft updates messed it up and don't know how to correct it. Have been working on this problem for the past ten days, on and off but without success, so I am posting this with all the pertinent info.

What is happening is that at shutdown, the fan (only one is installed), the shut down button, and the USB hub & ports remain alive. The PSU is off.

This is definitely a Windows 7 problem because I also use Linux Xubuntu 14.04 and this shuts down without problems.

Hardware:
Starting with the motherboard BIOS, all settings are at default, with the exception of disabling the 3.5 floppy drive, and the boot on logo. Please see the three uploaded images for the BIOS default power settings.

Software:
1. Set Windows power options to 'balanced' default but disabled computer sleep and monitor shutdown.
2. Unchecked all power management settings in device manager. This includes all (11) HID compliant devices, IEEE 1394 Bus Host controller, (DWA-130 USB Wifi dongle) Wireless Microsoft 800 Keyboard, Logitech Mouse, and all (7) USB Root Hubs.
3. No errors in the Event Viewer, except a warning about WLAN shutting down successfully.
4. No driverless hardware in the Device manager, everything functions.

Perhaps someone can suggest some additional possibilities?

One thing, the fan can't be going if the PSU is off. Your PSU is still going if your fan is going. == If you think it is a Windows 7 problem, shut down the PC and boot again. Hold down the F8 key and that should bring you to a menu, "Last known good configuration". Select that and see if it helps. == Also you can try to stop everything running in the background. Check this tutorial. Services - Start or Disable Let us know how things go.

bigmck, thanks for the reply. You are correct about the PSU. It's only 8 weeks old and it was so quiet that I had to disconnect the case fan to be sure that it's on. I am sure it's a Win7 problem because if it would be hardware, Linux would have the same problem. Also, this problem is so old (+7 days) that the "Last known good configuration" is the same as the regular boot configuration. Notwithstanding, I don't know which is the proper BIOS power settings (see my uploaded images)

My services are configured according to Black Viper's list. But there is one error in the Black Viper services list. The WiFi adapter service, "WLAN AutoConfig" should be set to automatic and not manual. I use WiFi for a desktop. The result was very nice. There Event Viewer was empty except one warning caused by Avast at shutdown. (When testing, before restart I clear the Even Viewer lists.)

Hi torchwood, (personally I prefer Dr Who) . The USB hub was removed several days ago as I keep testing. Also tried High Power plan with modified settings, but so far nothing helped. The three power plans only differ by the default settings. The USB is always to be shut down.

I might have missed the detail, is the usb hub an AC-powered hub? If yes, I have the same problem until I put an ON/OFF toggle switch [froim Walmart] on the usb hub. If I turn the Walmart switch to off, the usb hub becomes like any other normal non-AC-powered usb hub and "powers down" when the computer powers down. Also, I noticed, even with the computer powered down, if the Walmart switch is ON, usb hub remains on [ac-powered], and all devices plugged into said usb hub also remains on.
ps: My Walmarts no longer carry these switches, you might have to go something like ACE Hardware.

ineuw said:

bigmck, thanks for the reply. You are correct about the PSU. It's only 8 weeks old and it was so quiet that I had to disconnect the case fan to be sure that it's on. I am sure it's a Win7 problem because if it would be hardware, Linux would have the same problem. Also, this problem is so old (+7 days) that the "Last known good configuration" is the same as the regular boot configuration. Notwithstanding, I don't know which is the proper BIOS power settings (see my uploaded images)

My services are configured according to Black Viper's list. But there is one error in the Black Viper services list. The WiFi adapter service, "WLAN AutoConfig" should be set to automatic and not manual. I use WiFi for a desktop. The result was very nice. There Event Viewer was empty except one warning caused by Avast at shutdown. (When testing, before restart I clear the Even Viewer lists.)

I don't know what Black Viper is, but you need to turn everything off that is running in the background and see if it shuts down. If it shuts down then, you turn them on one at a time and that way you can find the problem.

The problem was solved thirty minutes ago. It was one of the hidden devices in the Device Manager, something I didn't know existed until yesterday.

I attempted using Safe Mode several times, I can activate it, but it doesn't even shut down. It just hangs, so I abandoned that. I make a daily Macrium System mirror backup and restored Friday's version but Safe Mode doesn't shut down in that version either. No matter, this posted problem is solved.

The Black Wiper website is a source for a list of recommended Windows services at startup. It is listed in the tutorial link of your first post. The list display is very versatile. It permits the hiding of the columns so I selected the OS service names with their recommended state and created a windows batch file with the output going to a text file. From this output file, discovered which services don't exist and which are denied access, (the ones that were already running). This cleared the errors in the Event Viewer, except the warnings for two open Registry links. One for Avast, and the other is Google Drive.

I hope this helps someone in the forum .

Hopefully understanding the usage of Macrium Reflect by the thread starter:
Over here, I use Wise AutoShutdown utility to "make" the computer shutdown when the backup has long since finished. Before I leave home, I turn off the printer and monitor.