Laptop will not fully power off

[zweeks]

Laptop will not turn off when I tell it to shut down. The operating system seems to shut down, but the computer itself stays on (case lights and fan are still active) and can only be turned off by holding the power button for 4 seconds. I have tried everything short of re-installing the OS - which I cannot do because of the non-transferable programs I have on this laptop.
It is a Dell Vostro 3450 running Windows 7 Professional 64-bit.
Please help.

 

[pRUSSIANq]

right click on taskbar and choose properties , then choose the start menu tab then where it says power button action choose shut down

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Hello zweeks, welcome to Seven Forums!


Have a look at this first tutorial linked below to see if there are some factory installed progs/apps that start when the PC is started that may be causing this issue for you and be sure to post back with any further questions you may have and to keep us informed.

Change, Add, or Remove Startup Programs in Windows 7


How to Free Up and Recover Hard Drive Space

How to Speed Up / Optimize the Performance of Windows 7

​

 

[zweeks]

I tried adjusting the settings of the power button, but that didn't solve the problem (the problem exists when selecting shutdown from the menu, not from trying to shut down using the power button).
I am currently re-installing all device drivers I could find on the Dell Support website, as directed by the Win 7 Optimization page sent to me. I will update if that works.

 

[titimoi]

Any luck you manage to solve the problem ? I got the exact same on my vostro 3450 too

 

[pebbly]

Hi titimoi,Welcome to the forums, Read post #2 above

 

[titimoi]

Hi, I'm not sure you got the problem, Yes we do shutdown the computer (no hibernation or stuff like that) but the problem is I guess hardware.. or at least driver related.. It seems to be specific to the vostro, I'll upgrade my Bios firmware if a more recent appears to exist.
I manage to get the computer fully powered off twice, as I changed the key


HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\servic es\pciide

start value from 3 to 0, but then it kept not fully power off again.. don't know if it is related..

 

[pebbly]

Hi titimoi, Very sorry I misunderstood you ,The latest bios available is dated 20-02-12 Drivers and Downloads | Dell [United States] maybe this will fix the problem I can not find any information on this new bios release also try updating the chipset driver to the latest version

 

[titimoi]

I did the upgrade with no luck.. I figured out that the problem comes from the HDD that I had before as first device to boot on that I now have added to have some space (it takes place in a caddy placed in the optical drive slot)

I ran into troubles while installing some drivers and ended with blue screens without other issue than reinstalling everything. While I tried to shutdwn the pc 3 or 4 times with only the SSD, I had no problem, and as soon as I pluged the HDD, I got the shutdown problem again.. The BIOS isn't very helpful as there are only few options.. no wakeup by sata or anything that could be disabled to help me..

 

[titimoi]

I don't know why, I didn't change anything since but now it shuts down everrytime without any problem..

 

[superburrito]

Hello titimoi, Can you recall anything in particular you changed or did in order to fix that? I have the same problem. No shut down. Hibernation stucks the computer, and only reset seems to briefly turn off the motherboard. I tried updating everything from driver to BIOS, but no luck...

Anything you can share will be appreciated!!

 

[titimoi]

Well, I don't remember why I said it was fixed because it is not fixed at all.. and I still live with..