Machine will not power off

[Coxy01]

I have recently installed XP Pro, since doing so my machine does not power off using the power (on off) button on the tower, when i press it nothing happens?

 

[bcastner]

Use Control Panel, Power Options, and check that you have enable advanced power management features.

 

[sdlloyd]

Mine does that occasionally (DELL). Mine eventually works if you keep the button pressed for 10 secs..... but then again...

 

[ekimr]

Strangeley enough, we have 3 Dell's and they all do it on rare occassions.!

 

[bcastner]

Please remember that the power button is not an on/off switch like a light switch. It essentially signals the Operating System and BIOS of your intentions.

On many newer machines it is expected that you will initiate a shutdown from your Operating System, so that files and processes can be closed in an orderly fashion.

If you continue to hold the button down this sends a slightly more aggresive signal to the Operating System and BIOS, to shutdown now irrespective of the state of your files and processes that are open or active.

 

[linney]

While logged on as an Administrator, go to Control Panel/ Power Options/ "When I press the Power Button", make sure the option from the dropdown list is for Shutdown.

 

[mountainmike]

I had this problem after adding memory to a new XP system, going to 512Mb from 256Mb. To solve the problem I had to increase the size of the pagefile (swapfile).