XP just restarts when turn off is clicked

[65Years]

Hello,
A friend is having a problem with his XP. He says that when he clicks Start > Turn off computer > Turn Off it just reboots. He said this happened some time ago and he was told to click here and click this (he doesn't remember) and it solved the problem. I am having trouble finding the solution so any help would be great. Thanks

 

[cmeagan656]

When your friend goes start ->shutdown have him change the "restart" selection to "shutdown" before he clicks OK. From then on "shutdown" will be the default option. That is until he restarts his machine after MS patching or software upgrades.

Cheers.

 

[65Years]

Thanks for the reply,,,I have a feeling that an old scanner he is using is causing the compatibility problem. As far as the restarting instead of shutdown he is clicking Start > Shut down computer... > and on the Turn Computer Off window that appears there is the choice of clicking 4 buttons, Stand By, Turn Off, Restart, or Cancel. He is clicking Turn Off and the machine restarts. I will have to ask him more about why/how he had this problem before and I will post here again anything I find out.

Thanks for the help.

 

[linney]

It could be anything that is causing this problem, who knows for sure whether it is the same as your friend had last time?

SHUTDOWN & RESTART TROUBLESHOOTING

http://aumha.org/win5/a/shtdwnxp.htm

Some general things to try.

See if System Restore will get you back to a restore point before your problem with Explorer.

Try Safe Mode (Do you have this problem in Safe Mode?).

Try running ChkDsk to check your drive for errors. Right click your Drive icon/ Properties/ Tools/ Error Checking.

Run the System File Checker program from the Run Box by typing.....Sfc /Scannow in it and have your XP CD handy.



To get further information about any error look in your Event viewer.

Look in the System or Application folder. You can get to the Event Viewer via right click My Computer icon and select Manage.

Any errors logged in the Event Viewer can be expanded by double clicking on the error line.

Take any event error I.D. number and search for it on these sites.

http://www.eventid.net/events.asp

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/support/ee/search.aspx

Also check any "Information" line that mentions "savedump" and you should find reference to "recovered from a bug check". This is the Stop Error that caused your problem.

You can also turn off "automatically restart after an error" so it will just halt at the fault and display the full Stop Error and blue screen.

Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties .
On the Advanced tab, click Settings under Startup and Recovery .
Click to clear the Automatically restart check box under System failure , and then click OK . The error message on a blue screen should remain on the screen so you can record the error information.

The XP-SP2 version of the Safe Mode options screen has an option to turn off automatically restart too.

http://www.winxptutor.com/eventlog.htm

 

[cmeagan656]

Sorry, I assumed he was using XP Pro not XP Home. The XP Pro shutdown options are in a dropdown box (log off username, shutdown, restart, standby, and hibernate). You select the one you want and then click OK. The other buttons are cancel and help.

Linney is right. It could be anything. Try his suggestions. For any issues I have I generally find at least one of his suggestions or links that is almost spot on. If not, they generally point me in the right direction.

Cheers.

 

[Jasen]

Often this is a power supply issue with these new ATX PSU's. Windows could be sending the proper shutdown command, but the PSU will shut off then come right back on again, simulating a reboot.
My wife's PC did this, she had a cheap PSU. I replaced the power supply and the PC shutdown correctly.