Topic: PC refuses to shut Down

[David]

I tried to shut down about 2 hours ago and found the machine went into shutting down mode but would not turn off,in fact it started up again,I did notice that the light on the number lock key illimunated,

The only thing I have done today is use an external hard drive? I dont know if there is a link ?any thoughts ?

The only other sign of a problem was the fan in the psu went into overdrive suggesting overheating but that sorted itself out.

I have not used the drivers for the hard drive  ?

Any suggestions would be a help thanks   

[Camstop]

Try holding the power button i for over 5 seconds. 

[David]

Thanks camstop I did shut it down earlier this way and it did it again,then I shut it down using the same method and this time left it off for half an hour.

Have turned it back on now and just turned off in the normal way and this time at least,it has shut down properly.

Booted up again and so far so good,will have to keep my eye on things.

[Simon]

Holding down the power button to shut down, is quite brutal, and not advised on a regular basis, as it doesn't allow the computer to carry out it's usual shut down routine, or to save any settings that may have changed.  Does the external hard drive have a power switch, David?  If so, I would try powering the external drive off, before shutting the PC down.  On mine, it won't actually start if the external hard drive is powered on, so they can obviously have some sort of effect on starting up and shutting down.

[David]

Thanks Simon I had turned the hard drive off as I had finished using it earlier in the day and didn't need it on really.
I ran a scan just in case nothing showed up there,at present it is behaving normally but I have unplugged the hard drive as this at the moment could be the issue.I have been reading forums but have seen no warnings of these as they are just a drive after all.

The only thing I am not aware of is that I did not use the drivers from the disc supplied as windows used its own and found the hard drive.

I will see how it goes and if all is well from now I will have to reconnect the hard drive to see if the problem reoccurs

From what I have read these drivers are plug and play and as I did not install drivers there cannot be any software issues...well I dont think so
http://www.daniweb.com/forums/thread22819.html

[Simon]

If it's powered off, you shouldn't need to disconnect it as well.  Sounds like maybe something wasn't shutting down properly.  Did you have any other programs running at the time, perhaps something in the middle of a scan, or some work that hadn't been saved?

[David]

Yes I did Simon had a few web pages open and as a rule the PC would hibernate and thats what I thought it was doing but it would not wake up and I realised there was a problem.I often get called of for a while so its usual for the pc to go onto screensaver then hibernate....this time it didnt.

Maybe it isnt the hard drive but the timing is perfect and would point to it 

[Simon]

It could have been any number of things.  I would try forgetting it happened, and use things as you want to, and if it does happen again, it's a question of elimination.

[David]

Thanks Simon,went to turn it on this morning and its dead,fan is spinning but thats it,no lights no sound from the BIOS 

[Simon]

Is that with the new external drive disconnected?  I'm just wondering if somehow it's set itself to boot from the external drive?  I'm not too good with hardware stuff, but I expect Sandra or someone, will be along later.

[David]

It may be a coincidence Simon and Im treating it as just that at the moment.I did plug it in this morning though,and nothing I have tried to boot it without it agfain but its dead this time,I have Emailed PC world and awaiting a job number (cant take it in as it was bought online and they need to authorise a work sheet.

[Sandra]

Not a lot to go on to try and diagnose it David but I would remove the firewire card you put in yesterday and check that you didnt disturb the GFX card when fitting the firewire card. Check the memory sticks are seated too, but they should have given warning beeps if theyd come loose.

[David]

Thanks Sandra,slight confusion,the machine I ended up putting the hard drive on had a fire wire port so I did nt need to install a card.I have 3 machines.The main machine Acer had a fire wire port so I just plugged it in and that was that.

The confusion is that I needed and bought this to use with all machines (usb)
 Packard Bell......2nd machine   No Fire wire
Infinity (now spare) Firewire installed  (this is the machine I was going to take it from)

Then I have 2 lap tops

I wanted to store or transfer data from various machines .

So the state of play really is this.

On the Acer which I bought in July the firewire was fine,although the problems started soon after about a couple of hours.....
For the purpose of this post really you can dismiss all the detail except which applies to the Acer?

I am still treating this as a coincidence but had no problems before plugging in this drive.I did not use the drivers my system recognised the drive.

Thats it really...........not great at this but hope its cleared it a little

[Rik]

It would probably be cheaper to switch to a USB device, David, than add Firewire to each machine.

[David]

Yes Rik thats what I thought I was doing,as I thought the drive I had bought was USB.so will get one started shopping for one last night and like the idea of the small one which I can carry around with me when needed....I think they are called passport....

I have this one and it is too much hassle to return it so best to start again and get one from Amazon or an online retailer...