Power button on Start Menu

[Pete]

On clicking the power button (circle with a small vertical line at top) next
to Start Search box on the Start Menu my screen goes blank but the machine
remains on with quite a lot of hard disk activity. I cannot make the screen
come back to life and the only option I have is to hit the reboot by using
the reset button on the computer (the main power button on the machine does
nothing when pressed).

Does clicking the power button put the computer to sleep? If so, why am I
not able to wake it up?

ACPI in BIOS is set to S1&S3 if this is of any relevance.

 

[Marco Desloovere]

On clicking the power button (circle with a small vertical line at top) next
to Start Search box on the Start Menu my screen goes blank but the machine
remains on with quite a lot of hard disk activity. I cannot make the screen
come back to life and the only option I have is to hit the reboot by using
the reset button on the computer (the main power button on the machine does
nothing when pressed).

Does clicking the power button put the computer to sleep? If so, why am I
not able to wake it up?

ACPI in BIOS is set to S1&S3 if this is of any relevance.

I suspect that this power button is set to hibernation or hybrid sleep.
Check the power options in the control panel to make sure.
If that should be the case, then that disk activity means that Vista is
writing the state of your PC to a file on disk. Pressing reset at that
critical moment is *not* a good idea at all.

Hibernation:
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Wi...5d-0304-4af1-b135-6bf6c124dc111033.mspx#EHIAC

Hybrid sleep:
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Wi...5d-0304-4af1-b135-6bf6c124dc111033.mspx#EQJAC

Marco

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

Pete

If that button on the start menu appears to be a yellowish/brown color, then
it is set to sleep/hibernate. You can set the option to power off in the the
Power options in Control Panel. This will turn the button to a dark red
color.

 

[Pete]

The power button is set to Shut Down but its color is yellowish/brown and
the machine does not shut down! I have changed it to Sleep, Hibernate and
Do Nothing and saved the changes but the button color remains the same in
each case.

Pete

 

[Marco Desloovere]

The power button is set to Shut Down but its color is yellowish/brown and
the machine does not shut down! I have changed it to Sleep, Hibernate and
Do Nothing and saved the changes but the button color remains the same in
each case.

You must change the setting of the power button in the *Start* menu, not
the hardware power button.
They are two totally different things.

Read this:
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Wi...5d-0304-4af1-b135-6bf6c124dc111033.mspx#EIEAC

Marco

 

[Pete]

I changed the setting via Control Panel>Power Options>Choose What Power
Button Do. On clicking this I am given settings options for "When I Press
the power button" and "When I press the sleep button". Is this not how to
change the setting? If not, how do I change the setting in the Start menu?

I had selected "Do Nothing" for the power button but when I clicked it on
the Start Menu I got the same result as when it was set to Shut Down -
screen went blank but the hard disk kept working away. After about 10
minutes I got the Blue Screen saying:

"A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent
damage to your computer
DRIVER_POWER-STATE-FAILURE
If this is the first time you have seen this stop error, restart your
computer ............"

On restarting I was told that the problem was caused by Nvidia nForce
Networking Controller and that I should install the latest drivers - but
they are the latest drivers, so either this is nonsense or the nForce
drivers are no good.

 

[Marco Desloovere]

I changed the setting via Control Panel>Power Options>Choose What Power
Button Do. On clicking this I am given settings options for "When I Press
the power button" and "When I press the sleep button". Is this not how to
change the setting? If not, how do I change the setting in the Start menu?

All the information is listed in that link I posted in my previous post.
Why didn't you follow the instructions?
Here is that link again:
http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Wi...5d-0304-4af1-b135-6bf6c124dc111033.mspx#EIEAC

Marco

 

[Ronnie Vernon MVP]

Pete

You need to go to Control Panel/Power Options. Click Change Plan Settings in
the power plan you have selected.

On the next screen, select Changed Advanced Power Settings. Expand Power
Buttons and Lid. Expand Start Menu Power Button. Click the Settings: drop
down menu and select the Shutdown option. Apply/OK.