Not a problem, Dell shuts down faster using the POWER OFF button

[Guest]

this article is for 2000 but, I assume XP has a similar feature.

Power button on ACPI computer may force an emergency shutdown
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;297150

 

[Test Man]

Hi.
This is not a problem (in fact, it's good that it happens!), but just
wanted to understand why on a Dell machine when you press the POWER OFF
button, Windows shuts down a lot faster than it does when you go to Start,
Turn Off Computer, Turn Off?
I have a Dell P4 3.06GHz with HyperThreading, 512MB RAM, Intel integrated
graphics card, Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 2.

 

[Kevin]

You should be using the shutdown procedure not just hitting the power
button. Don't you get tired of seeing the "Windows was not shut down
properly" error message on start up?

 

[Incognitus]

I've always used the power button, of course I first went to Control Panel |
Power options | advanced and chose that option. I see no error message as
you decribe.

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Test Man.

The hardware power-off button does not give WinXP time to "put away its
toys" and do any necessary "housekeeping". Whether it is a problem in any
particular case depends on what happened and was happening just before you
hit the switch. If you've closed all open files and have no pending writes
to your hard drive, there may be no penalty for the abrupt loss of power.
So far as the computer is concerned, it's just about like your local
electrical utility had killed the power to your house - or a car hit a power
pole near you.

If you are using NTFS, you are much less likely to have a problem after such
an abrupt power-off. NTFS is a "journaling" file system. I'm no expert,
but explanations I've read say that, before NTFS deletes the old version of
a copied or updated file, it first writes the new version and verifies it.
So, even if you lose power in the middle of a such an operation, there is at
least one good copy on the drive. The FAT file system doesn't do this, so,
"in the old days", we were much more likely to need Chkdsk or ScanDisk after
an abrupt shutdown. Still, it's not a good idea to abruptly "pull the plug"
if it's not necessary.

Perhaps your style of using WinXP and ending each session makes power-down a
non-issue. If not, then maybe you've just been lucky thus far and will have
a problem at some point in the future.

WinXP is much more robust than prior versions of Windows and usually can
recover from abrupt power-down. Still, it's better practice to use the
Start | Turn Off Computer | Turn Off procedure. It's cheap insurance and a
good habit to form.

RC

 

[Torgeir Bakken \(MVP\)]

Hi, Test Man.

The hardware power-off button does not give WinXP time to "put
away its toys" and do any necessary "housekeeping".

Hi

If the computer supports ACPI, this is not always correct. If I
push the power-off button on my computer, I get a normal OS shutdown
(as if I would have used the OS shutdown menu). I need to hold the
button pressed in for 7-10 seconds to get a "real" abrupt power-off.

 

[Ken Blake]

In

Hi

If the computer supports ACPI, this is not always correct. If I
push the power-off button on my computer, I get a normal OS
shutdown
(as if I would have used the OS shutdown menu). I need to hold
the
button pressed in for 7-10 seconds to get a "real" abrupt
power-off.

That's assuming you have it set to do that on the Advanced tab of
Control Panel | Power Options.

 

[Richard Urban]

Maybe you are placing the computer into "suspend/hibernate" mode. This is
not a shutdown, per se, and can NOT be used when you are asked to reboot
after installing a new program or update.

--

Regards:

Richard Urban

aka Crusty (-: Old B@stard

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Torgeir, and Ken.

My computer's BIOS lets me set the "Soft-Off by PBTN" to "Instant Off" or
"Delay 4 Second". My understanding is that this is really just protection
from my turning it off unintentionally by bumping the power switch
accidentally. Only by holding it in for several seconds can I convince the
computer that I really meant to turn it off. And THEN it does an abrupt
power-off when time's up.

But that's in the hardware, not in Windows.

In WinXP SP2, Control Panel | Power Options | Advanced tab, under Power
Buttons, says "When I press the power button on my computer:" - and the
dropdown list offers these 4 options:
Do nothing
Ask me what to do
Stand by
Shut down

Nothing there about any delay. My mobo is a 64-bit version only 3 months
old, so it does support ACPI.

I still think that if the OP hasn't had problems from just hitting the Off
switch, it's because there have been no hard disk writes or other critical
activities in process at the time.

But I'm an accountant, not a techie of any kind, so corrections are
welcomed. Maybe I'll learn something, too. ;^)

RC

 

[Ken Blake]

In

Hi, Torgeir, and Ken.

In WinXP SP2, Control Panel | Power Options | Advanced tab,
under
Power Buttons, says "When I press the power button on my
computer:" -
and the dropdown list offers these 4 options:
Do nothing
Ask me what to do
Stand by
Shut down

RC, the choice "Shut down" in Power Options makes the power off
switch operate exactly like pressing Start | Turn off Computer |
Turn off (assuming that ACPI support is present). Whether the OP
has that choice set that way or not, I of course don't know, but
it's possible; I wasn't trying to claim that he did, just to
clarify Togeir's point that pressing the power switch can
initiate a normal shutdown.

Nothing there about any delay. My mobo is a 64-bit version
only 3
months old, so it does support ACPI.

I still think that if the OP hasn't had problems from just
hitting
the Off switch, it's because there have been no hard disk
writes or
other critical activities in process at the time.

It's also possible that he doesn't have it set that way, and what
you suspect is true (its working faster than a normal shutdown
certainly tends to support your view).

By the way, I recommend setting the Power options choice to "Shut
down" to protect against someone's accidentally pressing it.

 

[Incognitus]

No, I know the difference between shutdown and "suspend/hibernate", in fact,
hibernate is disabled. I disagree, it IS a normal shutdown, per se, says so
(Windows is now shutting down) on the shutdown screen. It's not true that it
can't be used when asked to reboot after a new program install or update,
I've used it for both for the last four years, this is a dual boot, two
different OS on two separate HDD and works the same on both.

 

[Alex Nichol]

If the computer supports ACPI, this is not always correct. If I
push the power-off button on my computer, I get a normal OS shutdown
(as if I would have used the OS shutdown menu). I need to hold the
button pressed in for 7-10 seconds to get a "real" abrupt power-off.

But that needs to be set in Power Options, Advanced, as the selection in
'When I push the Power button' - Shut down

 

[Torgeir Bakken \(MVP\)]

Torgeir Bakken (MVP) wrote:




But that needs to be set in Power Options, Advanced, as the selection
in 'When I push the Power button' - Shut down

Yes, that is why I wrote "..., this is not always correct.", because
it depends on your configuration.

 

[Test Man]

I never get that error on XP at all, that's why I thought I'd ask cos I
thought it might be shutting down Windows before apps have had a chance to
save data.

 

[Test Man]

Thanks for the article, this seems to make perfect sense.

Most of the time I shut down all running apps manually before shutting down
so using the Power Off button shouldn't mess things up with unsaved data, it
would seem.

It might prove useful for some apps that refuse to quit (Roxio Drag-To-Disc
System Tray applet from Easy CD/DVD Creator 6 being one annoying example)
and so holding up shutdown.

 

[Test Man]

My machine was set up by Dell so all the options you have mentioned are set
already (Shutdown on Power button press). So if I press the button, Windows
shuts down. If I go to Start, Turn Off Computer, Turn Off, Windows shuts
down. It's just that I have noticed that if I use the button, Windows shuts
down faster. I think the explanation by "anon" (top of thread underneath
mine):

"this article is for 2000 but, I assume XP has a similar feature.

Power button on ACPI computer may force an emergency shutdown
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;297150"

explains why.

 

[Incognitus]

Using the power button as you described, you should briefly see a message
'saving your settings' then 'Windows is shutting down'. Mine shuts down in
about 5 seconds using the power button and maybe 2 seconds longer using the
start menu.

I you ever lock up for any reason and the power button is the only option,
then it's suggested holding in the power button for 5 seconds or so until
the machine shuts off, then upon reboot chkdsk will run.

 

[Test Man]

Yeah, I do get that message and yes it does seem to be slightly quicker
using the power button instead of the Start Menu. Quite interesting so I
thought I'd ask what the difference is cos it's awfully more convenient to
just press the Power button instead of going through the Start Menu,
especially as it does seem to shut down the machine properly, albeit a bit
quicker.

I knew about the 5 sec hold to cut the power (instead of shutting the
machine down), but that said, my machine has never run chkdsk on reboot. Is
there an option to enable it? Usually I have to resort to this last-resort
option when an app like Roxio's Drag-To-Disc from Easy CD/DVD Creator 6
refuses to stop it's own process (and so hangs the whole shutdown
procedure).