shut down problem

[richard]

A thunderstorm was looming and I pulled the plug before shutting down
the computer. Now XP Pro will not shut down--it hangs. I tried a system
restore but it hung on the reboot. Any help MOST appreciated.

 

[Rich Barry]

Richard, you may have to enter the Bios and check to see if APCI is enabled.
Pulling the plug might have changed Bios
Settings. Also, here are some good troubleshooting sites
http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/shtdwnxp.php

http://www.windowsnetworking.com/articles_tutorials/Troubleshooting-Windows-Shutdown.html

 

[Guest]

Hello Richard, For future ref try holding the power button in for about 6
seconds and that has the same effect as unplugging just less the effort.

Thanks,
Peter Brown

 

[Phil Weldon]

'Peter Brown' wrote:
| Hello Richard, For future ref try holding the power button in for about 6
| seconds and that has the same effect as unplugging just less the effort.
_____

'holding the power button in for about 6 seconds' does NOT have the same
effect as unplugging. ESPECIALLY if your purpose is to avoid possible
damage caused by nearby lightning strikes.

The ATX power supply will still be connected to the power line.
The ATX power supply will still be providing standby power to the system.

In the case of 'A thunderstorm was looming' the sequence should be
shut down operating system
THEN
unplug the power cord
unplug the Internet connection
unplug the power cord for any device connected to the computer.

A soft power off is little or no protection.
And, by the way, holding the 'power button in for about 6 seconds' may or
may not be the way to remove operating power from the system, depending on
BIOS settings and the selection (for Windows XP) in the 'Advanced' tab of
'Power Options Properties' in the 'Control Panel'.

Mitigating conditions:
* you live in a dense urban area
* you live in the San Francisco Bay area
* you have surge/spike protection at the electrical service entrance
* you have very good surge/spike protection at the AC supply to the
computer system and all devices connected to the computer.

Phil Weldon


| Hello Richard, For future ref try holding the power button in for about 6
| seconds and that has the same effect as unplugging just less the effort.
|
| Thanks,
| Peter Brown
|
| "richard" wrote:
|
| > A thunderstorm was looming and I pulled the plug before shutting down
| > the computer. Now XP Pro will not shut down--it hangs. I tried a system
| > restore but it hung on the reboot. Any help MOST appreciated.
| >

 

[richard]

A thunderstorm was looming and I pulled the plug before shutting down
the computer. Now XP Pro will not shut down--it hangs. I tried a system
restore but it hung on the reboot. Any help MOST appreciated.

The problem may have been my pulling the plug, but I have had a few
power outages and windows recovered with no problem.

I suspect another culprit--I just installed a new version of Zone Alarm.
In order to see if that may be the problem, I attempted to uninstall it
via Add Remove Program. No luck--all sorts of messages--stop Service
Monitor, dlls missing. Try reinstalling==no luck here either--same
message about the service monitor. I am stuck on how to get this program
off my computer.

 

[Ken Blake, MVP]

Hello Richard, For future ref try holding the power button in for
about 6 seconds and that has the same effect as unplugging just less
the effort.

No, not at all true. He wanted to unplug because during a thunderstorm, the
computer is vulnerable to severe power surges cuased by a nearby lightning
strike. Powering off doesn't provide sufficient protection. The only real
protection is unplugging both the power line and the telephone or cable
line.

Of course, one should perform an orderly shutdown first, not just yank the
power cord, and that's presumably why he's having the problem.

 

[R.E Fernandez]

Hi,
that problems might have the followings causes:
a) an update of Windows XP on a old windows (need a clean installation)
b) if the xp installation was clean and you don't install thirds
software/driver yet, so the problem may be in your BIOS (no ACPI compatible)
or is only APM or need an update.
For to know if your bios is APM: right click on
MyPC/Administration/hardware/Device managment/Equipment/and look: if you see
"PC Estándar APM" in the menu see/show hide devices/ make sure the element
"NT ATM/Legazy Interfaz mode" don't have a red X; if yes must set the device
in Property/be able
if not must update your bios
c) If the problem (as in your case) come suddenly there is a driver non
compatible : find the problematic driver by selection
Note: if XP able the APM in a clean install, that is because the BIOS is not
apm compatible with ACPI, here the solution is update the BIOS
http://www.acpi.info/



saludos cordiales..!
regards....!
REFernandez
http://spaces.msn.com/reinaldoefernandezspain/?mkt=en-us (english)
http://spaces.msn.com/members/reinaldoefernandez/ (español)
http://eduardofernandez.bitacoras.com/ (español)

 

[richard]

A thunderstorm was looming and I pulled the plug before shutting down
the computer. Now XP Pro will not shut down--it hangs. I tried a system
restore but it hung on the reboot. Any help MOST appreciated.

Problem solved: pulling the plug was a red herring. The problem was
caused by the latest free version of Zone Alarm. Several other people
reported this on the ZA forum.
I had to go to safe mode and do a system restore and only then could I
shut down or reboot--and only then could I remove ZA.

Sometimes an upgrade should be called a downgrade.