Member Avatar for buddylee614

Today i tried turning off my computer, everything went normal, it shutdown and everything then the lights went off. but about 5 seconds the lights began flicking on and off, and siginal where being sent to the monitor also (because the stat' light was turning on to orange), when i check the back of the computer i saw the fan was being turning on then going off, and so was the A,B,C,D lights.
It look like if the computer was getting surges, so i check the power cable and the outlets, i even change the voltage input and exchange the cord, none of these work. My PC won't turn off no more :cry: pooor Navi, some1 help mee..

  • 9 Contributors
  • 11 Replies
  • 343 Views
  • 5 Years Discussion Span
  • Latest Post Latest Post by caperjack

Dani AI

Generated

Short practical guide for the “won’t fully power off” symptom.

Symptoms like lights/fans cycling back on after Windows appears to shut down can come from a few different places. The experiences in this thread (for example , , ) show that a bad PSU is common, but it isn’t the only cause — motherboard wake/ACPI behaviour, front‑panel wiring, or an external device asserting a wake can produce the same result. Work top‑to‑bottom: isolate, reproduce, then replace.

Quick isolation steps you can do without opening Windows first:

  • Unplug every external device (network cable, USB hubs, printers, wireless adapters). Some NICs and USB devices can wake the system.
  • Boot to BIOS or a Linux live CD and perform a shutdown from there; if the machine still restarts the problem is hardware/BIOS related rather than a Windows driver.
  • With the case open and mains unplugged, visually inspect for loose standoffs touching the board, bulging capacitors, or scorch marks.

More specific tests and what to look for:

  • Front‑panel switch: remove the power‑switch header from the motherboard and use a brief stainless screwdriver short on the two pins to simulate the button. If behaviour changes the switch/cable/case is suspect.
  • If a new PSU didn’t fix it, measure the standby rail (5VSB) with a multimeter — it should be ~5.0V; large fluctuation indicates PSU or motherboard standby circuit failure.
  • On Windows, find wake sources with Administrator command prompt:
powercfg -lastwake
powercfg -devicequery wake_armed

Disable NIC/USB wake in Device Manager while testing.

Safety and next steps: always unplug mains before touching internals; do not open the PSU (dangerous voltages). If you’re not comfortable with multimeter work or shorting front‑panel pins, take the unit to a repair shop. If swapping in a known‑good PSU fixes it, buy a quality replacement; if the symptom survives a known good PSU and clean front‑panel wiring, the motherboard is the likely culprit.

Recommended Answers

All 11 Replies

Member Avatar for dcc

Unplug it for about two minutes and see what happens.

Member Avatar for RGPHNX

Hi buddylee614,
there's lots of possible causes for what you describe.
Basically there's a short somewhere in the system. :(
Probably the..
> power supply (going bad)
> on/off switch (going bad)
are the most likely causes.
There could be other causes also.
Hope this helps :)
RGPHNX

Member Avatar for dcc

Maybe a failure... but not a short. When to potentials (+ and - volatges) make accidetal contact, that's a short. By the way, what happened when you unpluged the unit?

Member Avatar for buddylee614

it turned out to be a short, my power supply is no good now... but i got a replacement :mrgreen:
i guess i should have saw that there was something wrong with it when i was having problems going into standby..

Member Avatar for RGPHNX

Hi buddylee614,
Glad you found the problem :)
GOOD LUCK !!!
RGPHNX

Member Avatar for AdrianJ

Hi buddylee614,
Glad you found the problem :)
GOOD LUCK !!!
RGPHNX

Hello, I have a very similar problem. I'm not sure what it could be really. I have tried changing the powersully and it does make a little bit of a difference. But...I plug in the computer and the light the computer has on the front goes crazy. It just flickers all the time. Then I hit the button to turn it on and it starts normally. It loads Windows and all but my mouse nor my keyboard work on it. Then I try and turn it off holding the button for 5 seconds...Windows shuts off but then the lights starts flickering again and the fan on the powersully is still on and all so it does not shut off. What do you guys think it might be? Any help would be great. Thanks!

Member Avatar for unzarjones

Responding to an old post hoping someone has info about this problem. My wife's pc has been refusing to turn off after Win Xp shuts down. The software is off but the hardware stays running. The HD and power lights are dimmer but stay on, as well as the fans. Happened right after the cable guy connected a new wireless D-link(although I thinks it's just coincidence). Couldn't find any changes in settings. Hardware failure? Will do some dusting and cable jiggling in the morning. Just concerned about viruses. Thks for any suggestions.

Hello, I have a very similar problem. I'm not sure what it could be really. I have tried changing the powersully and it does make a little bit of a difference. But...I plug in the computer and the light the computer has on the front goes crazy. It just flickers all the time. Then I hit the button to turn it on and it starts normally. It loads Windows and all but my mouse nor my keyboard work on it. Then I try and turn it off holding the button for 5 seconds...Windows shuts off but then the lights starts flickering again and the fan on the powersully is still on and all so it does not shut off. What do you guys think it might be? Any help would be great. Thanks!

Member Avatar for ProgrammersTalk

check the power button connection, power supply cable..

Member Avatar for jnaff2

whne i try to shut my computer off the tower won't shut off. even if i try to shut it off using the power button it won't shut off. anyone got some things i can try it would be greatly appprecieated. thanks jefd

Member Avatar for jkerr3741

I can't believe I finally found others with the same problem!
My other problem though is I know nothing about fixing computers on the inside with the hardware!
When you mention you repaired the power supply, are you talking about the box with the fan
or are you talking about the external power strips?

Thanks,

Member Avatar for caperjack

I can't believe I finally found others with the same problem!
My other problem though is I know nothing about fixing computers on the inside with the hardware!
When you mention you repaired the power supply, are you talking about the box with the fan
or are you talking about the external power strips?

Thanks,

hi, you posted to a thread that was started 5 yrs ago ,pleas start a new thread of your own explaining you problem ad a little info on your computer make and model and what operating system you are using ,thanks
click this .
http://www.daniweb.com/forums/newthread.php?do=newthread&f=123

Edited by caperjack because: n/a
Be a part of the DaniWeb community

We're a friendly, industry-focused community of developers, IT pros, digital marketers, and technology enthusiasts meeting, networking, learning, and sharing knowledge.