I cant turn my Computer off

[h3ro]

Hallo,

I have a weird problem. I can cant turn my PC off. When I go to the start menu and select turn off it shuts down, but then start up again. Same happens if I press the off button on the actuall PC. The only way to turn it off for me is to hold the off button in for a few seconds. This is really really annoy me.

Any ideas?

Im running Vista.

[Elysia]

Do you mean that it starts to shutdown, but doesn't actually shutdown when you try to?
If that's the case, some application is probably stopping Windows. Perhaps try a 3rd party utility and make sure to force shutdown.

[h3ro]

No, it shuts down, but start up again. Asking the PC to turn off gives the effect of if I asked it to restart

[foxman]

It may be related to your motherboard. Maybe some wrong settings in the BIOS. Or maybe something else...

I couldn't help you more.

[lightatdawn]

I've had this problem before with very old mother boards, but not with any system that could boot Vista. Theres a couple of things you can try. First off, run windows update and update everything fully. Update all graphics and sound card drivers, especially drivers for any cards you've added to your system. Failing that, try disconnecting all cards (PCI, PCI-E, etc) and peripherials and try again.

In XP theres an option to reboot automatically on a system error. You may be experiencing a problem during shutdown which is causing you to reboot automatically instead. I've seen this before. I'm not sure if it's been changed in Vista, but in XP you Right Click My Computer->Properties->Advanced->Startup and Recovery->Settings. In the "System Failure" box, look for "Automatically restart". Uncheck this box. I'd try this first, updates second, and physically removing cards last. Failing any of these, it starts to be a guessing game.

*EDIT* Actually it could be one other thing. Your mobo may have a faulty battery or your BIOS could be corrupt. As a last resort, try replacing the battery and resetting the CMOS, then set defaults for the BIOS. Make sure you've unplugged your PS before going at it though.

[JFonseka]

This actually sounds like an edit to the registry by some prank program, by changing the shutdown value so it keeps restarting. But then again, with Vista's increased security, I find that hard to believe, unless he has disabled windows defender, UAC and etc.

[DavidP]

just unplug it from the wall :D

[h3ro]

Tried un-ticking the restart box and updating everything. Still shuts down and then reboot.

It is really weird, as it shuts down, stays off for 3-4 seconds and then starts up again.

[lightatdawn]

Then you're getting into a hardware thing unfortunately. Other than the hardware related fixes I mentioned, theres nothing else I can suggest. It's mostly a try-test-repeat methodolgy from here on in.

[Yarin]

Maybe a CPU meltdown occurred when you installed Vista, and now an undefined interrupt is taking place. :D

Actually, when I push the power button on my keyboard the computer will start back up too, only it'll wait for about 10 seconds first. But it goes fine with a menu shutdown. Weird