Computer Science Canada Help! My laptop can't turn off! |
| Author: | isaiahk9 [ Sat Sep 27, 2008 12:00 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Help! My laptop can't turn off! |
Like the title explains, I currently have a laptop, where 80% of all my computing is done. A problem is that the laptop cannot be turned off with the form that one usually uses - Start, Shut down. The only way tot turn it off is to hold down the power button until it turns off, and that is not good for possibilities of data loss, decrease in computer's performance and the fact that every time the computer is turned on again, one must go through the lengthy disk checking. What I mean by not turning off is that when the computer is shut down, it merely restarts itself again. I've tried restoring my computer, only to realize that doing so only would mean the permanent loss of important programs. So, remembering that compsci is full of intelligent people with computer experience, I was wondering if anybody could solve my dilema. Thanx |
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| Author: | btiffin [ Sat Sep 27, 2008 12:26 pm ] |
| Post subject: | RE:Help! My laptop can\'t turn off! |
maybe... Get into the BIOS and see it there is something like an "auto restart on power fail" option or setting. Cheers, Brian |
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| Author: | isaiahk9 [ Sat Sep 27, 2008 12:51 pm ] |
| Post subject: | RE:Help! My laptop can\'t turn off! |
how do I get into the BIOS? I've done it before, but I cannot remember how. . . |
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| Author: | md [ Sat Sep 27, 2008 3:55 pm ] |
| Post subject: | RE:Help! My laptop can\'t turn off! |
why does start->shutdown not work? What happens when you try it? |
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| Author: | isaiahk9 [ Sat Sep 27, 2008 4:32 pm ] |
| Post subject: | RE:Help! My laptop can\'t turn off! |
I already explained, but let me repeat - when you try to go Start -> shutdown, the computer will turn off after saving settings and everything, but then immediately boot itself back up again in less than a second. |
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| Author: | BigBear [ Sat Sep 27, 2008 4:37 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Help! My laptop can't turn off! |
Well when your computer is off right before it turns itself on is the time to use the power button to power it off. Your data is saved and because it hasn't loaded anything it won't have to do a scandisk or anything. Not a soluion reallly just better than turning it off from windows. |
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| Author: | iluvchairs112 [ Sat Sep 27, 2008 6:30 pm ] |
| Post subject: | RE:Help! My laptop can\'t turn off! |
try restart instead of shut down? or any of the other possible "shut down" options like suspend, hibernate, etc. |
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| Author: | isaiahk9 [ Sat Sep 27, 2008 7:07 pm ] |
| Post subject: | RE:Help! My laptop can\'t turn off! |
BigBear - the computer is only shut off for less tha half a second, while holding the power button to shut it off manually takes 2 - 3 seconds. iluvchairs - tried all of those, on both user names. So, how do I access the BIOS? and my power cord got bent recently, but I don't think that's it because the laptop still gets power, and the glitch exists when unplugged. |
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| Author: | OneOffDriveByPoster [ Sun Sep 28, 2008 2:11 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: Help! My laptop can't turn off! |
Try holding the Ctrl key while Windows is shutting down. That should hold up the boot with a boot menu. You can turn off at that time. |
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| Author: | isaiahk9 [ Sun Sep 28, 2008 3:49 pm ] |
| Post subject: | RE:Help! My laptop can\'t turn off! |
thanx. but . . . can anybody think of a permanent solution to fix this? |
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| Author: | btiffin [ Sun Sep 28, 2008 5:51 pm ] |
| Post subject: | RE:Help! My laptop can\'t turn off! |
Getting to BIOS setting screen; If you watch closely during power-up the system should tell you. During power-up... Shift Insert is common... F1, Alt-F1, F10, F11, Ctrl-Alt-Insert D, B, ... Varies by manufacturer. I've seen a few and they are details I figure out then forget until required to figure it out again the next time. Google your machine type and "bios settings" ... should lead to a page with the keys required. Cheers |
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| Author: | isaiahk9 [ Sun Sep 28, 2008 7:39 pm ] |
| Post subject: | RE:Help! My laptop can\'t turn off! |
I got to the BIOS settings, but unfortunately there were no answers to be found - I checked every setting, ran the 2 long tests, and nothing. |
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| Author: | Insectoid [ Mon Sep 29, 2008 7:26 pm ] |
| Post subject: | RE:Help! My laptop can\'t turn off! |
It's a long shot, but perhaps you got some virus that swapped out the shutdown code on the button for the restart code? Try shutting down manually (i.e. type the shudown code int command prompt). Also, when the computer is booting up, it should shut down instantly when you hit the power button. This only works during the few seconds at the beginning of boot, before windows initializes. At least on my computer that happens. |
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| Author: | Tony [ Mon Sep 29, 2008 7:33 pm ] |
| Post subject: | RE:Help! My laptop can\'t turn off! |
Something to try -- boot into Linux (LiveCD) and shut down from there. If that works -- the problem is somewhere in your copy of Windows. If that doesn't work (if it also restarts) -- chances are it's a hardware issue. |
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| Author: | isaiahk9 [ Tue Sep 30, 2008 5:15 am ] |
| Post subject: | RE:Help! My laptop can\'t turn off! |
insectoid your guess of a virus might not be far off, as this problem has only begun in the last couple weeks Tony, from your synopsis, it's a hardware issue. So now what? would I have to see a computer technician to fix this? |
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| Author: | Insectoid [ Tue Sep 30, 2008 1:16 pm ] |
| Post subject: | RE:Help! My laptop can\'t turn off! |
If this were a PC, I would recommend switching out the power button for a different one and trying again, but as this is a laptop, it isn't that easy. It could be that the electrical signal from the OS that says "hey! break the circuit, no more power!" isn't working, but when you manually hit the button, it does cut power. Perhaps a wire jiggled loose? (This is all mere speculation on how manual VS OS commanded shutdown works. I could be, and likely am, completely wrong.) |
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| Author: | S_Grimm [ Wed Oct 01, 2008 10:09 am ] |
| Post subject: | RE:Help! My laptop can\'t turn off! |
Did u try tony's suggestion of Linux? It might not be hardware |
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| Author: | Clayton [ Wed Oct 01, 2008 8:35 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: RE:Help! My laptop can\'t turn off! |
AV wrote: Did u try tony's suggestion of Linux? It might not be hardware isaiahk9 @ Tue Sep 30, 2008 5:15 am wrote: insectoid your guess of a virus might not be far off, as this problem has only begun in the last couple weeks
Tony, from your synopsis, it's a hardware issue. So now what? would I have to see a computer technician to fix this? Reading is tech. |
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| Author: | Pockets [ Mon Oct 06, 2008 10:02 am ] |
| Post subject: | RE:Help! My laptop can\'t turn off! |
Have you tried disconnecting the battery, plugging it in, and shutting it down that way? |
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| Author: | andrew. [ Tue Oct 07, 2008 7:53 pm ] |
| Post subject: | RE:Help! My laptop can\'t turn off! |
If you still have the warranty on it, have it checked out by the technicians. If it really is a hardware problem, there is not much you can do about it because it's a laptop. |
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| Author: | isaiahk9 [ Wed Oct 08, 2008 6:28 am ] |
| Post subject: | RE:Help! My laptop can\'t turn off! |
No I didn't (and probably can't) try Linux. Clayton - yeah, I guess. Pockets - yeah that would work, but I think that is even worse for the computer. andrew - I think the warranty is not still on it. Oh! And it is much more likely to be a virus in my mind for 2 reasons : 1. Now my computer cannot restore itself to anytime past the last 2 days. 2. All of the USB ports will sometimes stop functioning. 3. While looking in the laptop's D Drive, I saw a folder that I had never noticed before - if was named : ee49a4342dc249a2844ab1522c44fb In it were two folders : i386 amd64 And in those folders were application extensions, and security catalogs (7 in each folder), with nonsensical names like : filterpipelineprintproc.dll xpssvcs.dll msxpsdrv Are these files supposed to be here? Like I said, I've never noticed them before. And they were created on september 26th . . . about the same time the laptop stopped working . . . |
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| Author: | andrew. [ Wed Oct 08, 2008 6:11 pm ] |
| Post subject: | RE:Help! My laptop can\'t turn off! |
My Windows HDD has folders with random letters and numbers like that, but only have an update exe in it. It actually may be authentic, but I don't know. The files you wrote are supposed to be MS Windows files, but a lot of the time if they are out of the WINDOWS folder, they are viruses masquerading as Windows files. You should download Avast or AVG antivirus and do a scan. |
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| Author: | Insectoid [ Wed Oct 08, 2008 7:06 pm ] |
| Post subject: | RE:Help! My laptop can\'t turn off! |
Well, files with names like that are generally viruses. They give themselves random names (specifically, *.dll's) so that antivirus programs don't catch them as easily. Commonly used by Smitfraud and virtumonde malware. Yeah, you might want to get rid of those. There's a great malware removal tutorial on majorgeeks.com. |
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| Author: | Tony [ Wed Oct 08, 2008 7:16 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: RE:Help! My laptop can\'t turn off! |
insectoid @ Wed Oct 08, 2008 7:06 pm wrote: They give themselves random names (specifically, *.dll's) so that antivirus programs don't catch them as easily.
filename choices are usually to confuse users. if a program wants to hide from other programs, it would use a rootkit (and then you don't even get to see a file name). |
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| Author: | Insectoid [ Wed Oct 08, 2008 7:24 pm ] |
| Post subject: | RE:Help! My laptop can\'t turn off! |
From what I've seen, many malware will create multiple copies of themselves with randomly named dlls. This makes them difficult to eliminate, as they are difficult for antivirus programs to find and when one copy is deleted, the other copies will generate a new copy with a new randomly named dll. Confusing the user is the easy part, confusing the antivirus is a bit more difficult. Rootkit? That's a new one to me. I'll look it up. |
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| Author: | [Gandalf] [ Wed Oct 08, 2008 7:36 pm ] |
| Post subject: | RE:Help! My laptop can\'t turn off! |
Keep in mind that having hexadecimal folder names on your main HDD is normal for Windows. (At least I hope it is, because my comps have them.)  Only difference is that mine contains a random stray log file, not some dlls, which could be more dangerous.
Edit: I think it has something to do with Windows Update? Just guessing here. Look into it before assuming you have malware. |
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| Author: | isaiahk9 [ Wed Oct 08, 2008 7:43 pm ] |
| Post subject: | RE:Help! My laptop can\'t turn off! |
Well, I just ran a AGV-Anti Virus scan on the suspicious folder, and nothing came up. Should I do another scan with a different program? If so, what one - eg. Avast, RegClean, etc. ? |
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| Author: | Insectoid [ Wed Oct 08, 2008 8:00 pm ] |
| Post subject: | RE:Help! My laptop can\'t turn off! |
Don't just scan the folder, scan your whole computer. Look at the malware removal guide on majorgeeks.com. It goes through multiple steps and programs that remove all kinds of malware. Sure, it takes a while, but if you do EVERY STEP, your computer should come out clean. |
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| Author: | Tony [ Wed Oct 08, 2008 8:02 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Re: RE:Help! My laptop can\'t turn off! |
isaiahk9 @ Wed Oct 08, 2008 7:43 pm wrote: Virus scan on the suspicious folder
if it's suspected that there's malware on the system, it is generally a good idea to do a system wide scan. AVG is a good start. |
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| Author: | isaiahk9 [ Wed Oct 08, 2008 8:08 pm ] |
| Post subject: | RE:Help! My laptop can\'t turn off! |
k, will try that now. approximate time for it is several hours, so I'll get back with a reply tomorrow. thanx |
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| Author: | isaiahk9 [ Thu Oct 09, 2008 4:15 pm ] |
| Post subject: | RE:Help! My laptop can\'t turn off! |
So, when I checked the computer the scan had finished and emitted no results. Any ideas now? I'm now sure it's not a hardware bug by the way. |
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| Author: | md [ Thu Oct 09, 2008 4:46 pm ] |
| Post subject: | RE:Help! My laptop can\'t turn off! |
Install linux; problem solved if it's software-related. |
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| Author: | isaiahk9 [ Thu Oct 09, 2008 5:10 pm ] |
| Post subject: | RE:Help! My laptop can\'t turn off! |
I'll get on that. |
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| Author: | isaiahk9 [ Wed Oct 15, 2008 4:45 pm ] |
| Post subject: | RE:Help! My laptop can\'t turn off! |
OK, I'm back. I didn't know what form of Linux to get, so I haven't downloaded that yet (is it free?). So what type of Linux do I want? Instead, I used Insectoid's advice and went to the website he recommended, and from there got the system "RegClean". Now, while AVG didn't come up with anything in the scan, RegClean did come up with something. 646 somethings. Yeah . . . So, some of it is just things like unused shortcuts, but some might be serious. It automatically repaired 3 (I don't know which) of the "problems" for me, but for more, I need to pay ($), which I would rather not. So it lets me see the result of the scan, so I know that I have : 77 ActiveX, OLE, and COM problems 59 Add/Remove Programs problems 9 Application Paths problems 293 File Associations problems 91 History/MRU problems 86 Invalid Shortcut problems 26 Shared Files problems 2 User settings problems So now what? Unless somebody knows for sure which of these sections my current problems fall under, I'm lost. Should I get Linux(which one)? Or something else? thanx |
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| Author: | md [ Wed Oct 15, 2008 6:10 pm ] |
| Post subject: | RE:Help! My laptop can\'t turn off! |
choose a Linux distribution, then go to that site and follow the (always very well thought out) install guide. Since you are a new user you'd probably benefit from Ubuntu. |
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| Author: | isaiahk9 [ Thu Oct 16, 2008 4:50 am ] |
| Post subject: | RE:Help! My laptop can\'t turn off! |
Okay. I'll get on that, thanx. |
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| Author: | ecookman [ Thu Oct 16, 2008 7:50 am ] |
| Post subject: | RE:Help! My laptop can\'t turn off! |
maby not did you try turining it off then once it shuts down removing the battery or letting the battery run dry a cause of this could be that the power button is asigned as rerstart you have to go into the system settings to change this usually under power options those are the only things i can think of  |
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| Author: | isaiahk9 [ Thu Oct 16, 2008 10:21 am ] |
| Post subject: | RE:Help! My laptop can\'t turn off! |
1. I can't turn it off in the first place, so how am I supposed to turn off the computer and take out the battery? 2. Letting the battery run dry doesn't work. 3. Settings were the first thing I tried. Oh, and my classmate wants to send hate-mail to everyone so : From Joey : i hate you. |
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| Author: | isaiahk9 [ Thu Oct 16, 2008 10:23 am ] |
| Post subject: | RE:Help! My laptop can\'t turn off! |
sorry on account of Joey. He added it when I wasn't looking. |
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| Author: | isaiahk9 [ Sat Oct 18, 2008 10:23 am ] |
| Post subject: | RE:Help! My laptop can\'t turn off! |
So, if I intall Ubuntu it will fix my laptop? For sure? For free? |
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| Author: | md [ Sat Oct 18, 2008 11:38 am ] |
| Post subject: | RE:Help! My laptop can\'t turn off! |
No, there is no guaruntee that it is a software problem which is why it was recommended that you boot into a LiveCD first (which is linux on a CD; doesn't touch your hard drive at all). If shutting down works from the livecd then it's definitely a windows problem and linux will solve it. Otherwise it's a hardware problem and linux won't solve it. |
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| Author: | isaiahk9 [ Sun Oct 19, 2008 7:16 am ] |
| Post subject: | RE:Help! My laptop can\'t turn off! |
K, well I know its a software problem, so I'll get on that, thanx. |
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