x15 R1, turned off, USB ports still on?

Question

So I recently purchased an Alienware x15 R1, and with this one exception I will explain below, have had a great experience thus far. I have had an Alienware 17 R5 for a few years now, and it has been an excellent laptop as well. My wife and I use these two laptops together when we play games, or if we are doing our own thing online, and while we are home, they are normally on an equipment shelf hooked up to our big screen TVs so that we can sit in our recliners and so what we do in maximum comfort. My issue is that with my x15 R1 (running Windows 11), the USB ports stay powered on even when the laptop is shut off (it remains plugged into the power supply). As a result, my USB-powered cooling fan pad, my wireless keyboard/mouse/headset dongle, and any other devices plugged in stay powered on and running. Right now I have to unplug each of them every time to get them to shut down. At first I tried unplugging just the power supply, but everything still kept running (off of the battery power of the laptop I presume). This is obviously annoying and causes undue wear and tear on the ports and cables. I never had this issue with my 17 R5, as when I turned it off, all of the things plugged into the USB ports shut off too, just like I wanted. I have gone into the BIOS (version 1.8.0) on the x15 R1, and have tried disabling the settings that I thought might change the power configuration with the USB ports, but nothing has changed, and everything still has power and keeps running. I have searched for this issue online, and have watched many videos and read many articles and posts on how to change this, but none of that advice has helped. My BIOS is different than what I have seen in any of the videos, and doesn't have the one USB power setting that is quite common in the other BIOS that everyone says to disable, at least not that I can find. I have read about making key-entry changes in Windows 11, but that seems to completely disable the USB ports at all times through the OS, and I obviously don't want to go that far either. So now I am here and crossing my fingers that someone can guide me to solve my dilemma please. I am hoping it is just something quick and easy, and I am just overlooking a simple and obvious step to take, as at this point I am frustrated that I can't get it solved. Thanks ahead of time for those who took the time to read this, and for helping me if you can.

Mary G · Answer

How do you turn the computer off? If you use the power button you might need to set it to turn off in Power Options.

Try turning it off by right clicking on the Windows button on the Taskbar and choosing Shutdown.

Lots of ways to do it - How to Turn Off a Windows 11 PC (howtogeek.com)

To check if the Power button on the computer is set to turn off--Search for Control Panel and open Hardware and sound, search for power button to get to the setting.

MS makes everything so complicated.

Mr_AJ · Answer

Hi,

I got the same exact issue with my M15 R3. The only option in the BIOS is to disable USB PowerShare, which only affects the power on USB Ports when the computer is on battery power, if you keep the laptop connected, the system will still pass power thru the designated USB ports. In my case I have 2 ports that stay powered, including the USB-C/Thunderbolt port where I connect my docking station.

So at this point, the best you can do is to change that PowerShare setting in the Bios to Disable and just disconnect the laptop power cord. None of the USB port will get power. Lets hope Dell gives us a better BIOS for our Alienware systems, because in my experience, that BIOS is very poor and basic, even my work Latitude system has a better BIOS software.

Regards!

AJ

Mr_AJ · Answer

No, it has nothing to do, man.

Our problem is when we shut down the system by selecting Turn Off in the Start Menu, no hibernate, no sleep, but Turn Off, and it is actually happening even on Linux. Nothing to do with Windows.

Alienware

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