RE: Power Issue - Dell Inspiron 3737 (help?)

From the way that you describe it, it sounds like the notebook is not fully shutting down, but hanging at shutdown. So just pressing the power button doesn't do anything as the system is already turned on.  Holding down the power button until all the LEDs turn off forces the notebook to fully shut down and then you are able to power it back up again.   Does this seem correct to you?  Other than the shut down and start up process are they any other problems?

Press the Windows key with the X key and choose power options, and check what the power button is configured to do? Change it to turn off the notebook and press the power button to turn the system off. Does the system fully shut down or does it still have the problem?

As a test before shutting down hold down the shift key and click restart, in the following menu choose safemode. Allow the system to boot to safemode and shut the system down normally and does the notebook fully shut down from safemode?

If the notebook does fully shutdown from safemode try the task manager and msconfig to further troubleshoot. Start the system up to normal windows and press control alt delete and choose task manager.  In task manager take a look at the running programs and close them.  Once they are closed try shutting down the notebook and see if  the problem continues, if not and the system fully shuts down then you know it was one of the running programs causing the problem and you can try disabling half of them and see if the problem continues.  If the problem continues then the culprit program will be in the half that you didn't disable, if the problem goes away then the problem program will be in the half that you disabled.  Now that you know what half the problem came from disable that group by half again and test until using process of elimination you know know what program is causing the problem and you can either uninstall that program, or check with the vendor of the program for a solution. 

If nothing in task manager helps then you can try msconfig.  Do a search for msconfig and once open click on the services group.  Check the box for "hiding all Microsoft services"  and then follow the same process for the services as you did using the task manager.  If the problem stops then instead of a program running in the background it is a service running that is the cause.  Use process of elimination to find the specific service.  Once you have the service do a web search, look in google, yahoo or whatever search engine you prefer to find about the service and see if it is something safe to leave disabled. 

I know this a lengthy process and can be frustrating, but you should be able to find the culprit without having to reinstall Windows.  Please let me know what you find out. 

TB

Hi Terry,

Thank you very much indeed for your kind and helpful reply.  I will test out your expert suggestions tomorrow.

Just to be clear, I only ever POWER OFF the PC by clicking on the RED POWER BUTTON ICON ('shortcut' on my desktop).  I never use the physical POWER BUTTON.  The only time I use the latter is to turn ON the PC.

This issue started around 5 x days ago and has never occurred before.  Now it happens constantly!

Your help is greatly appreciated.

Best,

Paul

Sounds good, as a test though I suggest re-configuring the power button to shut down and then testing it to see if it works or has the same problem. 

Since it happened five days ago, do you remember if any changes where made to the notebook, any new programs, utilities, devices, or even Windows  updates.  It is possible that they may have been the cause.  You may even wish to use system restore to return the system to a restore point that was saved five days and see if that helps. 

Again please let me know what you find out. 

TB

Hi Terry,

Well there are UPDATES every couple of days at least.  Though as far as I remember, these were only in relation to 'DEFENDER' (definitions) and so I am not sure if that would cause the POWER glitch?

I would rather not run a SYSTEM RESTORE, but of that appears to be the only option then of course I will have no choice.

Is there in an in-built (Dell) DIAGNOSTICS TOOL than you can run which will diagnose PC hardware malfunctions?

Thanks,

Paul

Basic diagnostics can be accessed by starting the system and tapping the F12 key and choose diagnostics.  If you already have the system running, hold the shift key while clicking restart and from the new menu choose diagnostics. 

This doesn't sound like defective hardware but it certainly wont hurt to check. If you receive any errors while running the diagnostics please record them and report back here. 

TB

Hi Terry,

I am running the FULL 'F12' scan.  It's going to take about an hour it says . . .

Ta,

Paul

'F12' scan came back FINE!

Hi again,

Clicking on the WINDOWS ICON (bottom left), then on POWER and finally choosing the SHUT DOWN option here does in fact close the PC down 100% successfully.

I will test out the regular DESKTOP SHORTCUT ICON later.

I am not sure if running to BOOT SCAN yesterday may have fixed anything automatically?

Cheers,

Paul

Hi Terry,

Well I just tried CLOSING down using the SHORTCUT ICON and it shut down 100% fine!

So maybe just simply running the 'F12' DIAGNOSTICS prompted something to function correctly?

Cheers,

Paul

Good, using diagnostics didn't detect any defects and you are now able to shut the system down fully.  I would keep an eye on this, it could be some program that when it isn't running the notebook is fine, but once it is loaded the problem returns.  This can make the problem seem very intermittent,  so if you think of it, if the problem continues to happen jot down if you where doing anything different with the system at the time. 

TB

Hello again,

It seems that every time I download/install a Win_10 UPDATE, the issue with my Dell PC laptop (not shutting down entirely) reoccurs again!

Is this likely to be an issue triggered by the new update, or an actual hardware fault with the PC please?

Thanks a lot,

Paul

Hi,

I spoke to Dell today who have said that they suspect the issue has been caused by a corrupted Windows UPDATE download.  And that I need to search for these DRIVERS and UNINSTALL them.

Easier said than done though might I dare say?!

Ta,

Paul