I created this thread is to share my solution to the problems listed below. I have a Dell Vostro 5470. I feel the need to share this information because I had been through the long months of finding solution to this problem, so I know how hard it was. This thread explains my solution to these problems:
- screen saver not starting up
- notebook won't shout down, i.e., the screen turns off (black) but the fan and power light indicator won't turn off.
When I first encountered this problem, I blamed the bug in Windows 8.1. However, during my research (believe me, it took a while), Microsoft pointed out that the problem with screen saver not starting up might not be due to Windows, instead, there might be a running application that stops the screen saver from starting up. So I looked at my running applications again, and since Dell Support Assist agent has been a pain so far (resource hogger), I started on that.
Turns out, the culprit is DellUpdate service. I set it to manual, restart the computer and the screen saver works like magic.
That was for Windows 8.1. Now that I have upgraded to Windows 10, the problem starts again. This time I noticed a pattern: If my screen saver could not start up, then the notebook will not turn off later.
Let me explain the "notebook will not turn off" part. The situation is when you turn off the computer from Windows, the turn off sequence will start like normal and the screen will turn off (black). You will then wait for the power light indicator to turn off too to indicate shut down. But the power and the fan will not turn off, indefinitely, or until it runs out of battery. You will end up having to press the power button for several second to force shut down. Not pretty.
This time I checked DellUpdate service, and found out that the setting is still manual. So something else must be the culprit this time around. Then I noticed PC-Doctor keeps starting up several minutes after start up. PC-Doctor is not a service. It is a task. So open your Window's Task Scheduler, look for task named PCDoctorBackgroundMonitorTask. Disable the task. Restart. Your screen saver problem and turn off problem is solved!
For added measure, and since Dell's applications are mostly intrusive and resource hogger, especially DataVault (it makes video playback stutter), I also set these services to manual:
- Dell Support Assist Agent
- Dell Data Vault
- Dell Data Vault Wizard
Now, before another Dell representative comes up with the "those are necessary to keep your system updated', well, I can manually check for updates, without having to suffer from Dell's half-baked software that causing so many problems on my computer.
Next, I would like to express my utter disappointment with Dell's service. How can Dell, an established company, release such problematic software. Dell Support Assist and Dell Data Vault are notorious resource hogger, and now Dell's applications are disrupting screen saver and shut down procedures. At this rate, Dell's application is more of a malware than support software. Your half-baked software are wasting people's time and money (I had almost rolled back my Intel Management Engine driver and disable Window 10's hybrid shutdown feature in my effort to solve the shut down problem). Have some sense of responsibility. Next time, please do a rigorous and proper testing before releasing any software.
