I spoke with Dell Tech support today. The Techie started to go through the litany of Start, Run, msconfig, and then disabling all of the startups except McAfee. I told her that I had been there, done that already. She then told me that she thought it had to be a software conflict causing the problem, and transferred me to the software department. The hold time was more than ten minutes, so I hung up without speaking with software.
Tonight I was on the internet for an hour. When I got off the internet, I let the computer sit for five minutes, then I disabled the firewall, and then I shut down the computer. The "Windows is shutting down" screen appeared, and the computer shut down without a hitch. Of course, there is no guarantee this will work tomorrow. But maybe the trick is to not shut down immediately after going on the internet, to give the operating system a chance to resolve any ongoing software conflicts before shutting down. If someone could do the same, and then post your results to compare our experiences, maybe somebody here will see something that none of us have noticed before, and we will get a step closer to the problem's resolution.
Thank you all for your excellent posts and observations. And thank you, Dell, for having this Community Forum on your site. This is a great resource.
Hi Zephyr55 ! Here is my feedback : I tried everything I can, including reinstalling modem driver, and still have the powerdown problem after an internet connection. My configuration : Inspiron 5150 with Windows XP SP1 Home and Conexant D480 modem. No program launched at startup. No anti-virus. No firewall except Windows XP. Screen-saving disabled. When working off-line everything works fine. After a connection to the internet through Conexant modem, it depends on something I cannot identify : sometimes powerdown is OK, sometimes Windows shutdown succeeds but powerdown fails. It seems to be linked with the length of the connection and/or the visited sites. One thing is sure : I never had the problem after one minute connection, I always had it after 5 minutes or more. As you suggested, I tried to let the computer sit for 10 minutes before exiting Windows, but that never made any difference. The problem can be caused by the Conexant modem or the drivers, but since it depends on the internet browsing, it may be caused by Internet Explorer. Had anybody tried with another browser ?
The most likely cause of this problem is a program running in the background that refuses to relinquish system resources thus, preventing the system from correctly shutting down.
I would use MSCONFIG
Go to Start, Run, type MSCONFIG, press enter, go to the startup tab and click “disable all” then click apply then click OK and allow the computer to restart. This will stop all programs from automatically starting on boot.
At this point try to test the system and see if your problem remains.
After you’ve tested this, you may want to re-enter MSCONFIG and enable your virus software.
Let's stop fooling us around with programs running in the background. You can tell that to people that have no idea about computers, but most of us having this problem are working in the software industry. Should we start debugging your computers? Or will you start doing your job and find a solution for the shutdown/hibernate problem?
I am sure I have no program running in the background and no unused services, so this is really a computer problem....
Inspiron 5150 not shutting down after using Conexant modem is a real problem. We need a real solution. Please don't think we are simple minded. Read all the threads on this subject, it's not a Windows XP problem. Don't fool us with background programs. Please try an Inspiron 5150, and see what happened after an internet connection through Conexant modem. And then answer our questions.
And it is more than just a modem problem. I do not use a modem. I have performed all the tests Dell support has suggested. And it still won't shut down. I have found the following- From power off- Unplug all my connections (network and printer) Turn my computer on Shut down It will shut downfine.
As soon as I plug either my network or printer in (don't even have to access them) I can't shut down successfully (I did try unplugging them before shut down to no avail).
iccaprar
23 Posts
0
January 23rd, 2004 06:00
dcmo5
27 Posts
0
January 23rd, 2004 06:00
Another information : McAfee and Norton firewalls have never been installed on my Inspiron 5150, and I do have the shutdown problem.
Daniel
Zephyr55
5 Posts
0
January 24th, 2004 01:00
I spoke with Dell Tech support today. The Techie started to go through the litany of Start, Run, msconfig, and then disabling all of the startups except McAfee. I told her that I had been there, done that already. She then told me that she thought it had to be a software conflict causing the problem, and transferred me to the software department. The hold time was more than ten minutes, so I hung up without speaking with software.
Tonight I was on the internet for an hour. When I got off the internet, I let the computer sit for five minutes, then I disabled the firewall, and then I shut down the computer. The "Windows is shutting down" screen appeared, and the computer shut down without a hitch. Of course, there is no guarantee this will work tomorrow. But maybe the trick is to not shut down immediately after going on the internet, to give the operating system a chance to resolve any ongoing software conflicts before shutting down. If someone could do the same, and then post your results to compare our experiences, maybe somebody here will see something that none of us have noticed before, and we will get a step closer to the problem's resolution.
Thank you all for your excellent posts and observations. And thank you, Dell, for having this Community Forum on your site. This is a great resource.
dcmo5
27 Posts
0
January 26th, 2004 06:00
Hi Zephyr55 ! Here is my feedback :
I tried everything I can, including reinstalling modem driver, and still have the powerdown problem after an internet connection.
My configuration : Inspiron 5150 with Windows XP SP1 Home and Conexant D480 modem. No program launched at startup. No anti-virus. No firewall except Windows XP. Screen-saving disabled.
When working off-line everything works fine. After a connection to the internet through Conexant modem, it depends on something I cannot identify : sometimes powerdown is OK, sometimes Windows shutdown succeeds but powerdown fails. It seems to be linked with the length of the connection and/or the visited sites. One thing is sure : I never had the problem after one minute connection, I always had it after 5 minutes or more. As you suggested, I tried to let the computer sit for 10 minutes before exiting Windows, but that never made any difference. The problem can be caused by the Conexant modem or the drivers, but since it depends on the internet browsing, it may be caused by Internet Explorer. Had anybody tried with another browser ?
Daniel
dcmo5
27 Posts
0
March 30th, 2004 05:00
Hi !
Three months later, the 'Inspiron 5150 not shutting down' problem is not solved.
Is it so hard to fix it ?
Daniel
DELL-Corey
2.6K Posts
0
March 30th, 2004 14:00
The most likely cause of this problem is a program running in the background that refuses to relinquish system resources thus, preventing the system from correctly shutting down.
I would use MSCONFIG
Go to Start, Run, type MSCONFIG, press enter, go to the startup tab and click “disable all” then click apply then click OK and allow the computer to restart. This will stop all programs from automatically starting on boot.
At this point try to test the system and see if your problem remains.
After you’ve tested this, you may want to re-enter MSCONFIG and enable your virus software.
iccaprar
23 Posts
0
March 31st, 2004 04:00
Dell support,
Let's stop fooling us around with programs running in the background. You can tell that to people that have no idea about computers, but most of us having this problem are working in the software industry. Should we start debugging your computers? Or will you start doing your job and find a solution for the shutdown/hibernate problem?
I am sure I have no program running in the background and no unused services, so this is really a computer problem....
Regards,
Cristi
dcmo5
27 Posts
0
April 1st, 2004 13:00
Hi all !
Inspiron 5150 not shutting down after using Conexant modem is a real problem. We need a real solution. Please don't think we are simple minded. Read all the threads on this subject, it's not a Windows XP problem. Don't fool us with background programs. Please try an Inspiron 5150, and see what happened after an internet connection through Conexant modem. And then answer our questions.
Daniel
madtownmom
4 Posts
0
April 1st, 2004 18:00
And it is more than just a modem problem. I do not use a modem. I have performed all the tests Dell support has suggested. And it still won't shut down. I have found the following-
From power off-
Unplug all my connections (network and printer)
Turn my computer on
Shut down
It will shut downfine.
As soon as I plug either my network or printer in (don't even have to access them)
I can't shut down successfully (I did try unplugging them before shut down to no avail).