Restarts After Shutdown

[Dave 1973]

I have a Dell desktop with Win 7 that restarts itself after shutdown. It happens whether using the power button or shutting down from the start button. If I start it in safe mode it will shut down normally and STAY shutdown.

What I have done to try to fix it:

Checked bios for power up after power failure. It is Off.
Turned off automatic startup in Startup and Recovery
Did a CLEAN boot with only MS services
Used Autoruns to disable non essential items
Turned OFF AV ( Norton)
Ran chkdsk /f
Lubricated on / off button

None of the above helped. Because it runs normally in safe mode it would seem
to indicate a software problem.

Does anyone have any ideas ?

Thanks in advance !! Dave

 

[Metanis]

Bad capacitor somewhere?

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

I have a Dell desktop with Win 7 that restarts itself after shutdown. It happens whether using the power button or shutting down from the start button. If I start it in safe mode it will shut down normally and STAY shutdown.

What I have done to try to fix it:

Checked bios for power up after power failure. It is Off.
Turned off automatic startup in Startup and Recovery
Did a CLEAN boot with only MS services
Used Autoruns to disable non essential items
Turned OFF AV ( Norton)
Ran chkdsk /f
Lubricated on / off button

None of the above helped. Because it runs normally in safe mode it would seem
to indicate a software problem.

Does anyone have any ideas ?

Thanks in advance !! Dave

Just for clarification so that people can answer your question more effectively, you are saying that when you shutdown, instead of shutting down the system restarts immediately? Is this happening 100% of the time you shutdown from regular windows or just sometimes?

 

[Archon Prime]

Latest chipset drivers installed?

 

[Dave 1973]

Just for clarification so that people can answer your question more effectively, you are saying that when you shutdown, instead of shutting down the system restarts immediately? Is this happening 100% of the time you shutdown from regular windows or just sometimes?

Yes, the system restarts almost immediately ( about 15 sec after shutdown). It happens every time from normal Windows state. It is fine
when shutting down from safe mode.

Latest chipset drivers installed?

I'll try updating them

Bad capacitor somewhere?

It shuts down fine in Safe Mode and stays shut down. Seems to be a software issue ??? But I don't know...........

Thanks for the replies !!

Dave

 

[Diggs]

Run DISM to Check Windows files. Long shot but if you think it's software it wouldn't hurt to check Window's files.

 

[nlinecomputers]

I'm gonna go against the flow and say hardware. Replace the PSU. Check the motherboard for bad caps. Possible faulty power good circuit.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Also my usual mantra: Event logs, event logs, event logs. If this IS a windows issue the restart request should be in the event logs.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Also what happens if you take an elevated command prompt and issue shutdown /s /f

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

Yes, the system restarts almost immediately ( about 15 sec after shutdown). It happens every time from normal Windows state. It is fine when shutting down from safe mode.

15 seconds after shutdown!? As in the system powers off then 15 seconds later it turns back on? Now that I have never seen before not with "Checked bios for power up after power failure. It is Off." off. This is an interesting one and only happens after a normal shut down hmmmm... before you shut down from normal mode, unplug everything from the computer aside from power, mouse, display cable, start shutdown, unplug mouse and display cable. Does it still come back on?

 

[Dave 1973]

Also what happens if you take an elevated command prompt and issue shutdown /s /f

Thanks for your suggestions. I tried shutting down from an elevated command prompt and it did not help.

15 seconds after shutdown!? As in the system powers off then 15 seconds later it turns back on? Now that I have never seen before not with "Checked bios for power up after power failure. It is Off." off. This is an interesting one and only happens after a normal shut down hmmmm... before you shut down from normal mode, unplug everything from the computer aside from power, mouse, display cable, start shutdown, unplug mouse and display cable. Does it still come back on?

I tried a bare bones shut down with all the extra hardware disconnected and using a clean boot. It still powered on by itself.



I finally discovered the problem. I remembered that safe mode uses the VGA graphics so I rolled back the video driver and that fixed it !!

The video was an Intel I3 driver on the chip. Widows probably updated the driver recently because the PC was fine a week ago.

Thanks for all your help guys !!

Dave

 

[nlinecomputers]

Well just lost my bet. LOL. Glad you fixed it.

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

I finally discovered the problem. I remembered that safe mode uses the VGA graphics so I rolled back the video driver and that fixed it !!

The video was an Intel I3 driver on the chip. Widows probably updated the driver recently because the PC was fine a week ago.

Thanks for all your help guys !!

Dave

Interesting, which model dell was it?

 

[Dave 1973]

Interesting, which model dell was it?

The customer just picked it up so I'll have to check back through the paperwork. It is an older model that would have come with Windows 7.

It still has Windows 7 Pro on it ( a fresh install)


It is a Dell Optiplex 790


Thanks !!


Dave

 

[Metanis]

Good catch and thought process on the VGA driver.

 

[Dave 1973]

Good catch and thought process on the VGA driver.

Even a blind squirrel finds a nut sometimes !! Thanks !! Dave

 

[mraikes]

This is interesting. And weird.

What is the supposition here? That somehow the bad video driver was twisting the shutdown command into a restart command?

TBH this is an issue I don't think I'd ever have figured out! My bet was on "wake on lan" or something similar misbehaving.

 

[Archon Prime]

Make sure they don't have some stupid driver updater program on the computer. Those damn things screw up a lot too and it might come back again if they run/install it.

 

[ComputerRepairTech]

The customer just picked it up so I'll have to check back through the paperwork. It is an older model that would have come with Windows 7.

It still has Windows 7 Pro on it ( a fresh install)


It is a Dell Optiplex 790


Thanks !!


Dave

Interesting because I did read a thread about a dell optiplex 755 issue and this was the solution: https://www.dell.com/community/Desk...-itself-on/m-p/2949670/highlight/true#M693054

 

[Dave 1973]

This is interesting. And weird.

What is the supposition here? That somehow the bad video driver was twisting the shutdown command into a restart command?

TBH this is an issue I don't think I'd ever have figured out! My bet was on "wake on lan" or something similar misbehaving.

I read this and it started me thinking about drivers:

https://blog.techinline.com/2018/09/18/windows-10-restarts-after-shutdown/

My only clue was it worked OK in Safe Mode. I tried to think of drivers that wouldn't load in Safe and thought of video.

Make sure they don't have some stupid driver updater program on the computer. Those damn things screw up a lot too and it might come back again if they run/install it.

I set Windows update to have let you know before downloading and installing. I told the customer not to install any updates related to Intel.

Wish Win 10 would give you the same option !!