Newly built PC won't shut down or standby

[ogetatrs]

I recently put together a new system and am running Windows 7. I use this as an HTPC that can also play games. It is connected via HDMI to an HDTV (normally through a surround receiver, but sometime that has issues). It's an Intel Core i5-4690 CPU, Asus H97I-Plus motherboard, Crucial Ballistix Tactical 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card, with a SSD and HDD all inside a Silverstone GD05B-USB3.0 (Black) HTPC Case.

The problem is that whenever I try to put the computer to sleep or shut it down, the computer appears to sleep/shutdown but then restarts after a few seconds. When I say appears to sleep/shutdown, I mean the screen fades to black, the power light turns off, and all the fans stop. The computer then starts back up and gives the "Windows Error Recovery" screen where I can choose to boot normally or go to safe mode. This can even happen if I try to hold the power button and shut down that way (it will shut down but then immediately start back up). I have to flip off the PSU switch to make the PC actually stay off.

Another issue with this is that after the reboot, I don't get any video if I connect: PC -> surround receiver -> TV. I have to connect the PC directly to the PC, reboot, let it go to windows, and then switch back to the receiver.

Things I have tried:
1) Reseating the RAM
2) Memory tests
3) "Slowed" the memory to its BIOS default of 1333 (even though it is sold as DDR3 1600)
4) Removed the graphics card
5) Rechecked/reinstalled all drivers
6) BIOS update
7) sfc scannow (CBS file does show some a few files as corrupted but I don't know why that would be on a new system or if that is the problem)
7.1) Tried booting off the windows installation USB stick for a system repair, but it says the versions are incompatible.

I'm hoping I don't have to reinstall Windows and get this thing set up again. Maybe a hardware issue I can't think of? I really have no idea what would make it restart with "Windows Error Recovery" instead of sleep/shut down. Other than that it operates perfectly.

 

[learningbitbybit]

Go to "run" then type in regedit and hit enter. Locate the following key:

Location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

Double Click on "PowerdownAfterShutdown"

Then,
Change it to "0" if it is "1" OR
Change it to "1" if it is "0".

And hit Enter.

Then restart the computer and after it restarts try to shutdown again.

If this doesnt work, change the values back to whatever they were.

 

[ogetatrs]

Thanks for the suggestions, but unfortunately neither the PowerdownAfterShutdown or bios power saving features had any impact.

 

[learningbitbybit]

Thanks for the suggestions, but unfortunately neither the PowerdownAfterShutdown or bios power saving features had any impact.

Try this: Disable USB selective suspend setting as follows:
Control Panel --> Hardware --> Power Options --> Change plan settings --> Change advanced power settings -->USB settings --> USB selective suspend setting --> Enabled -> Disabled

 

[ogetatrs]

Thanks for the suggestions, but unfortunately neither the PowerdownAfterShutdown or bios power saving features had any impact.

Try this: Disable USB selective suspend setting as follows:
Control Panel --> Hardware --> Power Options --> Change plan settings --> Change advanced power settings -->USB settings --> USB selective suspend setting --> Enabled -> Disabled

Still no luck. I really do appreciate the detailed response/suggestions, though, so thank you very much for the help.

 

[learningbitbybit]

How recent have you built your PC? Did this happen even when you first started up your PC and tried to shut it down?

You may have to clean out your computer for any dust etc. Heat can be a big problem for that. But do not use a vacuum cleaner to clean if you do choose to do so.

I re-read your post and you mentioned something about sfc scannow and how the scan showed some corrupt files. You may want to fix those files as that could be the cause to your problem.

 

[ogetatrs]

How recent have you built your PC? Did this happen even when you first started up your PC and tried to shut it down?

You may have to clean out your computer for any dust etc. Heat can be a big problem for that. But do not use a vacuum cleaner to clean if you do choose to do so.

I re-read your post and you mentioned something about sfc scannow and how the scan showed some corrupt files. You may want to fix those files as that could be the cause to your problem.

I built the computer about 10 days ago and noticed the problem a couple days later. I guess it always did this but I didn't notice the first few days because I was leaving it on to download updates and such. Since it is so new there is no dust buildup, and my temperature stays pretty cool.

I was wondering about those corrupt files, too. So far I have been unable to fix them. Yesterday I made a Win 7 SP1 boot USB drive and tried to do a "repair windows" but it didn't find any problems to fix. I also tried Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth, which is something I had never heard of, but it wouldn't run with something like "Error 87, restorehealth is not recognized in this context."

Thanks again for the help.

 

[learningbitbybit]

How recent have you built your PC? Did this happen even when you first started up your PC and tried to shut it down?

You may have to clean out your computer for any dust etc. Heat can be a big problem for that. But do not use a vacuum cleaner to clean if you do choose to do so.

I re-read your post and you mentioned something about sfc scannow and how the scan showed some corrupt files. You may want to fix those files as that could be the cause to your problem.

I built the computer about 10 days ago and noticed the problem a couple days later. I guess it always did this but I didn't notice the first few days because I was leaving it on to download updates and such. Since it is so new there is no dust buildup, and my temperature stays pretty cool.

I was wondering about those corrupt files, too. So far I have been unable to fix them. Yesterday I made a Win 7 SP1 boot USB drive and tried to do a "repair windows" but it didn't find any problems to fix. I also tried Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth, which is something I had never heard of, but it wouldn't run with something like "Error 87, restorehealth is not recognized in this context."

Thanks again for the help.

I was digging around and I found this forum: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/t/509994/dism-online-cleanup-image-restorehealth-gives-me-an-error-87how-to-fix-this/

Skip down to the post where user dc3 says "Lets do a repair installation" and follow his steps down there.

Or sometimes Windows fails to shut down due to software interference, to stop this:

Go to Start or the Windows button --> Run "msconfig" --> Click "ok" if User Account Control appears --> Uncheck "Load startup items" from Selective Startup on the general tab --> Click the services tab --> Check the box that says "Hide all Microsoft Services" --> Click Ok --> Restart PC --> Shut down PC

If Windows still fails to shut down, reopen msconfig and replace the selection Normal startup on the General tab. Restart the computer.

 

[ogetatrs]

I was digging around and I found this forum: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/t/509994/dism-online-cleanup-image-restorehealth-gives-me-an-error-87how-to-fix-this/

Skip down to the post where user dc3 says "Lets do a repair installation" and follow his steps down there.

Or sometimes Windows fails to shut down due to software interference, to stop this:

Go to Start or the Windows button --> Run "msconfig" --> Click "ok" if User Account Control appears --> Uncheck "Load startup items" from Selective Startup on the general tab --> Click the services tab --> Check the box that says "Hide all Microsoft Services" --> Click Ok --> Restart PC --> Shut down PC

If Windows still fails to shut down, reopen msconfig and replace the selection Normal startup on the General tab. Restart the computer.

Still no luck. But thanks again.

I emailed ASUS support and they suggested I clear the CMOS. I won't be able to get around to that until tomorrow, but we'll see how it goes...

 

[learningbitbybit]

I was digging around and I found this forum: http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/t/509994/dism-online-cleanup-image-restorehealth-gives-me-an-error-87how-to-fix-this/

Skip down to the post where user dc3 says "Lets do a repair installation" and follow his steps down there.

Or sometimes Windows fails to shut down due to software interference, to stop this:

Go to Start or the Windows button --> Run "msconfig" --> Click "ok" if User Account Control appears --> Uncheck "Load startup items" from Selective Startup on the general tab --> Click the services tab --> Check the box that says "Hide all Microsoft Services" --> Click Ok --> Restart PC --> Shut down PC

If Windows still fails to shut down, reopen msconfig and replace the selection Normal startup on the General tab. Restart the computer.

Still no luck. But thanks again.

I emailed ASUS support and they suggested I clear the CMOS. I won't be able to get around to that until tomorrow, but we'll see how it goes...

Alright, tell me how it goes!

 

[ogetatrs]

Clearing the CMOS seems to have fixed it. I couldn't tell you why, but it now sleeps and shuts down properly.

To clear the CMOS on the ASUS H97I-Plus (from the manual - to clear the RTC RAM):

1) Turn off and unplug the computer.
2) Locate the appropriate two metal pins. They are right above the end of the PCIe x16 slot, on the end opposite the DIMMs (so closer to the ethernet port, HDMI connectors, etc).
3) Short the two pins together with a metal object, such as the screwdriver you used to open the case.
4) Plug in the computer and turn it on.
5) Use the DEL key to enter BIOS and reconfigure as necessary (I actually didn't get to the screen to press DEL and had to "Press F1 to enter setup").

When I rebooted into Windows I was able to sleep/shut down. Hooray!

Thanks again for all the suggestions and for keeping up on this thread. You have no idea what a relief it was to have some help.

 

[learningbitbybit]

Clearing the CMOS seems to have fixed it. I couldn't tell you why, but it now sleeps and shuts down properly.

To clear the CMOS on the ASUS H97I-Plus (from the manual - to clear the RTC RAM):

1) Turn off and unplug the computer.
2) Locate the appropriate two metal pins. They are right above the end of the PCIe x16 slot, on the end opposite the DIMMs (so closer to the ethernet port, HDMI connectors, etc).
3) Short the two pins together with a metal object, such as the screwdriver you used to open the case.
4) Plug in the computer and turn it on.
5) Use the DEL key to enter BIOS and reconfigure as necessary (I actually didn't get to the screen to press DEL and had to "Press F1 to enter setup").

When I rebooted into Windows I was able to sleep/shut down. Hooray!

Thanks again for all the suggestions and for keeping up on this thread. You have no idea what a relief it was to have some help.

Wow, I'm glad that it worked out well for you! I'll select you as the best answer then! Cheers

 

[nimd4]

To clear the CMOS on the ASUS H97I-Plus

For anyone else wanting to do the same (for whatever reason), on their computer/motherboard... I thought how it might be worth mentioning (?!) that the CMOS can be cleared by removing the battery & leaving it out for a little while (on some models and it might, also, not work regardless; but, anyway). Could be better than risking a static-discharge, by waiving the screw-driver around the box.