Ace_0f_spade :
When shutting down, the OS shuts down, but the hardware does not (GPU light still on, board lights on, fans on etc.). I have tried disabling the Windows hybrid boot, I've tried various Command Prompt commands, updating the BIOS, and other fixes. The only thing that has been able to fix it is a complete system restore. After the restore, the computer shuts down fine. After installing some applications, it shuts down fine. The problem seems to appear out of nowhere. One other note is that the light that indicates that the hard disk is writing stays steadily lit. The PC only shuts down after the PSU has been turned off. I would really appreciate the help of anyone.
Specs:
Board: Msi Gaming 7 Z97
CPU: Intel i7 4790k
GPU: Nvidia GTX 980
RAM: 16 GB Corsair sticks
sounds like you have a virus.
1) load into safemode w/networking
2) dl ccleaner, clean out all temp folders for all browsers and OS
3) dl malwarebytes, adwcleaner and roguekiller
4) run roguekiller, if it prompts you for a reboot, do it, and load back into safemode (if it opens a web browser page, it's because it found a virus that needs special actions to clean out. follow those instructions to the letter)
5) run malwarebytes, if it prompts you for a reboot, do it and load back into safemode
6) run adwcleaner. if it prompts you for a reboot, do it, you can load back into regular windows again
~ now, assuming you found viruses, and removed them, find out if your system will shut down or not. if it will not, then you'll need to download the tweeking.com all-in-one windows repair utility. follow the steps, each and every one of them, until the end.
if you did not find any viruses then the problem will be found in your power settings. make sure the power button is set to SHUT DOWN the pc, not put it into sleep mode or something. Remember, windows 8 doesn't actually shut stuff down by default. By default it goes into hybernate mode, it's one of the many tricks M$ pulled to make win8 boot faster. So you'll need to turn off hybernate mode in your power settings menu to stop this behaviour.