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[sk8bloke22]

this has been bugging me ever since i installed winxp last year. every time i shut down the pc, it goes to that highly gay screen which says "it is now safe to switch off ur pc blah de blah..." and i then hav to switch off the pc off manually. before i installed winxp, i had win98, and i had none of this malarky. pl pl pl pleasssssssse help moi. someone most know how to solve it.

[Trotterwatch]

Go to:

Start> Run and type in services.msc

Look for an entry in the list called:

NVidia Driver Helper Service -

Double click on it, and choose stop, then disable it. Try rebooting now, and it should do it within 10 seconds.

Kev

PS. The helper service just keeps track of custom gamma settings and is by and large useless, if you find you really need it simply just re-enable it.

[linker]

There is another solution to this problem.
In the power options see if the APM checkbox is enabled.
Also, I had the same problem. WinXP just refused to use my ATX properly. Just download the newest BIOS ROM, update your bios under DOS and restart. If everything is fine, winxp will now work. I recommend that you reinstall it tho.

[Quip]

I agree what linker said. I had the same poblem with my old motherboard before I upgraded my computer.

[sk8bloke22]

er...wheres the APM checkbox? when i click on shutdown i want my pc to actually switchoff and also turn off the monitor.

where can i get a rom bios and will i hav to reformat winxp (something i neva imagined needed doing).

cheers.

[linker]

Go to the motherboard's website. There you'll find the bios and the program to update.

Note: Always update in MSDOS (not in windows).

[sk8bloke22]

winXP doesnt hav DOS, it only has an emulated form of DOS.

aaaaaah

[Trotterwatch]

winXP doesnt hav DOS, it only has an emulated form of DOS.

True, that is why you would need to use a Bootdisk to get into dos. If you are flashing the Bios, then ensure that you use the bare minimum of files to get into Dos IE. Don't go putting CD or Mouse drivers onto the bootdisk.

[sk8bloke22]

and this will make my pc shut off properly? i dont want to flash my bios for nothing...

[Trotterwatch]

Did you actually do what I told you to do in my first post, ie Disable Nvidia Driver Helper Service....? That could well be worth a try first.

To discover if your BIOS is having problems with XP, go to:

Start>Run and type Eventvwr.msc

Have a look in both the application and system sections, see if there are lots of errors, if so check them and see if any of them mention illegal BIOS access... if so then updating with a more XP compliant (ACPI) Bios could well help you out.

Flashing the BIOS is not something I would recommend just for the sake of it though. The Eventvwr will help you in finding out just what is causing the shutdown probs.

[linker]

Trotterwatch, your solution is good, but for another problem - the slow shutdowning of WinXP on comps with Nvidia cards. The problem of sk8bloke22 is that his WinXP doesn't use the ACPI feature.

Sk8bloke22, u can make a boot disk under winxp (right button on the floppy drive, then format, choose "create boot disk" check box). Then update. (WARNING: u can damage your computer permanently (atleast the rom bios)).

[sk8bloke22]

ok cheers...(edit 3) all goes fine, but in the flahing utility, whilst loading the bios thingy (i dont think its flashing yet) it says 'Bios ID error' then i used a different flashing utility and it said 'Bios Tagging Error' ... it allows me to continue, but i wanna check with u guys wat i should do, or wat im doing wrong?

[sk8bloke22]

"This tweak enables XP to turn off your computer automatically at shutdown.

1. Goto /Start/Control Panel/Performance and Maintenance/System.

2. Select the Hardware tab and then select Device Manager.

3. Under the 'View' menu select Show Hidden Devices. Double click NT/Apm/Legacy Interface
Node and enable device. De-select show hidden devices again and re-boot.

Now your PC will shutdown automatically just like good old Windows 98."

problem: i cant find NT/APM/Legacy Interface...even when show hidden devices is selected...hmm...any ideas?

[Trotterwatch]

It hasn't been established wether or not the Power Management is at fault here though.

A simple check in event viewer would most probably isolate the problem, and thus make the solution even easier. Not all BIOS'es have the problem with ACPI - this could be symptomatic of another problem altogether.

Indeed I would much rather try tinkering with several other things than flash the BIOS - especially as he doesn't seem to have done it before - 1 mistake and of course it's new BIOS or new motherboard time. Turning off ACPI in the BIOS may help.

The problem is it could simply be a device driver that is refusing to shut down - how long have you left the machine trying to shut down? I take it you have left it for more than 2 minutes to ensure it's not just being very slow.

[linker]

Trotterwatch, I think he said that the Windows shutdowns but not turns off the computer auto., so, sk8bloke22, what bios flasher did you download? From the mainboard's site? And is it for your chipset.

P.S. Be sure that the FLASH protection in the BIOS is disabled (check this in the bios menu).

Stange---

[sk8bloke22]

Originally posted by linker
Trotterwatch, I think he said that the Windows shutdowns but not turns off the computer auto., so, sk8bloke22, what bios flasher did you download? From the mainboard's site? And is it for your chipset.

P.S. Be sure that the FLASH protection in the BIOS is disabled (check this in the bios menu).

Stange---

yeh it was the mainboards site. i checked everything. and yeh, trotterwatch, my pc shuts down, but doesnt turn off.

my board is a giga-byte 7IXE ... www.giga-byte.com ?

ill check wat u said linker...

[linker]

It's http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/

[sk8bloke22]

i hav actually been to it, its where i got the flashing utility and bios update from, but as i said, im having probs flashing the bios...must hav forgotten wat site i actually visited ???

[linker]

strange

[linker]

So you can't update BIOS, right?

[sk8bloke22]

havent tried since...i hav another go 2nite, and do a bit of research. i might email gigabyte as well.

at the moment i just switch the pc off from the off button whithout shutting down...i know it aint good for the pc, but heck winxp seems pretty unaffected whena i do it, acccept that boot times are waaay slower...thank god i dont need to go through scan disk anymore. damn im lazy.

[EdgeBlade]

You could also hurt the hadware doing that (I think)

[sk8bloke22]

woopee! i can then con my parents into getting my a new pc. treats all round.

[linker]

Originally posted by EdgeBlade
You could also hurt the hadware doing that (I think)

Nope.