Mel said:
running xp and suddenly the normal shut down will not stick--reboots each
time--I can shut down using ctrl/alt /delete then selecting shut down and it
seems to like that--Any help will really be appreciated--Thanks --Mel
You could try disabling "automatic restart", as is shown in the picture here.
http://digital.ni.com/public.nsf/websearch/190A57D2D4E6B187862570BD00831ABF/$FILE/SR_restart.gif
The reason for doing that, is to get a BSOD (blue screen) to stand still,
so you can write down any error numbers.
One possible mechanism for what is happening, is some software crashes
during the shutdown process. If the "automatic restart" is ticked, the
computer immediately reboots, giving the impression it "won't stay asleep".
By disabling automatic restarts, you can see the error message triggered
by the attempt to shut down. It could be, some driver gives an error, as
it is entering shutdown.
You could also check the Event Viewer, for any evidence of abnormal behavior.
*******
It is wasn't a crash, and it actually shuts down, then another reason for it waking
could have to do with network activity. If you had something like Wake On LAN
enabled, and the magic packet type was "any network activity of any kind", then
the computer would likely wake right up again. If a Wake On LAN is set for
"Magic Packet" only, then it takes more effort to send a pattern to it,
that will actually wake it up.
So you could be looking for a mechanism like that, something which triggers a
management event and wakes the computer up.
*******
So it's either a "crash and restart" or it could be a "wake up state change"
caused by some setting for the hardware.
A previous poster suggested the powercfg command.
powercfg /devicequery wake_from_any
powercfg /devicequery wake_armed
The first one, enumerates just about any hardware that has some ability to report
an event. The first command doesn't narrow things down.
The second one, shows hardware currently configured to cause waking.
In my case, only the keyboard is configured to wake the computer. And since my
keyboard isn't wired up to run off +5VSB, and instead runs off +5V, there
is no way for the sleeping computer to be awakened by the keyboard, because
on shutdown, the keyboard has no power. More modern computers, leave the power
running on the keyboard (USB ports powered by +5VSB standby voltage).
I vaguely recollect someone mentioning there is a way to list what the last
wakeup event was. But I don't remember the details. Perhaps someone else
remembers that one.
Paul