Windows 8 Shutdown

[Rich-M]

I have been wondering about the stability of Windows 8 for sometime. My second desktop is a Dell All-in-One 2300 with a 3rd Gen i-5 3350 and 8 gb ram. I use this about 4 hours a day and by the 4th hour it totally freezes on me and I have to hold down the power button to shut it down and then it comes back up just fine.

I have scanned with everything imaginable from Adw Cleaner to Mbam, Junkware Removal, Hitman Pro and Combofix and removed a few minor issues. I have run chkdsk /r, defragged until blue in the face, limited startup and yet it happens almost every night. I should add all Windows updates are done and it is upgraded to 8.1 version and I have run memtest86 and checked video drivers.

Yesterday a client called me with a Windows 8 Lenovo laptop I sold her at her wits end with the mouse inoperable though synch still worked and printer refusing to print. She mentioned that 2 lights were always on even when the pc was off and that started me thinking. The only way to kill her second light is to hold the power button down for 4 seconds, then only the battery light stays on. After holding down the power button the printer and mouse worked fine when she booted back up.

I looked at the few Windows 8 laptops I have here and none of them have any lights on the laptop. The power light is in the power button on 2 of them and there is no battery light. And that started me to thinking we know that Windows 8 doesn't shut totally down, is it possible that is causing the wackiness because none of the things that happen when a pc shuts down can happen, mainly the ram reset. When I don't use the Windows shutdown on my Dell and instead hold the power button to shut off the pc, the next day it runs fine and never freezes up.

 

[AWS]

I have the same issue with my laptop. I bet it isn't completely shutting down.

I just did a test on mine. I shut it down. I let it sit for a few minutes and hit the power button to turn it on. It booted to start screen in a few seconds. This laptop is fast, but, no way it should have started that fast.

I shut it down again, but, this time I held the start button down until it went into shutdown mode. Waited and rebooted. This time it started normally.

I know Microsoft has a fast boot setup in Windows 8. I have a feeling the problem you're having is with it. This some sort of sleep mode and to come out of it you have to hit the start button like you would for a normal start. Maybe your all-in-one isn't properly going into that mode.

 

[Rich-M]

Yes but if it is technically any part of asleep, then the full benefits of shutdown are not being achieved and won't be as I see it Bob. This pc appears for all intents and purposes shut down. There are no lights or noise of any kind and I bet the sneaks took the lights out so as not to be exposed but what is really happening is some form of hibernation and we know how well that always works because the benefits of a complete shut down are never achieved.

I have noted the same thing BTW. The All-in-One starts way faster as does my laptop if I did not shut it down with power button.

 

[IceMan37]

Remembers those Intel drivers I told you about? The ones most don't need? Smart Connect and Rapid Start, and also sometimes Rapid Storage. It depends, sometimes laptops, or all-in-ones actually benefit from these, but they can also cause these issues. Try changing the power scheme in the control panel to that of a desktop then shut down with just the regular windows way see how it acts. It may be remaining in a power saving mode.

 

[Rich-M]

Good points it's a Dell not my build and I need to look at those installed programs for certain!

 

[starbuck]

but what is really happening is some form of hibernation

That just struck a chord......
My main system has a dual boot with Win7 and Win8.1
Sometimes i've noticed that when booting up, i sometimes get a quick message before anything appears on the bootup screen.... which says.'Awakening from Hibernation'.
I've never really taken much notice, but never use hibernation anyway.
Now i come to think about it, it may be after i've been running Win8.1 ( as the message doesn't always appear)
I will keep an eye on it and see if it's related to closing Win8.1 and then booting up again.

 

[allheart55 (Cindy E)]

Windows 8 never shuts down completely, by default. It does what's called a hybrid shutdown which is similar to a partial hibernation. You can override or disable this feature if you want to, especially in a dual boot situation.

 

[starbuck]

Whilst looking into what you have just said, i did find this that probably explains the message i'm getting occasionally:

There is a way to do a full shut down (like Windows 7 and earlier did) even while fast startup is enabled. If you use the Win+X menu to shut down, then it will always perform a full shutdown.

Sometimes i use this method, sometimes i use the shutdown button at the top.
That probably explains why i only get the hibernation message sometimes.

 

[Rich-M]

Here is the actual full explanation Pete:
http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/6320-fast-startup-turn-off-windows-8-a.html

 

[starbuck]

Thanks Rich.

 

[Rich-M]

Welcome Pete.