Shut down dialog box keeps popping up- very annoying.

tech77

Hi.
The shutdown dialog box keeps popping up randomly forcing me to cancel it every time and i can't get any work done.

I've just got my laptop back from the repairshop after they put in a new motherboard (because the laptop kept powering off) but now i've got this new problem.

So instead of actually shutting down now, it's just persistently asking me if i want to shut down.
Very annoying.

Anyone know what this might be and how to fix it.
Is it a faulty repair job?
Any advice much appreciated.
Thanks.

Solitaire

Sounds crazy, but it might be a faulty power button rather than the mobo - rare, but it can happen. Messing around with its innards may have reduced the time the short circuit is maintained which is why the laptop now brings up the Shutdown prompt (button press or momentary short circuit) rather than powering off (extended button press/short). Had one myself a while back with a desktop and it drove me nuts trying to work out what was causing the problem. The repair team may have replaced the mobo and not noticed the real yet intermittent problem. ... or you could have a bent OS install, or a bad battery/power circuit, or a bad CPU, or a bad wire/short to the mobo's power/IO header, or... :rolleyes:

Teamhar

Solitaire- good call!

I'd go along with a faulty power button also. I wonder would changing the settings on the Advanced Tab in Power Options through the Control Panel make a difference? Where it says, "When I press the power button on my computer"... do the following of four options on dropdown box. Change to "Do Nothing" and see what happens.

Hope this poor guy didn't get ripped off for a mobo and labour that wasn't required.

T.

NotMe

Teamhar wrote: »

I wonder would changing the settings on the Advanced Tab in Power Options through the Control Panel make a difference? Where it says, "When I press the power button on my computer"... do the following of four options on dropdown box. Change to "Do Nothing" and see what happens.
.

Yeah I would try this. Also check to see if it happens when you press a certain key or if it is really random.

I have a desktop that was shutting down "randomly" and I changed the power option to "ask me what to do" so the "turn off computer" dialog popped up instead. It turned out that it happened whenever I pressed the alt key. I just changed the power option to "do nothing" and it's ok now except I can't alt-tab/ alt-f4 etc. It's weird but the computer seems to think the alt key is the power button. (I don't use that comp much so haven't bothered trying to fix it.)

tech77

Teamhar wrote: »

Solitaire- good call!

I'd go along with a faulty power button also. I wonder would changing the settings on the Advanced Tab in Power Options through the Control Panel make a difference? Where it says, "When I press the power button on my computer"... do the following of four options on dropdown box. Change to "Do Nothing" and see what happens.

Hope this poor guy didn't get ripped off for a mobo and labour that wasn't required.

T.

Thanks.
I've gone through all the power settings and changed them all to "do nothing".
I unticked the "hibernation" option as well.

To make things worse, it's shutting down randomly again.

I'd love to know what these morons actually did to my laptop.

I kept asking them if a mobo was required, they kept on insisting it was.
It obviously hasn't sorted the problem out..

Thanks
Any other ideas.

M@21

I would definitely bring it back and explain that since you brought the laptop home it has intermittently asked to shutdown.
No point in spending more money elsewhere when they should of fixed the problem.

On another point - does it show the dialog box even when you are not using the system, or does it usually happen when you are typing away?
Could some of the keys on the keyboard have been damaged when they were replacing the mobo?

Teamhar

That really sucks, sorry that didn't work.

Did you take your old mboard away? Do you know for sure it was replaced? Without a technical report or hard evidence, it sounds like they may have just opened it up, had a poke around and hoped for the best. Lot of cowboys out there unfortunately and we all know that when it comes to IT, a little knowledge is often worse than none at all.

I'm not sure about going back to these guys without evidence. They'll try to blind you with science that will most likely be bullplop. I can recommend a reputable company for a second opinion and a proper repair- their laptop guy is second to none, I used to work with him. They'll provide you with a formal report and with that, you can threaten to haul the other guys through the small claims court to at least get your money back.

Good luck.

Teamhar

Also, a decent computer repair outfit should offer some sort of guarantee on their work, of at least 30 days.

T.

Teamhar

Just a quick thought- it wouldn't be overheating would it? Faulty proc fan? Temperature settings changed in BIOS?

Sorry guys, I can't sleep, so may as well lurk around here for a bit and see if I can help anyone.

Tara

Anti

This could literally be a hundred and one things, trying to fix it yourself will drive you insane so i'd reccomend that you take the lapop back to whomever repaired it and get them to actually fix the problem this time.

tech77

M@21 wrote: »

I would definitely bring it back and explain that since you brought the laptop home it has intermittently asked to shutdown.
No point in spending more money elsewhere when they should of fixed the problem.

On another point - does it show the dialog box even when you are not using the system, or does it usually happen when you are typing away?
Could some of the keys on the keyboard have been damaged when they were replacing the mobo?

Thanks.
No i think the dialog box only pops up when typing.
Funny you mentioned the keyboard damage thing- because each time i got it back from them, some of the keys were uneven and stiff and i have to tell them to loosen the screws (or whatever they do) to fix this.

Feels like i'm pouring money down the drain tbh.
I'm sorry i ever went to these clowns.
I'll see what happens tomorrow.

tech77

That really sucks, sorry that didn't work.

Tell me about it.

Did you take your old mboard away? Do you know for sure it was replaced? Without a technical report or hard evidence, it sounds like they may have just opened it up, had a poke around and hoped for the best.

Yeah they gave me the motherboard (i can only assume it's my old one- anyway of knowing for sure?).
I didn't get a technical report as such (they charge 75 quid for this apparently :rolleyes:), but on the receipt it just says motherboard replacement/labour.

I can recommend a reputable company for a second opinion and a proper repair- their laptop guy is second to none, I used to work with him. They'll provide you with a formal report and with that, you can threaten to haul the other guys through the small claims court to at least get your money back.

That would be great, but after shelling out 300 for this, i'm anxious to get my money back now if they can't fix it.
Who is it? Could you PM me?

BTW, the first job they did to try fix the problem was a cleaning for 100 (before the mobo replacement).
I presume i'm entitled to that back as well as this cleaning was agreed to on the grounds that it would fix the problem (which it so obviously didn't).

tech77

Teamhar wrote: »

Also, a decent computer repair outfit should offer some sort of guarantee on their work, of at least 30 days.

T.

Well tbh they are offering a 2 month warranty on the work (from what they tell me anyway- i'm really having trouble trusting them at this stage).