Changing an option in Windows XP

C

Chowder Head

Limp Gawd
Joined
Oct 20, 2005
Messages
244
Hey guys, quick question. I re-installed my OS a few weeks back due to a problem with my ACPI. The re-instllation went smooth as can be and all my apps are loaded back up.

I just have two weird things that I'd like to change. For one, whenever I go to shut down my computer, I notice the option for stand by is grayed out and cannot be accessed. Why is that?

Lastly, whenever I tell the computer to shut down, instead of immediately powering off, I get the message "It is now safe to shut down your computer."

How do I get the standby option enabled and for it to shut down completely the first time I tell it to do so?

Thanks.
 
Either a BIOS setting for enabling power management support and/or the chipset drivers for your mobo aren't installed correctly.
 
Did the fix for your problem with ACPI involve turning the feature off in your BIOS??
 
GORANKAR said:
Did the fix for your problem with ACPI involve turning the feature off in your BIOS??
Click to expand...
Actually, yes.

Well, here's the full story, sorry for not explaining it my first post. A few weeks ago, I noticed there was a new version for my BIOS, so I went on and installed it but there was a problem with my flash. Something was wrong with the ACPI, as confirmed by the MSI tech group and it was stuck on on. If I switched it to off, I couldn't load windows. When it did load, whenever I went to shut it down, it immediately started back up, almost like I chose restart.

Fast forward to this week, when I did a clean re-install. I guess since I had no problems loading windows before with the ACPI set to off, I guess I went with the proven option. But now, looking at my problems, since it does deal with power management, my problems are probably from switching it off.

I'll change it tonight and hopefully confirm to the rest of you that it was indeed the problem.

Thanks guys.
 
Update: I turned on the ACPI but the problem still exists. I think I narrowed it down but I'm not sure how to fix it.

I thought about it and remembered something odd happening when I tried to install the system driver for the mobo. It stopped given me a weird prompt and reinstalled everything else so I thought that was that.

But I check the CD out again tonight and I tried to load up the driver and it happens again.

Here's the driver I'm trying to download. It's called the NVIDIA C51/CK804 System Driver.

And here's what the prompt says, word for word:
"The wizard found no suitable driver under the locations that you specify.

Please specify the directory again!!!"

I'm lost because it didn't ask me to select a directory. You're supposed to just pop in the CD, and click the clickable "NVIDIA C51/CK804 System Driver" text and it installs without specifying anything.

I'd appreciate any feedback I can get regarding this.

Thanks guys.
 
If you don't have 100% ACPI support - meaning every driver for every piece of hardware is 100% ACPI compliant - then you'll have those shutdown issues you just mentioned. ACPI isn't just for one or a few devices, it's systemwide and requires the entire machine to comply with the standard or it simply won't work properly - side effects are naturally shutdown issues as well as standby/hibernate problems also.

As for the driver loading issue, you might have to do a manual install of it with Device Manager and the specific device - Update Driver - then point it to the CD or the folder on the CD that has the specific driver in question.

Hope this helps...
 
Turning ACPI off in the BIOS prior to installing XP results in a "Standard PC" type installation which will cause the "It is now safe to shut down your computer" issue.

If you have now re-enabled ACPI in the BIOS you'll need to open Device Manager and under Computer where it says Standard PC, choose to update driver and select ACPI Uniprocessor PC or ACPI Multiprocessor PC (whichever applies).
 
Thanks for the info guys, it's appreciated.

Now an update. I checked out the "Computer" in the device manager and it doesn't say it's a standard comp , it says its a "MPS Multiprocessor PC" I tried to update the driver with the mobo CD in there but it says "the wizard couldn't find a better match for your hardware than the software you currently have installed." So does that mean that driver installed ok? I even specified for the wizard to look in the CD, under the AMD folder. I even tried to manually install it but the same prompt occurs.

bbz_Ghost, so should I basically uninstall every driver I downloaded and re-install them and see what happens? LAN drivers, audio drivers, etc?

Thanks again for the help guys, it's much appreciated.
 
If you enabled ACPI support in the BIOS first (before trying to change the driver) then "ACPI Multiprocessor PC" should be shown as an option unless your MOBO doesn't support ACPI. But since you seem to have had other ACPI issues... maybe there is some other problem? I will defer to others who may have a better answer.
 
No no, that means that unless every single hardware device is supported in Device Manager (no yellow or red warning icons) and the "Computer" is listed as either ACPI Uniprocessor PC or Mulitprocessor or MPS or whatever - as long as ACPI is part of the type of computer, then it means ACPI is functioning correctly or it should be.

Windows is one big conglomeration of crap most of the time, and it's amazing that any of it works at all sometimes. You should be able to change the "Computer" type to ACPI PC of some kind based on whether you have a single processor or single processor dual core, etc... I'm on a P4-M at the moment so I can't tell you all the possible choices, but the "driver" you're looking for is already built into XP itself - just open "Computer" in Device Manager, Update Driver, and look for drivers on the list you choose yourself - don't browse to a CD for it since you won't find it.

Everything you should need is already built into XP save for the device drivers for hardware that's not natively supported. As long as you can open Device Manager and not see any yellow or red warning icons, you're fine. It's just a question of changing the "Computer" driver to one that supports ACPI functionality.

Hope this helps... and at worst, you might be required to reinstall XP but you can do that on top of itself and leave most if not all the data on the drive intact... that's a last resort effort however.
 
Well the only other possible option was to change it to "Standard PC" which I did, but the problem still persists. There are also no drivers with a red or yellow warning next to them.

Now when you say reinstall XP on top of itself, what exactly do you mean? Like, I don't have to wipe out the C: drive? What is the difference between that and an attempted repair re-install?

If I do have to re-install Windows, I'm just looking to keep all my program files and settings because right now, they are perfect. I tried using the backing up software that came with the Windows CD but it was a hassle. Maybe I was doing it wrong though, I have no idea.

Thanks guys.
 
Just one last bump.

I tried nearly everything I can but if I have to wipe the disk, I'm looking for something fast and easy to use to both backup, and merge my files such as Documents and Settings with the new one without any problem. Think maybe Norton Ghost is the way to go?

Also, I'm still not sure when you mean installing it over itself. Does that mean install XP on the previous install (the one I'm using now) without wiping the entire C: parition?

Any help is again appreciated, thanks guys.
 
I have had to change from ACPI Multiprocessor to MPS Multiprocessor PC then back again. When you opened device manager, then opened "Computer" then right click and update driver, did you select the following for the next three menus:

"No, no tthis time"; then "Install from a list..."; then "Don't Search.."

Thats how I changed the HAL layer. MS has a post describing how to force the prefered HAL on re-install. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/299340
 
Yeah that's what I tried before but I just fixed it. Guess install it on itself and repair are interchangeable because I just did a repair re-installation, and now I have the hibernate feature active along with my files intact. It even lists "ACPI Multiprocessor" which is a good sign. I do not expect to have a problem shutting down but then again, I have the crappiest luck ever so I won't be surprised if something else happens.

Thanks again for the help guys.
 
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