PC fans always on! 7

[skeelsie]

I have a P4 2.8ghz HP Pavillion system running XP home, The probelem being is when i go to shut down the OS closes the monitor switches itself off but the HD light stays on and glows yellow despite the disk not actually spinning, also the processor fan and PSU fan stay on and refuse to switch off - unless you pull the plug on the system. PSU fan only spins slowly, i left it for a day thinking its a feature to aid apres shutdown cooling but to no avail, do i need to worry?

 

[ComputerWhisperer]

I must admit, I've never heard anything like your particular situation! It sounds like (to me) that your PC is always powered on, even when you use the power button. It must be some kind of always ready mode. Here's a question: when shut the PC down, do you actually see the OS go through its shut down process and then power down?

Maybe someone will enlighten us on this issue. I am also curious about this strange phenomena.

Good Luck!

 

[pdb123]

I had a similar issue on a dell latitude system all i did was get a bios upgrade off the dell web site and this fixed it! Still not to sure as to why it happened the tech support guy said it had something to do with the power controller failing. Hope this helps if not then i would back up data and format the OS as there is obviously a corrupted file somewhere

 

[Enkrypted]

I would double check in the BIOS to make sure that the power down option is set to off and not standby.

Enkrypted
A+

 

[micker377]

I've seen BIOS setups that give you a choice of "always leave the fans on". Check all the power and boot sections in your setup.

 

[skeelsie]

Cheers guys, have checked BIOS and it is set to shutdown - rather than standby, and the os does fully close. USB is still active as well as HD light on my external drive flickers at 30 second intervals. Wierd. Maybe a firmware update is the only answer. All i'm really worried about is if it could cause and damage, do processor fans have a decent longevity at low speeds??

 

[norty303]

I don't know if the speed has anything to do with it but my systems don't ever get switched off and I've never had a processor fan failure. Shame the same can't be said for GFX card fans... ;-)

 

[Aussie2]

skeelsie you said usb is still active and you have a external hdd I assume this is connected via usb you could check bios and make sure usb device wake-up is disabled if not bios check jumpers this would explain why system is running in low power but cpu stopped also why a bios update worked for pdb123 update would leave usb device wake-up in default setting being {disabled}just a thought Im no expert and could be way off the mark

 

[skeelsie]

Can't find a bios update either, i tried installing origionals off Hewlett Packard site, they did nothing, e-mailed their tech support and they tried to fob me off with deleting your shutdown sounds and try holding the power button. Maybe i'll fabricate a power switch for 3.5in drive bay that cuts mains power. Hmmm

 

[skeelsie]

Checked USB settings in BIOS, fiddled with all the settings and still no joy. Its a shame as the system - once running, is flawless, i've never had such a stable machine, it just won't turn off. Could it be a badly connected motherboard cables or cheapo chinese PSU.

 

[bcastner]

You likely have an ethernet adapter with WOL enabled. If off, is there stil a light on the adapter?

If so, the machine is never truely off. The PSU has a thermal switch to control fans, and my guess is that is defective, or more likely, the PSU is on its way out and runs hot.

 

[tpman]

Just try unplugging the external drive. I had a similar problem with an external drive. Seems that there is enough power coming through to keep stuff on the pc active, even when it was 'shutdown' and the power turned off (to the pc only)

 

[skeelsie]

Everything is unplugged, not using networking either. Just keeps fanning itself, its not as if its warm in England!

 

[bcastner]

It does not matter if you are using networking.
With the machine off, is a light on for your ethernet adapter?

 

[skeelsie]

No light showing on NIC, however my blue tooth dongle is still illuminated, as with every other USB device - power is still present.

 

[tpman]

Is your blue tooth device plugged into a power source? If you have any usb device still plugged into the usb port on the pc and that usb device is connected to a power source, (ie. printer, external hard drive) you need to unplug each one of those, from your pc, until you find the culprit that is supplying the power to your fan.