T43: Power button doesn't work (in Windows) ... ?

Message

mavis · #1 Post by **mavis** » Wed May 17, 2006 8:17 pm

Hey everybody,

I was hoping somebody could maybe help me figure this out ...

For some reason my power button no longer works in Windows, that is, I can't use it to power down/standby/hibernate, etc ... I've tried uninstalling and reinstalling the following: Power Manager, Power Management Driver, Presentation Director (?), ThinkPad Configuration, and Easy Eject. Nothing helped ... I've gone through my registry and cleaned up all the power profiles (to no avail) and I can verify that when I change the power button settings in Windows, it does change the registry string in the global policies key - but still it just doesn't work - when I push the power button, nothing happens. The other global power settings work (do nothing when I close the lid, and ask me what to do when I press standby) ... But the power button does nothing.

I've also tried repairing my WindowsXP installation, but that didn't help either. Also, I know it's not a hardware problem, because the button works just fine to power on.

Any ideas? Thanks / mavis

#2 Post by **GomJabbar** » Wed May 17, 2006 8:29 pm

About 3 or 4 months ago I messed up my power settings playing around in the registry. I could not fix it. I made a backup of my hard drive, then I used the Product Recovery CD's to restore my T42 to factory state. After this I reinstalled all my applications and documents, and set up my preferences again. I know - this takes a bit of time. I could have restored to factory state from the hard drive (without using the CD's), but I wanted the option to create another set of Product Recovery Discs.

monkey243 · #3 Post by **monkey243** » Wed May 17, 2006 9:08 pm

Go to Control Panel,find Power Options and double click to open it,then click 'advanced' to select advanced Option.Finally,you will see some words like 'when I press the power button on my computer:' and 5 actions at the bottom of the dialog box.

mavis · #4 Post by **mavis** » Wed May 17, 2006 9:22 pm

GomJabbar wrote:About 3 or 4 months ago I messed up my power settings playing around in the registry. I could not fix it. I made a backup of my hard drive, then I used the Product Recovery CD's to restore my T42 to factory state. After this I reinstalled all my applications and documents, and set up my preferences again. I know - this takes a bit of time. I could have restored to factory state from the hard drive (without using the CD's), but I wanted the option to create another set of Product Recovery Discs.

OK, the first thing I did when my TP arrived was to make the set of recovery discs, so I can do that too ...

But basically you're saying that it might not be something I can fix without doing a complete reinstall?

mavis · #5 Post by **mavis** » Wed May 17, 2006 9:23 pm

monkey243 wrote:Go to Control Panel,find Power Options and double click to open it,then click 'advanced' to select advanced Option.Finally,you will see some words like 'when I press the power button on my computer:' and 5 actions at the bottom of the dialog box.

Thanks for the reply. I have already changed those setting though, many times - the problem is that they don't actually WORK. I can change the settings, the changes are saved in the registry, but then nothing actually happens when I press the power button ...

#6 Post by **GomJabbar** » Wed May 17, 2006 9:58 pm

If you put enough time and research into it, you might be able to fix your system without reinstalling Windows. Maybe someone will post with a tip that is successful for you. Personally I will be surprised if you can fix it without reinstalling Windows.

mavis · #7 Post by **mavis** » Tue May 23, 2006 7:47 am

GomJabbar wrote:If you put enough time and research into it, you might be able to fix your system without reinstalling Windows. Maybe someone will post with a tip that is successful for you. Personally I will be surprised if you can fix it without reinstalling Windows.

Well, I re-installed Windows, and the power button worked. A few hours later, it suddenly stopped again!!!

I use the power button to turn the computer on, I use it to resume from hibernation - I just can't use it in Windows to turn the computer off or anything else. I downloaded KeyTweak (a free program which allows you to modify your Scancode Map) and when I press the power button it doesn't see anything. Every other button works (is recognized and is re-mappable) but the program doesn't show ANYTHING when I press the power button. It's like something is stopping the key press from being recognized by the system.

I'm really at my wits' end with this. A fresh install of WindowsXP, running minimal programs, fully updated, and two or three hours after installing, the power button again stops working in Windows.

Does anyone have any ideas?? Registry stuff, anything???

thanks / mavis

mavis · #8 Post by **mavis** » Tue May 23, 2006 8:13 am

OMG.

Could somebody please just shoot me NOW, and put me out of my misery? Do the world a favor and remove my patheric [censored] from the gene pool ...

Turns out the power button works just FINE, it just needs to be pressed for about a second. I thought it was like any other key (quick key press) but apparently not. Hold it down for half a second and voila!

I'm such an idiot. Sorry to bother you all ...

blade12 · #9 Post by **blade12** » Tue May 23, 2006 9:13 am

It would be rude of me to laugh but ...

HAHHAHAHAHAHA

Why is it always the simple things that we do last when troubleshooting?

#10 Post by **GomJabbar** » Wed May 24, 2006 2:39 am

blade12 wrote:Why is it always the simple things that we do last when troubleshooting?

I know what you mean. Been there, done that.

davidspalding · #11 Post by **davidspalding** » Sat May 27, 2006 2:51 pm

mavis wrote:OMG.... Turns out the power button works just FINE, it just needs to be pressed for about a second. I thought it was like any other key (quick key press) but apparently not. Hold it down for half a second and voila!...

Don't feel bad, the first time I set mine to "ask me what to do," I had 2-3 very hesitant attempts at press-release before realising I had to hold it down. Remember that many laptops, when you press and hold the power button, do an immediate shutdown. Not to be trifled with, that.

T43: Power button doesn't work (in Windows) ... ?

T43: Power button doesn't work (in Windows) ... ?

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