Windows 7 power button

[captnski]

Hello,
My computer shuts down as soon as I touch the power button. Is there a way to set a delay of a few seconds.

 

[hang-the-9]

Shutdown using Shut Down from Windows not the case power button.

If your PC is setup with a hardware power switch, it will just kill the power, you can't configure that. A soft power switch you can change in Power Management, but those you would need to hold in for about 3 seconds before the PC shut down.

 

[sminlal]

To add to hang-the-9's comments:

Most modern PCs have a power switch that doesn't really turn off the power, but rather sends a "power button pressed" notification to Windows. You can configure Windows what to do when that happens - common options are "sleep", "hibernate", "shut down", etc. I'm not aware of any way to configure something like "wait 10 seconds and then shut down". You might be able to create a script that runs on shutdown which causes a 10-second delay, but I suspect that your desktop session would still log out right away, so it probably wouldn't do you any good.

If you hold the power button down for long enough, most PCs will just kill the power whether the OS wants it or not. That can be useful if the OS hangs or crashes, but it's not a good idea to do it on a regular basis because it prevents the OS from flushing its caches to disk and that can cause file corruption.

I guess I have to ask though - if you want to wait a few seconds before the system shuts down, then why don't you just press the power button a few seconds later?

 

[Sherksilver]

There might be one other option - some MB BIOS versions have a selection in them for the power button (Instant Off, and a Delayed Off). You should check for that option.

 

[13thmonkey]

+1 sherk, bios may have options for what the power button does. As does windows, you can set what the power button does in windows power options.

 

[captnski]

To add to hang-the-9's comments:

Most modern PCs have a power switch that doesn't really turn off the power, but rather sends a "power button pressed" notification to Windows. You can configure Windows what to do when that happens - common options are "sleep", "hibernate", "shut down", etc. I'm not aware of any way to configure something like "wait 10 seconds and then shut down". You might be able to create a script that runs on shutdown which causes a 10-second delay, but I suspect that your desktop session would still log out right away, so it probably wouldn't do you any good.

If you hold the power button down for long enough, most PCs will just kill the power whether the OS wants it or not. That can be useful if the OS hangs or crashes, but it's not a good idea to do it on a regular basis because it prevents the OS from flushing its caches to disk and that can cause file corruption.

I guess I have to ask though - if you want to wait a few seconds before the system shuts down, then why don't you just press the power button a few seconds later?

I have an Acer lap top and th power button is located just below the screen on the left side. If you pick up the laptop while the lid is open the balancing point is right where the power button is located and if your not careful you will depress the button and shut down.

 

[hang-the-9]

Are you sure that you are talking about the power button and not the lid closure sensor? I don't know any power button that can get hit by the screen.

 

[sminlal]

He's not saying the screen will hit the power button, he's saying you'll hit the power button with your hand because you naturally pick it up close to the centre of gravity where the power button is located.