How to disable/delay the auto shutdown process

[pruez]

QUESTION:

I'm putting a motorized removable hard disk in my tower. The docking station part of

this is an internal ide connected device - installs just like a zip or CD: power cable

and ide cable, that's all.

The insertion/ejection mechanism of the internally mounted docking station is motorized

and worked very well with win95/98 where the "It's now safe to turn
off your computer" would come up allowing the perfect moment to eject the hard disk.

In today's systems (w2k, xp, 98) HOW can I get the "It's now safe..." message to come up

so that I can safely eject the MobileDrive (the cartridge with the hard drive) from the

drive station? Or some other way to delay the auto shut down process??

Things looked at/thought about...

(1) PowerdownAfterShutdown is already "0".
(2) Standby mode doesn't save data to disk and am not sure is
safe.
(3) Cannot find place in BIOS to turn off APM (Auto Power Management)

Does anyone know how to shutdown w2k, xp, 98 in such a way as to
get the "It's now safe to..." message to come up --- OR --- have other ideas?

I suppose we could restart, pause the POST and then eject, but I'm hoping there's an

easier way.

Here's one solution that was proposed BUT the warning messages this generates scares me.

ARE THERE OTHERS?????

I *believe* I know the correct answer, but hopefully someone can confirm. You need to

change the computer type in the Device manager.
Expand the "Computer" category, and you should see either APM or ACPI PC listed.

Select properties and update the driver to Standard PC. This should disable the auto

power off, and leave you with the "ready to shutdown" message. However, I would backup

the machine before I play with this.

 

[Toejam31]

The idea was in the right neighborhood, but the recommendation was not a safe option with ACPI power management already enabled for the system during the installation of the operating system. Simply changing the drivers for the HAL type in the Device Manager could make the computer highly unstable, or render it unbootable.

Here's some information on the subject:

<A HREF="http://www.1e.com/Products/NightWatchman/technical/powermanagement.asp" target="_new">Windows and Power Management</A>

In order to have that "It's now safe ... " screen, you'll need to reinstall or <A HREF="http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/techinfo/reskit/samplechapters/fndc/fndc_rec_ztkn.asp" target="_new">repair</A> Windows 2000, with ACPI features disabled in the BIOS, and APM power management enabled. With Win2K and WinXP, you'll also need to manually select the Hardware Abstraction Layer Type during Setup.

<A HREF="http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q216251" target="_new">HOW TO: Specify a Specific or Third-Party HAL During Windows Setup (Q216251)</A>

Note: WinXP Home Edition does not support APM, only ACPI.

I would further suggest that you back up your personal files before making these changes, as specifying a different HAL will alter the way Windows assigns IRQs to the devices in the system, and some of your programs may need to be reinstalled afterwards.

Here are some addition links to information that you may find helpful:

<A HREF="http://www.annoyances.org/exec/show/article07-044" target="_new">Dealing with Windows's Advanced Power Management (APM)</A>

<A HREF="http://is-it-true.org/nt/nt2000/atips/atips42.shtml" target="_new">Windows 2000 Shutdown Issues</A>

<A HREF="http://www.microsoft.com/hwdev/archive/onnow/w2apm.asp" target="_new">APM Theory of Operation for Windows</A>

<A HREF="http://www.brienposey.com/win2k_power_management.htm" target="_new">Windows 2000 Power Management, Behind The Scenes</A>

In any case, it will be necessary with all operating systems to update the chipset drivers, and in the case of Win2K and Win98, reinstall the latest version of DirectX. Win2K will also need Service Pack 2 reinstalled before updating the chipset drivers. Other devices may also need fresh driver installations, such as the video card, sound card, and NIC card. In many ways, this is a fresh installation of the operating system, and should be treated as such.

Toejam31

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