February 28, 2007

Stopping Windows XP/2003 Powering Off The Computer On Shutdown

I'm posting this here mainly for my own reference, but also in case others have this problem as well. I've recently installed a UPS on my server, which is working great. The only problem is during a test power outage (I disconnected the plug from the wall), the UPS software shutdown the server correctly but when power is restored the server doesn't start up again.

The problem is the server is running a ACPI HAL, which means the OS gets control of the power management and windows is powering off the machine on shutdown. Unfortunately the server doesn't have any power management settings in the BIOS, it just defaults to last state—if it was on when the power was disconnected, it'll turn back on when it is reconnected. Therefore, it needs to left on, displaying the "It's now safe to turn off your computer" screen after shutdown.

After some hunting on the Internet I found the setting to configure this, (you'll need SP1 or higher for either OS installed for this work):

  1. Click Start, click Run, and then type gpedit.msc.
  2. Under Local Computer Policy, expand Computer Configuration, expand Administrative Templates, and then expand System.
  3. Double-click Do not turn off system power after a Windows system shutdown has occurred.
  4. Click the Setting tab, click Enabled, and then click OK.

Posted by Matt at February 28, 2007 11:24 AM

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