Acer V5-571 instant shutdown when some keys pressed

BillW_707
BillW_707 Member Posts: 3 New User
edited March 2023 in 2017 Archives

A couple of days ago my wife's V5-571 laptop developed an "interesting" feature where it would do an instant power-down when certain keys were pressed (in particular the "9" or "-" keys).  Since her Windows password contained a 9, she obviously wasn't able to get very far.  She now has a different password!

 

I removed the hard drive and put it in an external enclosure, and ran a SmartCtl test which showed no errors.  I've also run MemTest86 to check the memory, also with no errors reported.  At present the laptop has an external USB keyboard attached, just in case the problem in some way relates to the built-in keyboard; so far the problem hasn't shown up today.

 

Windows EventViewer doesn't show anything obviously relevant - just a "Critical - previous shutdown was unexpected" *after* rebooting.

 

A bit of history here.  She got the laptop from a family member a couple of years ago, with Windows 8 installed, and without any of the original supporting media.  I upgraded it to Windows 10 about 18 months ago, and it's been working fine until this started happening a couple of days ago.  Has anyone seen anything of a similar nature?  Any ideas what I might try next? So long as the problem never shows up with the external USB keyboard - and it hasn't yet - I guess we can live with that, but it would be nice to fix it properly.

Best Answer

  • BillW_707
    BillW_707 Member Posts: 3 New User
    Answer ✓

    I'm marking this as solved.  In truth I don't really know if that is the case, but it certainly hasn't happened since I started using an external USB keyboard as a workaround.  I suspect the built-in keyboard as the cause of the problem, but I'm not likely to have the time for further investigations any time soon.  Therefore I don't want anyone else taking the time to think about it either; thanks, IronFly, for your contribution.

Answers

  • IronFly
    IronFly ACE Posts: 18,413 Trailblazer

    if you press those keys when on BIOS, does it shutdowns?

    you can try also a live lubuntu media and check if it shutdowns too.

    if so, can be a shortcut under the 2 keys (spills or dirt/dust).

    if not, i would give a complete antivirus scan or even better a clean windows 10 install.

    I'm not an Acer employee.
  • BillW_707
    BillW_707 Member Posts: 3 New User

    Thanks for your reply IronFly, those are good suggestions.  I just tried, and had no problem typing 9's in BIOS (lots of beeps, no crashes), or when running a live Linux CD (mine is SystemRescueCD rather than Lubuntu).

    I should have mentioned that after I pulled the thing apart to get the hard drive out, and then put it back together, the problem happened much less frequently.  That might confirm your guess about dirt in the keys, since I had to detach and re-attach the keyboard, which involved shaking it around a bit.  However, since the problem no longer happens consistently even in Windows, the BIOS/Linux test is not really conclusive.

    I'll keep trying for a few days to see if I get any more instances of the problem.  Thanks again.

  • BillW_707
    BillW_707 Member Posts: 3 New User
    Answer ✓

    I'm marking this as solved.  In truth I don't really know if that is the case, but it certainly hasn't happened since I started using an external USB keyboard as a workaround.  I suspect the built-in keyboard as the cause of the problem, but I'm not likely to have the time for further investigations any time soon.  Therefore I don't want anyone else taking the time to think about it either; thanks, IronFly, for your contribution.