If you have landed on this particular page, it’s most likely you have encountered a rare issue on your Windows 11 or Windows 10 computer, where you’re staring at your PC screen displaying the following text Please release the power button. We just need a few more seconds to shut down on black background – not to worry because you’re at the right place for the solution to this issue!
When this bug check occurs instead of the standard Blue Screen on Windows being displayed, a black background with the text below (as you can see on the lead-in image above) is displayed along with a % completion indicator:
Please release the power button. We just need a few more seconds to shut down.
You encounter this issue because the system was configured to initiate a bug check when the user holds the power button for a specified length of time. This is a diagnostic bug check used to capture a dump when the system is about to be hard reset with a long power button hold.
Please release the power button; We just need a few more seconds to shutdown
The MANUALLY_INITIATED_POWER_BUTTON_HOLD stop error has a value of 0x000001C8 and the bug check occurs when the power button is held for 7 seconds, but released before the UEFI Reset occurs at 10 seconds.
LONG POWER BUTTON HOLD bug check
The Please release the power button; We just need a few more seconds to shutdown bug check also known as the LONG POWER BUTTON HOLD bug check is similar to the MANUALLY_INITIATED_CRASH bug check, which is triggered on a keyboard keystroke combination.
To support Long Power Button Hold, the Windows 11/10 device needs a General Purpose Input and Output (GPIO) based Power Button firmware to route the power event to the Windows Power Manager, and for the PowerButtonBugcheck registry key to be enabled in the registry.
A general-purpose input/output (GPIO) is an uncommitted digital signal pin on an integrated circuit or electronic circuit board which may be used as an input or output, or both, and is controllable by the user at runtime. GPIOs have no predefined purpose and are unused by default.
To manually enable the PowerButtonBugcheck key in the registry, do the following:
Since this is a registry operation, it is recommended that you back up the registry or create a system restore point as necessary precautionary measures. Once done, you can proceed as follows:
- Press Windows key + R to invoke the Run dialog.
- In the Run dialog box, type regedit and hit Enter to open Registry Editor.
- Navigate or jump to the registry key path below:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power
- At the location, on the right pane, right-click on the blank space on the right pane and then select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value to create a registry key and then rename the key as PowerButtonBugcheck and hit Enter.
- Double-click on the new entry to edit its properties.
- Input 1 in the Value data field.
- Click OK or hit Enter to save the change.
- Exit Registry Editor.
- Restart your PC.
Alternatively, you can automatically enable the PowerButtonBugcheck key in the registry. Here’s how:
- Press Windows key + R to invoke the Run dialog.
- In the Run dialog box, type notepad and hit Enter to open Notepad.
- Copy and paste the code below into the text editor.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00 [HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power] "PowerButtonBugcheck"=dword:00000001
- Now, click the File option from the menu and select Save As button.
- Choose a location (preferably desktop) where you want to save the file.
- Enter a name with .reg extension (eg; AddPowerButtonBugcheck.reg).
- Choose All Files from the Save as type drop-down list.
- Double-click the saved .reg file to merge it.
- If prompted, click on Run > Yes (UAC) > Yes > OK to approve the merge.
- You can now delete the .reg file if you like.
- Restart PC.
That’s it!
What happens when you hold the power button for 5 seconds?
Pressing the power button for 5 seconds is basically like cutting the power to the system, that is, turning of the main switch that powers the computer.
How many seconds do you need to hold down the power button to shut off the computer?
Press and hold the power button on the front of the computer for approximately 5 seconds. The computer will shut off. No lights should be near the power button. If lights are still on, you can unplug the power cord to the computer tower.
Read: Path cannot be traversed due to untrusted mount point
How do I do a forced shutdown?
A forced shutdown is where you literally force your computer to shut off. To shut down when the computer is not responding, hold the power button in for about 10 to 15 seconds and the computer should power down. Keep in mind that you will lose any unsaved work that you had opened.
What happens if I press power button for 30 seconds?
Some batteries connect directly to the motherboard, and some connect via a cable. Depending on the type of battery your laptop has, you may or may not have to remove it. Hold down the Power button for 15 – 30 seconds. By holding down the Power button, you release all of the residual power left in the laptop.
