Just recently my eMachines 590 will not go into standby or turn off mode whenever I click the Start button. I've tried System Restore but that didn't work, and I can't see what I've done to the PC for this to happen.

What "does" happen when you click Start > Turn Off Computer?

When I click Start, then "turn off" computer nothing happens. It just tells me that it is preparing to shut down, without actually doing so, and it never did that before.

Click Start > Run
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This should shut down Windows but may not power off the computer. Once Windows is shut down you can turn it off.

Thanks, that works OK, but how do I get the computer into standby mode?

Don't know of a way to do that from the command line.

gives a list of arguments to use with the shutdown command, didn't see any relating to standby.

Do you have your install/restore disk? Might need to do a repair.

Do keyboard shortcuts work? Windows > U > U should shut it down, Windows > U > S should put it in standby.

"Do keyboard shortcuts work? Windows > U > U should shut it down, Windows > U > S should put it in standby."

I don't understand this piece of information. Can you please clarify.

The Windows key on most keyboards, on the left between Ctrl and Alt, should bring up the Start menu when pressed. From there pressing U will bring up the shutdown menu, and then pressing U again should shut it down, R should restart, and S should go into Standby.

Whilst the shortcut keys do perform part of the task specified, they don't put the PC into standby or shut down modes. I guess I can live with the shutdown method you described earlier

That doesn't really seem satisfactory though. If you have your install disk it might be worth it to try a repair. I don't know though, seems like something less drastic "should" work.