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TechQuiet 11d · day 12

Raymond Chen's power button timing raises questions among Windows developers

An OS News deep-dive into Raymond Chen's claims about PC force-shutdown timing uncovers a discrepancy that puzzles the technical community.

newest coverage 11d agosummary written 11d ago4 pieces64 likes & upvotes20 comments MastodonHacker NewsNewswires

What to know

  • Raymond Chen claims Windows triggers a kernel dump after 8 seconds and forces shutdown at 12 seconds of power-button hold—but most motherboards force shutdown in 4–5 seconds per ATX specs.
  • The discrepancy raises questions about whether Windows adapts kernel-dump timing to hardware, whether Chen's observations are outlier cases, or whether there are undocumented PC-manufacturer behaviors.
  • Microsoft classifies these emergency dumps as 'long power button hold' (LPBH) failures; black-screen variants are routed to a specialized team, suggesting the phenomenon is real but incompletely understood.

Raymond ChenRaymond Chen Windows developer, error-reporting analystOS News author Technical investigator

How it unfolded 2 developments, newest first · click a bar or a number to jump articlesposts

Peak 3 pieces in 3h at Oct 31, 2 AM; 4 pieces over 12 days (1 article · 3 posts) Oct 31, 2 AM — 3 pieces · 1 article · 2 posts — Mastodon 1, Hacker News 1, Newswires 1Oct 31, 5 AM — quietOct 31, 8 AM — 1 piece · 1 post — Mastodon 1Oct 31, 11 AM — quietOct 31, 2 PM — quietOct 31, 5 PM — quietOct 31, 8 PM — quietOct 31, 11 PM — quietNov 1, 1 AM — quietNov 1, 4 AM — quietNov 1, 7 AM — quietNov 1, 10 AM — quietNov 1, 1 PM — quietNov 1, 4 PM — quietNov 1, 7 PM — quietNov 1, 10 PM — quietNov 2, 1 AM — quietNov 2, 4 AM — quietNov 2, 7 AM — quietNov 2, 10 AM — quietNov 2, 1 PM — quietNov 2, 4 PM — quietNov 2, 7 PM — quietNov 2, 10 PM — quietNov 3, 1 AM — quietNov 3, 4 AM — quietNov 3, 7 AM — quietNov 3, 10 AM — quietNov 3, 1 PM — quietNov 3, 4 PM — quietNov 3, 7 PM — quietNov 3, 10 PM — quietNov 4, 1 AM — quietNov 4, 4 AM — quietNov 4, 7 AM — quietNov 4, 10 AM — quietNov 4, 1 PM — quietNov 4, 4 PM — quietNov 4, 7 PM — quietNov 4, 10 PM — quietNov 5, 1 AM — quietNov 5, 4 AM — quietNov 5, 7 AM — quietNov 5, 10 AM — quietNov 5, 1 PM — quietNov 5, 4 PM — quietNov 5, 7 PM — quietNov 5, 10 PM — quietNov 6, 1 AM — quietNov 6, 4 AM — quietNov 6, 7 AM — quietNov 6, 10 AM — quietNov 6, 1 PM — quietNov 6, 4 PM — quietNov 6, 7 PM — quietNov 6, 10 PM — quietNov 7, 1 AM — quietNov 7, 4 AM — quietNov 7, 7 AM — quietNov 7, 10 AM — quietNov 7, 1 PM — quietNov 7, 4 PM — quietNov 7, 7 PM — quietNov 7, 10 PM — quietNov 8, 1 AM — quietNov 8, 4 AM — quietNov 8, 7 AM — quietNov 8, 10 AM — quietNov 8, 1 PM — quietNov 8, 4 PM — quietNov 8, 7 PM — quietNov 8, 10 PM — quietNov 9, 1 AM — quietNov 9, 4 AM — quietNov 9, 7 AM — quietNov 9, 10 AM — quietNov 9, 1 PM — quietNov 9, 4 PM — quietNov 9, 7 PM — quietNov 9, 10 PM — quietYesterday, 1 AM — quietYesterday, 4 AM — quietYesterday, 7 AM — quietYesterday, 10 AM — quietYesterday, 1 PM — quietYesterday, 4 PM — quietYesterday, 7 PM — quietYesterday, 10 PM — quietToday, 1 AM — quietToday, 4 AM — quietToday, 7 AM — quietToday, 10 AM — quietToday, 1 PM — quietToday, 4 PM — quiet 1–2
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  1. 2

    OS News identifies discrepancy between ATX spec and Chen's observations

    The article notes that emergency kernel dumps are classified internally as 'long power button hold' (LPBH) failures, with black-screen variants routed to a specialized team. The author questions whether the timing gap reflects Windows adaptive behavior, motherboard variation, or undiscovered system prevalence.

    “These emergency kernel dumps are internally classified as "long power button hold" (LPBH) failures. One of the pieces of information recorded in these emergency kernel dumps is whether the screen consists entirely of black pixels.”
    — OS News article
  2. 1

    OS News examines Raymond Chen's power-button shutdown account

    OS News publishes an investigation into Raymond Chen's description of Windows power-button behavior, noting that holding the button for 12 seconds forces hardware shutdown, and 8 seconds triggers a kernel dump for error reporting. The author identifies a puzzle: most sources cite 4–5 second motherboard force-shutdown timings, much shorter than Chen's numbers.

    “If you hold a PC's power button for 12 seconds, it will turn off at the hardware level without notifying the operating system. This is a safety feature so that you can turn of the computer even if the operating system's "Shut down" command isn't working.”
    — OS News article / Raymond Chen account