Bugs in Windows have been blessed with everlasting life

[Roof Fiddler]

Running RC2, I press ctrl-alt-delete. Nothing happens for about a minute,
then the screen goes black and a dialog box pops up:
Title: "Logon process has failed to create the security options dialog."
Icon: circled red X.
Message: "Failure - Security Options"
Button: "OK"

I press the OK button.

Lather, rinse, repeat.

Oh yes, this definitely looks like release candidate software to me.

So I choose shutdown from the start menu. The taskbar disappears after about
a minute. My desktop disappears a couple minutes later, leaving a black
screen with a cursor.
Nothing else happens.
Several minutes later I hit the reset switch.
This bug has been in Windows since at least Windows 95. Isn't eleven years
enough time to fix one bug?
Tell me Mr. BG, I know you have difficulties with precision timing for your
software releases, but can you at least give me an approximation, do you
plan to endow your flagship software with the ability to actually SHUT THE
F#@! DOWN before or after the second coming of Christ?

 

[Rick Rogers]

Hi,

Problem #1 seems to work fine in RTM, so does #2.

On #2, interference with the shutdown sequence of events is very common, but
it's not a Windows bug. This behavior happens because of, but is not limited
to:

- misconfigured hardware timing
- misconfigured power management
- spyware, viruses, and other malware
- poorly written software that doesn't terminate
- old TSR's that don't know when to quit
- poorly written device drivers
- incorrect BIOS power settings

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP

Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

 

[Zakhar Amirov]

One problem, vista doesnt register such events so user could fix that. Even
Reliability Monitor just show Disruptive Shutdown (of course i did it after
5 minutes), but not real reason.
Somehow my Stability index is 1.09

 

[Chad Harris]

RF--

Shutdown however, does work for most of us, and for me it's faster as is the
bootime than XP and I have XP boot time very fast-- I'd try SFC by going to
search and typing in run and right clicking it to run as elevated and typing
in sfc /scannow and I'd try a startup repair from the DVD if you get no help
from running System File Checker. Did shutdown ever work? What happens if
you type shutdown in the run box?

*Startup Repair*

1. You run the startup repair tool this way:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/925810/en-us

How To Run Startup Repair In Vista Ultimate (Multiple Screenshots)
http://www.windowsvista.windowsreinstall.com/vistaultimate/repairstartup/index.htm

Note The computer must be configured to start from a CD or from a DVD. For
information about how to configure the computer to start from a CD or from a
DVD, see the information that came with the computer.

2. Restart the computer. To do this, click Start, click the arrow next to
the Lock button, and then click Restart.

This usually means that you enter bios setup by whatever key or keys
(sometimes there is more than one key that will do it for your model--go to
pc manufacturer site) and configure CD to be first in the boot order.

See for ref:
Access/Enter Motherboard BIOS
http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/bios_manufacturer.htm

Note If you cannot restart the computer by using this method, use the power
button to turn off the computer. Then, turn the computer back on.

3. Set your language preference, and then click Next.

Note In most cases, the startup repair process starts automatically, and you
do not have the option to select it in the System Recovery Options menu.

4. Click Repair your computer.

5. In the System Recovery Options dialog box, click the operating system
that you want to repair, and then click Next.

6. In the System Recovery Options menu, click Startup Repair to start the
repair process.

7. When the repair process is complete, click Finish.

I haven't been aware that this is a bug that has been in Windows since 95
for most users.

Shutdown should also work if you type it into the run box as a command.

Shutdown -a is a handy command to know if anything is trying to shut you
down ( like some viruses--blaster did that to a number of people including
the IT department of the 2nd largest railroad in the US who managed to get
it and stop their trains from running for a day) to stop that on a dime.

CH