possible xp update problem>> MVP please help

[Ian Mac Donald]

I have a Dell P4 @ 1.8 gHz with 512 Meg RD ram , and a 40 gig HD. It has
always worked perfect , and I always download the latest
windows updates. I also run bootvis regularly , ( the old version, as I
haven't tried the new version yet ). My PC will usually boot up in less than
30 seconds, and will shut off in about 5 seconds when I press the off
button. Lately , I notice that it takes about 35 seconds to turn off, and I
have not done anything different to the PC. I am also running Norton
Antivirus and it is scanned regularly, and I use ad-aware version 6 to look
for spyware.
Is there anything that windows update could have done to cause this slow
down? Or do you have any other advice.
Thank you very much.
Ian
(e-mail address removed)

 

[Lorne Smith]

I have a Dell P4 @ 1.8 gHz with 512 Meg RD ram , and a 40 gig HD. It has
always worked perfect , and I always download the latest
windows updates. I also run bootvis regularly , ( the old version, as I
haven't tried the new version yet ). My PC will usually boot up in less than
30 seconds, and will shut off in about 5 seconds when I press the off
button. Lately , I notice that it takes about 35 seconds to turn off, and I
have not done anything different to the PC. I am also running Norton
Antivirus and it is scanned regularly, and I use ad-aware version 6 to look
for spyware.
Is there anything that windows update could have done to cause this slow
down? Or do you have any other advice.
Thank you very much.
Ian
(e-mail address removed)

35 seconds is NOT an abnormal time for the shutdown, mine takes up to a few
minutes sometimes and never less than 30 seconds. Shutdown time is
dependant on the number of programs you are running as Windows must close
each one down,e ven background tasks. Have you installed anything recently
that sits in your systemtray and that's a likely culprit.

Also you should not be shutting windows down by pressing the power button,
you should really use the Start -> Shutdown Windows option... You've
probably got your power button configured to to this BUT most computers
aren't set like that so if you go to another computer and shut it down that
way, you could cause lots of problems, not that that is too germaine to your
current issue though

 

[Ian Mac Donald]

Mine has always shut down in about 5 seconds, and yes, I have configured the
on/off switch to do the proper shutdown procedure for XP.
How can I find the system tray , and what can I look for?
Thanks Lorne:
Ian

 

[The Unknown P]

While the number of programs running may in fact have
a "small" affect on the time it takes to shut XP down the
mere fact that you so easily throw out "minutes" as an
every day shutdown time makes me shudder. I don't care how
many programs you have running(within reason) there is
absolutely no case or scenario under which windows need to
take any more than 30secs to close down. If this is the
case then you need to correctly configure your
system.Things like Hung apps\timeouts\unload dlls etc.
need to be set.As for boot up times 35 secs is flying and
a good time. Depending on the number of programs starting
and the processes needed then boot up can typically take
up to a minute to get to the desktop especially if you
have to go though the log on screen and load an individual
profile each time. Keep smiling.

 

[Lorne Smith]

While the number of programs running may in fact have
a "small" affect on the time it takes to shut XP down the
mere fact that you so easily throw out "minutes" as an
every day shutdown time makes me shudder. I don't care how
many programs you have running(within reason) there is
absolutely no case or scenario under which windows need to
take any more than 30secs to close down. If this is the
case then you need to correctly configure your
system.Things like Hung apps\timeouts\unload dlls etc.
need to be set.As for boot up times 35 secs is flying and
a good time. Depending on the number of programs starting
and the processes needed then boot up can typically take
up to a minute to get to the desktop especially if you
have to go though the log on screen and load an individual
profile each time. Keep smiling.

Nah... I just run a LOT of services on my machine, and some do take time to
close down correctly (various integrity checks are performed) - it's
essentially a mini server... which is probably why I only ever reboot it or
turn it off when absolutely necessary....

 

[Lorne Smith]

The systemtray is the area where your clock is shown, and various other
applications show icons there such as virus checkers etc. It's possibly
something is sitting in there that either takes ages to close down, or isn't
closing down correctly...

 

[Ian Mac Donald]

I found the problem, a few weeks ago I set the registry to dump the page
file at shutdown, after I reset it to "0", the shutdown now is about 7
seconds.
Thanks guys:
ian