What could lock the computer and inhibit rebooting?

[srd]

Sometimes when I try to restart or shutdown my computer, the shutdown
fails at first, and I must issue the command repeatedly for it to shut
down. Sometimes it stalls after quitting some but not all running
applications. Other times it hangs on the "Windows is shutting down
command." (I know it's a genuine hang and not just my
impatience--sometimes--because I have left it in that state for hours.)
When it hangs on the shutting down sign, I have to force the shutdown. One
recent clue about the nature of the problem is that I have gotten the
message from my defragger, Raxco PerfectDisk, that "the computer is locked
and could not be shut down," when I scheduled a boot time defrag operation.

If the problem is that it is locked against shut down, how do I unlock it,
or alternatively, how do I keep it from locking?

 

[Ted Zieglar]

Sounds like you have a question for Raxco technical support.
http://www.raxco.com/support/windows/index.cfm

 

[Guest]

i have the same problem - can anyone help?

 

[srd]

PerfectDisk provided the clue, but I don't think it's the cause. The
problem occurs when I try to shut the computer down manually too. And I
get the same problem on my notebook computer, on which I use Diskeeper,
not PerfectDisk. (It occurs there when Diskeeper isn't running.)

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

Perform the following maintenance:

Description of the Disk Cleanup Tool in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;310312&Product=winxp

How to Perform Disk Error Checking in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;315265&Product=winxp

Afterward, install the following:

User Profile Hive Cleanup Service
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...6d-8912-4e18-b570-42470e2f3582&displaylang=en

What's User Profile Hive Cleanup Service (UPHClean)?
http://www.windowsitpro.com/Articles/Print.cfm?ArticleID=42257

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User
Microsoft Newsgroups

Get Windows XP Service Pack 2 with Advanced Security Technologies:
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/windowsxp/choose.mspx

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

:

| Sometimes when I try to restart or shutdown my computer, the shutdown
| fails at first, and I must issue the command repeatedly for it to shut
| down. Sometimes it stalls after quitting some but not all running
| applications. Other times it hangs on the "Windows is shutting down
| command." (I know it's a genuine hang and not just my
| impatience--sometimes--because I have left it in that state for hours.)
| When it hangs on the shutting down sign, I have to force the shutdown. One
| recent clue about the nature of the problem is that I have gotten the
| message from my defragger, Raxco PerfectDisk, that "the computer is locked
| and could not be shut down," when I scheduled a boot time defrag operation.
|
| If the problem is that it is locked against shut down, how do I unlock it,
| or alternatively, how do I keep it from locking?
|
| --
| srd

 

[srd]

Carey,

Thanks for the tip on UPHClean. I was helped both by the utility and by
the explanation that accompanied it. Since this slow shutdown problem
results from applications failing to release their grip on the registry
when quitting, I looked for something I recently installed on both
computers, and I found what I think is the culprit application: ActualDoc
3, by Flexigen. Flexigen's products are interesting but often a bit buggy.

It was necessary to locate the application because UPHClean alone didn't
solve the problem, although it was a necessary part of the solution. It is
also necessary to manually quit ActualDoc and to choose the option of not
starting up automatically next time. Otherwise the computer still wouldn't
shut down. ActualDoc has an unorthodox exit dialog, which may be
implicated in the problem.

Stephen R. Diamond