Explorer hangs on Shut Down

[Randy Brook]

This is new behavior in the past week or so on an XP Pro Sp2 system.
When I do a normal Shutdown, I get a message that Explorer is not
closing: End Now or Cancel. It make take 2 tries then to get Explorer
ended. If I just wait, it never shuts. It doesn't seem to matter if I
have an Explorer window open on not on my desktop. Prior to this week
when the problem started, I always had 2 Explorer windows open and
Shutdown worked fine.

If I open TaskMan before doing a shutdown, I can close the Explorer
process. This gives me a mostly empty desktop (background but no
icons or Taskbar). Then I can do a ctl-alt-del and Shutdown for an
immediate shutdown.

So why does the normal Windows Shutdown action no longer shut down
Explorer?

 

[Malke]

This is new behavior in the past week or so on an XP Pro Sp2 system.
When I do a normal Shutdown, I get a message that Explorer is not
closing: End Now or Cancel. It make take 2 tries then to get Explorer
ended. If I just wait, it never shuts. It doesn't seem to matter if I
have an Explorer window open on not on my desktop. Prior to this week
when the problem started, I always had 2 Explorer windows open and
Shutdown worked fine.

If I open TaskMan before doing a shutdown, I can close the Explorer
process. This gives me a mostly empty desktop (background but no
icons or Taskbar). Then I can do a ctl-alt-del and Shutdown for an
immediate shutdown.

So why does the normal Windows Shutdown action no longer shut down
Explorer?

This normally happens when programs and/or processes are refusing to
exit gracefully. Most often this is caused by malware. Here is a link
to an excellent shutdown troubleshooter:

http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/shtdwnxp.htm

I'd also make sure your computer is 100% virus and spyware-free. Post
back if you need help doing that.

Malke

 

[Randy Brook]

I tend to update NAV even more often than automatic Live Update and do
periodic AdAware tests. The site you linked to is very interesting,
Unfortunately, my problem is not one described. However, the generic
advice regarding device drivers may be applicable. I've been having
some odd behavior related to my USR modem software, so I'll play
around with that.

Thanks.

 

[Malke]

I tend to update NAV even more often than automatic Live Update and do
periodic AdAware tests. The site you linked to is very interesting,
Unfortunately, my problem is not one described. However, the generic
advice regarding device drivers may be applicable. I've been having
some odd behavior related to my USR modem software, so I'll play
around with that.

Thanks.

You're welcome. Try updating the modem software, if available. If it is
a very old modem, consider replacing it (after uninstallation) and see
if that helps.

Malke

 

[Randy Brook]

I had tried updating the drivers, but the ones that US Robotics
referred me to were 2002 Win SE drivers. I uninstalled them. XP then
"found new hardware" and installed the MS drivers. This was no
improvement in the shutdown problem.

The only other software recently installed were the ATI drivers that
came with my new Radeon 7000 card. I'm not sure I can uninstall them
and still have the card work correctly. I can try it and see what
happens -- when I have a little more time.

So, for now, I just have to manually force Explorer to shut 3 times in
order to get a complete Windows shutdown.

 

[Malke]

I had tried updating the drivers, but the ones that US Robotics
referred me to were 2002 Win SE drivers. I uninstalled them. XP then
"found new hardware" and installed the MS drivers. This was no
improvement in the shutdown problem.

The only other software recently installed were the ATI drivers that
came with my new Radeon 7000 card. I'm not sure I can uninstall them
and still have the card work correctly. I can try it and see what
happens -- when I have a little more time.

So, for now, I just have to manually force Explorer to shut 3 times in
order to get a complete Windows shutdown.

I'd update the ATI drivers. Make sure you read any installation
instructions since IIRC, ATI is fussy about this.

Malke

 

[Randy Brook]

Good call. I have verified that if I force stop (using Task Manager)
atiptaxx.exe before doing a shutdown, my box shuts down fine. I have
not checked for driver updates. I think it's to change screen
resolution from the Taskbar. I can live without this feature.

 

[Randy Brook]

After I updated the drivers, the situation got slightly worse. Now to
be certain of a normal shutdown, I have to manually close all three
ATI running processes first, using Task Manager. I may just be able
to remove those programs completely. They aren't drivers per se. They
are utilities for extra features that I don't need.

Incidentally, the driver package upgrade did not update the
atiptaxx.exe program.