Flasing by error message when shutting down

[Ron Hirsch]

On occasions, during the Windows XP Pro shutdown process, an error message
box flashes by seconds before the computer is finally powered down/shut off.
It passes by so fast, that there is insufficient time to read any of it.
I"ve tried hitting the PAUSE key, but that doesn't work.

Is there any "convenient" method of viewing this error message?

Is it perhaps logged in somewhere in a Dr. Watson report or other file which
is readable?

Ron Hirsch

 

[Tom Porterfield]

On occasions, during the Windows XP Pro shutdown process, an error message
box flashes by seconds before the computer is finally powered down/shut off.
It passes by so fast, that there is insufficient time to read any of it.
I"ve tried hitting the PAUSE key, but that doesn't work.

Is there any "convenient" method of viewing this error message?

Is it perhaps logged in somewhere in a Dr. Watson report or other file which
is readable?

I would start by running event viewer (Control Panel->Administrative
Tools->Event Viewer) and looking in the application log for any errors
recorded there at the time of shutdown. Check the system log as well in
case it is Windows generating the error rather than an application.

 

[Ron Hirsch]

Hi Tom,

I followed your advice of going into the event viewer

There appears to be a number of similar/identical items like the item below,
in the Applications section of the Event Viewer. When I double clicked on
it, the following came up

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Windows saved user RBH1\Ronald Hirsch registry while an application or
service was still using the registry during log off. The memory used by the
user's registry has not been freed. The registry will be unloaded when it is
no longer in use.

This is often caused by services running as a user account, try configuring
the services to run in either the LocalService or NetworkService account.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
+++++++++++++++++++++++

I went to the MS page referred to, but it didn't really give me an good
info.

I don't really know what the application was that caused this message. From
what I see though, this is apparently not a "catastrophic" situation. I
could bring up a list of services that were running in the background, but I
dont know how to spot the "guilty" party.

A month ago, I was having a more serious problem during shutdown, the system
would crash hard when shutdown was called for. The blue screen message
always referenced "WinLogon.exe" as the offending cause. After many hours of
working on the cause, I ended up removing several programs, and reinstalling
my two main printers
(which were acting a little strangely). The crashes would come and go, and
each time I thought I found the cause, they might start again. I did manage
to finally stop the crashes - they have not occurred in about 2 weeks now. I
don't know if the current error messages are related. These error messages
do not come every time, but just on occasions.

I am running a high end machine I built in early 2006, with XP Pro fully
patched, 2 GB RAM, 2+ terabytes of HD space, and high quality hardware all
around.

Ron Hirsch

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

On occasions, during the Windows XP Pro shutdown process, an error message
box flashes by seconds before the computer is finally powered down/shut
off.
It passes by so fast, that there is insufficient time to read any of it.
I"ve tried hitting the PAUSE key, but that doesn't work.

Is there any "convenient" method of viewing this error message?

Is it perhaps logged in somewhere in a Dr. Watson report or other file
which
is readable?

I would start by running event viewer (Control Panel->Administrative
Tools->Event Viewer) and looking in the application log for any errors
recorded there at the time of shutdown. Check the system log as well in
case it is Windows generating the error rather than an application.

 

[Tom Porterfield]

I followed your advice of going into the event viewer

There appears to be a number of similar/identical items like the item below,
in the Applications section of the Event Viewer. When I double clicked on
it, the following came up

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Windows saved user RBH1\Ronald Hirsch registry while an application or
service was still using the registry during log off. The memory used by the
user's registry has not been freed. The registry will be unloaded when it is
no longer in use.

This is often caused by services running as a user account, try configuring
the services to run in either the LocalService or NetworkService account.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.
+++++++++++++++++++++++

I went to the MS page referred to, but it didn't really give me an good
info.

I don't really know what the application was that caused this message. From
what I see though, this is apparently not a "catastrophic" situation. I
could bring up a list of services that were running in the background, but I
dont know how to spot the "guilty" party.

That can be difficult. I would start with anti-virus software as that
is often the culprit to cause this type of error. As you say, it's not
necessarily catastrophic, but can be an annoyance. The following KB
article includes a link to a tool called UPHClean that forces closed any
open resources during shutdown. This should help prevent the error. It
also logs which process prevented the profile from unloading. I highly
recommend you read the entire readme file as it contains lots of good
info on the issue and the tool. See
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/837115 for appropriate download links.

A month ago, I was having a more serious problem during shutdown, the system
would crash hard when shutdown was called for. The blue screen message
always referenced "WinLogon.exe" as the offending cause. After many hours of
working on the cause, I ended up removing several programs, and reinstalling
my two main printers
(which were acting a little strangely). The crashes would come and go, and
each time I thought I found the cause, they might start again. I did manage
to finally stop the crashes - they have not occurred in about 2 weeks now. I
don't know if the current error messages are related. These error messages
do not come every time, but just on occasions.

Possibly related, hard to know for sure without more info on exactly
what was causing the the initial problem as well as the results of the
logs from UPHClean.

I am running a high end machine I built in early 2006, with XP Pro fully
patched, 2 GB RAM, 2+ terabytes of HD space, and high quality hardware all
around.

Hope the above helps.

 

[Ron Hirsch]

Hi Tom,

Thanks for the info and the link re UHPClean.

That does look like a very interesting item, and I will definitely pursue
that path.

Ron Hirsch

++++++++++++++++++++++++++

That can be difficult. I would start with anti-virus software as that
is often the culprit to cause this type of error. As you say, it's not
necessarily catastrophic, but can be an annoyance. The following KB
article includes a link to a tool called UPHClean that forces closed any
open resources during shutdown. This should help prevent the error. It
also logs which process prevented the profile from unloading. I highly
recommend you read the entire readme file as it contains lots of good
info on the issue and the tool. See
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/837115 for appropriate download links.