Hang at shutdown

[Norman]

When I chose to actually shut down the machine, it hangs at the window
'windows is shutting down'.
I've ran through the trouble shooter without success.
What can I try now?

Restart works just fine.

Norman

 

[Andrew E.]

Does restarting pc have similiar effects,or does it restart ok.
Either way,you can adjust this,go to run,type:regedit In regedit,expand,
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\controlpanel\open desktop.Locate & L.click
AutoEndTasks,go to edit,modify,set to 1 From 0,close out regedit..

 

[Malke]

When I chose to actually shut down the machine, it hangs at the window
'windows is shutting down'.
I've ran through the trouble shooter without success.
What can I try now?

Restart works just fine.

Since you didn't mention what troubleshooter you ran, here are general
shutdown troubleshooting steps:

Shutdown issues are generally caused by a program and/or process that is
refusing to exit gracefully. The program and/or process can be from malware
or can be legitimate (such as an invasive antivirus like Norton or McAfee).
If you are using a Norton or McAfee product, uninstall it and replace with
a better program such as NOD32, Kasperksy, or Avast (free). The Windows
Firewall is adequate for most people. Shutdown issues can also be caused by
old/poorly written drivers so make sure all drivers are updated. See Step
B. below for general driver directions.

A.The first step is always to make sure your computer is virus/malware free.

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

B. Drivers - The First Law of Driver Updates is "if it ain't broke, don't
fix it". Normally if everything is working you want to leave things as they
are. The exception is that heavy-duty gamers will usually want to update
their video and sound drivers to squeeze every last bit of performance out
of the hardware to get the fastest frame rates. If you're not one of those
people, you don't need to update your drivers if there are no problems you
are trying to solve.

Never get drivers from Windows Update. Get them from:

1. The device mftr.'s website; OR
2. The motherboard mftr.'s website if hardware is onboard; OR
3. The OEM's website for your specific machine if you have an OEM computer
(HP, Dell, Sony, etc.).

Read the installation instructions on the website where you get the drivers.

To find out what hardware is in your computer:

1. Read any documentation you got when you bought the computer.
2. If the computer is OEM, go to the OEM's website for your specific model
machine and look at the specs (you'll be there to get the drivers anyway)
3. Download, install and run a free system inventory program like Belarc
Advisor or System Information for Windows.

http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html - Belarc Advisor
http://www.gtopala.com/ - System Information for Windows

C. If the computer is virus/malware-free, drivers are current, and no Norton
or McAfee programs are installed, then do clean-boot troubleshooting to see
which program/process is the culprit:

How to perform a clean boot in Vista and XP -
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/331796

D. If you need more information, here is an excellent shutdown
troubleshooter:

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

Standard caveat: If troubleshooting the issue is too difficult - and there
is absolutely no shame in admitting this isn't your cup of tea - take the
machine to a computer repair shop. This will not be your local
BigComputerStore/GeekSquad type of place. Get recommendations from family,
friends, colleagues.

Malke

 

[Norman]

Restart works perfectly.
Norman

Does restarting pc have similiar effects,or does it restart ok.
Either way,you can adjust this,go to run,type:regedit In regedit,expand,
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\controlpanel\open desktop.Locate & L.click
AutoEndTasks,go to edit,modify,set to 1 From 0,close out regedit..

 

[Norman]

Interlaced below.

Since you didn't mention what troubleshooter you ran, here are general
shutdown troubleshooting steps:

I ran the startup and shutdown trouble shooter via help.

Shutdown issues are generally caused by a program and/or process that is
refusing to exit gracefully. The program and/or process can be from
malware
or can be legitimate (such as an invasive antivirus like Norton or
McAfee).
If you are using a Norton or McAfee product, uninstall it and replace
with
a better program such as NOD32, Kasperksy, or Avast (free). The Windows
Firewall is adequate for most people. Shutdown issues can also be caused
by
old/poorly written drivers so make sure all drivers are updated. See Step
B. below for general driver directions.

No Norton or McAfee installed currently.

A.The first step is always to make sure your computer is virus/malware
free.

http://www.elephantboycomputers.com/page2.html#Removing_Malware

B. Drivers - The First Law of Driver Updates is "if it ain't broke, don't
fix it". Normally if everything is working you want to leave things as
they
are. The exception is that heavy-duty gamers will usually want to update
their video and sound drivers to squeeze every last bit of performance out
of the hardware to get the fastest frame rates. If you're not one of those
people, you don't need to update your drivers if there are no problems you
are trying to solve.

Never get drivers from Windows Update. Get them from:

I haven't as I recall.

1. The device mftr.'s website; OR
2. The motherboard mftr.'s website if hardware is onboard; OR
3. The OEM's website for your specific machine if you have an OEM computer
(HP, Dell, Sony, etc.).

Read the installation instructions on the website where you get the
drivers.

To find out what hardware is in your computer:

1. Read any documentation you got when you bought the computer.
2. If the computer is OEM, go to the OEM's website for your specific model
machine and look at the specs (you'll be there to get the drivers anyway)
3. Download, install and run a free system inventory program like Belarc
Advisor or System Information for Windows.

I run Belarc.

http://www.belarc.com/free_download.html - Belarc Advisor
http://www.gtopala.com/ - System Information for Windows

C. If the computer is virus/malware-free, drivers are current, and no
Norton
or McAfee programs are installed, then do clean-boot troubleshooting to
see
which program/process is the culprit:

How to perform a clean boot in Vista and XP -
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/331796

That was covered with trouble shooter I ran.

D. If you need more information, here is an excellent shutdown
troubleshooter:

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

Oh boy, looks like that will keep me buys chasing things for a long time.
Under W9x, sometimes the boot log would hint at the troublesome issue, or
the hang point it was claimed. Can such be done with XP?
Norman

 

[Malke]

Norman wrote:

(much snippage)

Oh boy, looks like that will keep me buys chasing things for a long time.
Under W9x, sometimes the boot log would hint at the troublesome issue, or
the hang point it was claimed. Can such be done with XP?

Do clean-boot troubleshooting per the links I already gave you. Otherwise
take a look at the AumHa t-shooter.

Malke

 

[Doug]

When I chose to actually shut down the machine, it hangs at the window
'windows is shutting down'.
I've ran through the trouble shooter without success.
What can I try now?

Restart works just fine.

Norman

Try using the User Profile Hive Cleanup Service. Look here for details and
instructions:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/837115/en-us

Doug

 

[Norman]

Clean boot already done via the start up shut down trouble shooter in the
help, that is if you mean using msconfig and up-checking all.
Norman

 

[Norman]

Added notes.
I know it worked once upon a time.
Not enough restore points to handle the problem.
Norman

 

[Malke]

Added notes.
I know it worked once upon a time.
Not enough restore points to handle the problem.
Norman

I have no idea what this addendum has to do with anything. Look, it's very
simple. Something is hanging up your computer. You have to find out what it
is. The only way to do that is by eliminating everything and then adding
things back in one at a time, testing after each addition. You do this by
trying clean-boot troubleshooting and/or by booting into Safe Mode to see
if the problem occurs there. You can also look in Event Viewer for clues,
but all this has been covered in the troubleshooting steps I already gave
you and that are on the AumHA site.

I don't know what else to tell you. These things don't magically happen all
by themselves and there is always a reason. If you don't want to do the
digging yourself, take the machine to a competent computer repair shop.
There is no shame in doing this.

I'm sorry, but there really isn't anything else I can add to this thread.

Malke

 

[glee]

Clean boot already done via the start up shut down trouble shooter in the help,
that is if you mean using msconfig and up-checking all.
Norman

If you already did a clean boot, what were the results....did the shutdown issue
still occur? If the issue did not occur during a clean boot, then did you try
re-enabling startup items one at a time?
Does the issue occur when shutting down from a start into Safe Mode?
How about some *relevant* details?

 

[Norman]

A quick glance at the shutdown troubleshooter under help within XP would
have answered near all your questions and I thought I mentioned that going
to safe mode resulted in no joy.
Norman

 

[Norman]

That was just an added mention in case I forgot to mention earlier.

I believe it was hints I found at this link,
http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/shtdwnxp.htm

that you sent me and got me looking beyond the help troubleshooter. I tried
quite a few items before doing some checking in the BIOS.
It seems it was the setting in the power section for 'S5 resume using USB'.

Thanks a bunch. Thought I would post back and let you know that is solved.
Not that it is likely much help to anyone else unless someone is keeping
score of the fixes and ranking them in order of most likely to fix. What I
am saying is there are a lot of things to try to reach a conclusion.
Patience needed.
Thanks again,
Norman

Thanks for your previous reply

 

[Norman]

Thanks for the suggestion. I almost got a headache reading through it with
the realization that someone has had this trouble, TG not me yet, I hope. I
suspect something flaky in this area, but not stopping shutdown anymore.
I might give it a try just to make sure I don't have issue with profile
keys.
Norman

 

[glee]

Excuse me, I'm not going to run the troubleshooter here when you are the one with
the problem there. The troubleshooter asks questions, and the next course of action
is dependent on what your response is at each juncture. How do I know what YOUR
responses were through the troubleshooter?

You also did not mention your results in Safe Mode at the time I posted my reply.

Good luck.