"layered hidden window" messages hangs on shutdown

[Guest]

my computer running windows 2000 runs fine but at shut down displays a box
with information can not close "layered hidden window". cancelling or
closing the box causes the shut done to proceed normally. i've reinstalled
service pack 4 and no change.
any suggestions?

 

[Steve Duff [MVP]]

It is a third-party application that has created an invisible window and
for some reason Windows can't get rid of it.

While it could be a badly-written application, it is not a good sign. My
first suggestion is to do a complete malware scan for viruses, adware,
spyware, trojans, etc. They sometimes use a non-visible window above the
desktop to do nasty business. And they usually don't like to be stopped, or at
least the blackhat programming in them is so convoluted they give off bugs
like this as a part of their normal operation.

It is always possible that you just have something installed or running
incorrectly such as an antivirus or firewall. If the scan with current
signatures turns up nothing that resolves it, use ctrl-alt-del at
shutdown to start snuffing processes.

You'll hit on the right one sooner or later. Processes that cannot
be ended are usually services which you can stop in service manager.

Or they are Evilness that need to be purged.

Steve Duff, MCSE, MVP
Ergodic Systems, Inc.