Programs occasionally won't close

  • Thread starter Thread starter Chris May
  • Start date Start date
C

Chris May

When I shut down a program, it will sometimes still be running per the Task
Manager although it has disappeared from the screen. When I try to bring the
program up again later, it won't restart until I go into the Task Manager and
"End Process" from there.

This isn't anything more than a tiny annoyance unless it has happened when I set
up for automatic XP shutdown once a task is finished. Then XP hangs when it
can't stop the program that's running in the background.

Any idea what might be causing this and what I can do to stop it? I have the
most trouble with PowerDesk Pro 6 (a file manager), but that's probably because
I open and close it so much. Other programs have been known to be involved as
well.

I'm running XP Home SP2 that is kept current with updates.

Thanks for any help.

ChrisM
 
Do some searching for HungAppTimeout and AutoEndTasks and even
WaitToKillServiceTimeout . Now these are registry modifications so read
carefully and follow the instructions. When in doubt always backup the
entries you are modifying or copy the original values so that you can revert
them if need be. Most of these will help to decrease your shutdown times when
you are doing so. For example 30000 is 30 seconds in computer terms. So if
your HungAppTimeout is set to this then during shutdown the system will wait
for that amount of time to end the Hung App. So 1000 is 1 second and 500 is
1/2 second. You get the picture. 1/2 second is a very long time in computer
terms. Post back if you need more. TTFN.
 
| Do some searching for HungAppTimeout and AutoEndTasks and even
| WaitToKillServiceTimeout . Now these are registry modifications so read
| carefully and follow the instructions. When in doubt always backup the
| entries you are modifying or copy the original values so that you can revert
| them if need be. Most of these will help to decrease your shutdown times when
| you are doing so. For example 30000 is 30 seconds in computer terms. So if
| your HungAppTimeout is set to this then during shutdown the system will wait
| for that amount of time to end the Hung App. So 1000 is 1 second and 500 is
| 1/2 second. You get the picture. 1/2 second is a very long time in computer
| terms. Post back if you need more. TTFN.

Thanks for the info. The following settings are already in force on my
computer:

HungAppTimeout = 5000 (5 sec.)
AutoEndTasks = 1 (Enabled)
WaitToKillServiceTimeout = 1000 (1 sec.)

There's one more setting in the same subfolder as HungAppTimeout and
AutoEndTasks that may apply:

WaitToKillAppTimeout = 20000 (20 sec.)

These settings have been present during the time I've been having the problem
with apps still shown as running per Task Manager after they've been shut down.

Any suggestions about changing the above settings or maybe there's something
else I could do?

The real problem seems to be the apps still showing in Task Manager. Windows is
evidently not always doing something it should be doing to release an app each
time I close it.

Thanks for any help.

ChrisM
 
Back
Top