Slow/stalled shut-down

[Guest]

Recently my Windows XP Home (SP2) has started shutting down very slowly and
sometimes just stalls during the shut down. What causes this and what can I
do about it?

 

[Rock]

Recently my Windows XP Home (SP2) has started shutting down very slowly
and
sometimes just stalls during the shut down. What causes this and what can
I
do about it?

See this shutdown/restart troubleshooter.
http://aumha.org/win5/a/shtdwnxp.htm

 

[Rock]

My shut-down hangs up at "Windows is shutting down ......" and I do not
seem
to have any of the trouble devices or software that the throubleshooter
mentions. I defrag often and have no operating problems. Just this
hang-up

What happens when you boot into safe mode? Does it shutdown from there ok?
To boot into safe mode restart the computer. As the BIOS display image
disappears repeatedly tap the F8 until the Advanced Options menu appears
with several choices one of which is safe mode. Highlight that and press
enter.

 

[Rock]

Yes, it shuts down from safe mode as it should.

Ok now we've got some troubleshooting facts to start from. Do some clean
boot troubleshooting to see what is starting in normal mode (but not safe
mode) and causing the problem.

Clean Boot Troubleshooting

How to Troubleshoot By Using the Msconfig Utility in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=310560

How to perform advanced clean-boot troubleshooting in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=316434

How to perform a clean boot in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=310353