Software to diagnose shutdown freezes?

[Doug]

I'm using Windows XP and *sometimes* when I shutdown / reboot, XP will
freeze before it even gets to the "logging off" screen. I've looked in
the event logs but they contain no information to help me. I guess this
means I'm running some program that somehow contaminates my system such
that I never notice until I try to shutdown.

Is there any software that will keep track of what I execute during my
login session and log it to a file, so that the next time I get a
freeze I can trace back through it and isolate the problem?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[dadiOH]

I'm using Windows XP and *sometimes* when I shutdown / reboot, XP will
freeze before it even gets to the "logging off" screen. I've looked in
the event logs but they contain no information to help me. I guess
this means I'm running some program that somehow contaminates my
system such that I never notice until I try to shutdown.

Is there any software that will keep track of what I execute during my
login session and log it to a file, so that the next time I get a
freeze I can trace back through it and isolate the problem?

Any help would be appreciated.

WinXP doesn't have an option to create bootlog.txt at startup? If so,
enable it and check the last entry after a bad shutdown (disable the
log). If the last entry is Win32, one of your running programs is
messing up the shutdown so disable - one by one - those running in the
System Tray until you find the culprit.

--
dadiOH
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[B. R. 'BeAr' Ederson]

Is there any software that will keep track of what I execute during my
login session and log it to a file, so that the next time I get a
freeze I can trace back through it and isolate the problem?

In most cases I remember shutdown problems turned out to be caused by
device conflicts or the malfunction of device drivers. Try to disable
(maybe disconnect) not needed components. Look for updated drivers or
install generic ones. The audit process you want to set up can turn
out very nasty. You'll get a mess of information this way...

Anyhow. As you already scanned through your event logs you could
continue by using SysInternals RegMon utility:

www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/Regmon.html

It has a boot logging feature which will create a (hugh!) log file from
next boot until the following shutdown. This way it will capture (some
aspects) of nearly everything happening on your computer. Even if a
program doesn't call the registry itself, some components the program
depends on might do, anyhow.

For a snapshot of the running tasks immediately before a shutdown you
should use ProcessExplorer:

www.sysinternals.com/Utilities/ProcessExplorer.html

That snapshot will most likely be a better starting point for further
investigation.

BeAr

 

[Doug]

WinXP doesn't have an option to create bootlog.txt at startup? If so,
enable it and check the last entry after a bad shutdown (disable the
log). If the last entry is Win32, one of your running programs is
messing up the shutdown so disable - one by one - those running in the
System Tray until you find the culprit.

Hmmm I used msconfig to turn on /BOOTLOG, but I have no idea where it
logged to. I searched the whole drive for bootlog.txt but didn't find
it. Any thoughts?

Thanks.

 

[old jon]

Hmmm I used msconfig to turn on /BOOTLOG, but I have no idea where it
logged to. I searched the whole drive for bootlog.txt but didn't find
it. Any thoughts?

Thanks.

Start\Search for `ntbtlog.txt`, Hope this helps. ..OJ

 

[B. R. 'BeAr' Ederson]

Start\Search for `ntbtlog.txt`, Hope this helps. ..OJ

Look inside the WinXP directory first. It might save you some time. ;-)

BeAr