WrongWayWade said:
WindowsXP Professional, SP3.
Every once in a while when shutting down the computer, it will get
stuck with the little window in the center that says 'Saving your
settings...". The background screen is still displayed but the
desktop icons and task bar have disappeared by this point.
I have to use the power switch to shut it off. There doesn't appear
to be any disk access going on, and I assume the CPU is idle at this
point as well.
Any idea why it would get stuck at this point in the shutdown
process?
http://www.aumha.org/win5/a/shtdwnxp.php
Depending on you configure Windows Update determines what updates you
get. The automatic updating is, I believe, only for what Microsoft
places in the critical category of updates. The article above mentions
that the fix is part of Windows Update as a recommended update. So when
was the last time you visiting the Windows Update site and install all
the critical and recommended updates? Just be sure to actually review
those updates because you might not want some. For example, maybe
you're hanging back on IE7 and don't want IE8 so you'll have to make
sure that either you previously marked that update as hidden (so you
don't get offered it again) or you do so this time - but you'll have to
review the list to see if what you don't want is listed and make sure to
deselect that update (and probably hide it).
Don't bother with doing any hardware updates from Microsoft's Windows
Update site. If you feel the need to fix hardware that isn't broken for
new features you don't know about and might not use then make sure to
save an image backup and visit the manufacturer's own web site to get
the updates.
The above article has incorrect steps to use the Windows Update Catalog
(so it hasn't been updated in awhile). Nowadays you go to the Windows
Update site, click on "Use administrator options", and click on "[search
the] Windows Update Catalog". It also mentions that getting rid of the
Fisher-Price (so called because of the use of bobblehead icons) UI in
Windows XP where you switch from using the "Welcome" login screen to the
classic login dialog gets rid of the shutdown problem. The first thing
I do after doing a fresh install of Windows XP is get rid of the Welcome
Screen which also disabled Fast User Switching (FUS).
You might also want to install the following if you haven't already done
so:
User Profile Hive Cleanup Service
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=6676
Have you yet cleared all the logs in Event Viewer and then shutdown (to
get the hang) to reboot and review the logs to see if an error occurred
during shutdown?
You did not say if this is a new or old problem. Did this problem begin
after you installed some new hardware or software? Also read:
http://helpdeskgeek.com/help-desk/windows-is-shutting-down-hang/