Windows XP fails to shut down in reasonable tome

[Verna]

When I shut down my computer in the evening it takes up to 20 min to go gtom
touching the sleep key or the start button for the shutdown screen to appear.
The computer is a quad core computer at over 3 ghz speed and 2GB memory.
there is about 700 megs ram being used and <1% cpu usage.
I scanned for malware with macafee and nothing is showing.
I have also noted though that many programs can take a long time to start
with many delays in operation. keypresses do not show on screen for up to 30
sconds.
I recently upgraded to a new hard drive and now have >800 gb disk space.
Don

 

[R. McCarty]

Windows follows a routine to shutdown. Applications are closed,
Services stopped and your profile ( User Hive ) is unloaded. When
shutdown takes a long time you should check both the Application
and System Event logs for errors.
Click Start, Run (type) EventVwr.Msc [Enter]
- Scan both logs for Red and Yellow icons that denote warnings &
errors. Double-Clicking each brings up the Details.
Note the Event ID # which is helpful in resolving the issue(s).

Microsoft offers a add-on service called User Profile Hive Cleanup
that assists with shutdown of an XP machine.
You can download it here:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...6d-8912-4e18-b570-42470e2f3582&DisplayLang=en

 

[milt]

When I shut down my computer in the evening it takes up to 20 min to go gtom
touching the sleep key or the start button for the shutdown screen to appear.
The computer is a quad core computer at over 3 ghz speed and 2GB memory.
there is about 700 megs ram being used and <1% cpu usage.
I scanned for malware with macafee and nothing is showing.
I have also noted though that many programs can take a long time to start
with many delays in operation. keypresses do not show on screen for up to 30
sconds.
I recently upgraded to a new hard drive and now have >800 gb disk space.
Don

Mcafee doesn't usually scan for malware.
I would suggest using something like Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware
http://www.malwarebytes.org/mbam.php


It sounds like your computer is loaded with malware to me. The whole
thing is slow and sluggish and it has nothing to do with the speed of
your CPU, your drive space or your ram.

 

[Johnw]

Verna submitted this idea :

When I shut down my computer in the evening it takes up to 20 min to go gtom
touching the sleep key or the start button for the shutdown screen to appear.
The computer is a quad core computer at over 3 ghz speed and 2GB memory.
there is about 700 megs ram being used and <1% cpu usage.
I scanned for malware with macafee and nothing is showing.
I have also noted though that many programs can take a long time to start
with many delays in operation. keypresses do not show on screen for up to 30
sconds.
I recently upgraded to a new hard drive and now have >800 gb disk space.
Don

How to improve on shutdown time?
Windows has a feature that will automatically close those
"non-responsive" program files that you typically have to intervene
with (CTRL + ALT + DELETE style) Close apps automatically & quickly at
shutdown.
Go to Start -> Run, copy & paste -> regedt32 or regedit and find/select
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop. Change the AutoEndTasks key
from "0" to "1." Close Regedit & Reboot.
Demystifying the Windows Registry
http://www.bleepingcomputer.com/forums/Demystifying_the_Windows_Registry-tut74.html
Don't Fear the Registry
http://oreilly.com/pub/h/658
http://www.csie.ntu.edu.tw/~b90047/ebook/winXPhack/0596005113_winxphks-chp-7-sect-2.html

 

[Johnw]

Verna brought next idea :

I have also noted though that many programs can take a long time to start
with many delays in operation. keypresses do not show on screen for up to 30
sconds.

XP pro
Auto Delete Temporary Folder
http://technet2.microsoft.com/Windo...a680-457e-a058-bb45eb07e64c1033.mspx?mfr=true
First go into gpedit.msc ( only available in the Pro version of XP )
Start > Run, copy & paste > gpedit.msc & press Enter
Next select -> Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates >
Windows Components > Terminal Services > Temporary folders.
Then right click "Do Not Delete Temp Folder Upon Exit"
Go to properties and hit Disabled.
Now next time Windows puts a temp file in that folder it will
automatically delete it when its done!

 

[Jose]

When I shut down my computer in the evening it takes up to 20 min to go gtom
touching the sleep key or the start button for the shutdown screen to appear.
The computer is a quad core computer at over 3 ghz speed and 2GB memory.  
there is about 700 megs ram being used and <1% cpu usage.  
I scanned for malware with macafee and nothing is showing.
I have also noted though that many programs can take a long time to start
with many delays in operation.  keypresses do not show on screen for upto 30
sconds.
I recently upgraded to a new hard drive and now have >800 gb disk space.
Don

Just because the McAfee scan didn't show anything does not mean
nothing is there. No single scanning program knows about everything
and some are more likely to find things (i.e. better) than others.

I gave up on McAfee a l-o-n-g time ago, plus if you did not pay
attention to the McAfee installation options, it is likely
contributing to performance issues.

You should also not need to edit the registry or change anything in
Group Policy to "resolve" shutdown issues. And if you have XP Home,
there is no Group Policy editor, so what would you do...

Shutdown should work properly and if it doesn't you should figure out
what is wrong and fix it, not work around it.

UHC may be of use if the description in the Overview section applies
to you. It is not a panacea for general XP shutdown issues as is
sometimes believed. Have you determined that your user hives are a
factor with your shutdown issue? If you decide to install UHC and
don't like it, disable it or uninstall it.

Provide more information about your system and it will be easier to
fix:

Click Start, Run and in the box enter:

msinfo32

Click OK, and when the System Summary info appears, click Edit, Select
All, Copy and then paste the information back here.

There will be some personal information (like System Name and User
Name), and whatever appears to be private information to you, just
delete from the pasted information.

This will minimize back and forth Q&A and eliminate guesswork and
assumptions.

Then perform some other scans for malicious software, then fix any
remaining issues:

Download, install, update and do a full scan with these free malware
detection programs:

Malwarebytes (MBAM): http://malwarebytes.org/
SUPERAntiSpyware: (SAS): http://www.superantispyware.com/

They can be uninstalled later if desired.

 

[R. McCarty]

You do realize that your advice relates only to Terminal Services ?
The Group Policy referenced does not affect either system or user
temp folders & content on the local machine. It's a setting used for
Remote Desktop sessions to a Server.

 

[PA Bear [MS MVP]]

Help! My computer is slow!
http://miekiemoes.blogspot.com/2008/02/help-my-computer-is-slow.html

 

[Johnw]

R. McCarty explained on 12/11/2009 :

You do realize that your advice relates only to Terminal Services ?
The Group Policy referenced does not affect either system or user
temp folders & content on the local machine. It's a setting used for
Remote Desktop sessions to a Server.

Thanks, have put a big note with that info in my database, to make sure
I only copy & paste that for the appropriate servers.

 

[Johnw]

Verna laid this down on his screen :

When I shut down my computer in the evening it takes up to 20 min to go gtom

This has the options to clear temp files ( In the Windows tab ) at
start up.

CleanCache
http://www.softpedia.com/get/Security/Secure-cleaning/CleanCache.shtml
http://www.softpedia.com/progScreenshots/CleanCache-Screenshot-9224.html
http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/cleancache_2.htm
http://www.techspot.com/downloads/24-cleancache.html
http://www.edblood.com/2008/12/some-tips-on-keeping-your-computer-running-fast-and-clean/

 

[Thee Chicago Wolf [MVP]]

When I shut down my computer in the evening it takes up to 20 min to go gtom

touching the sleep key or the start button for the shutdown screen to appear.
The computer is a quad core computer at over 3 ghz speed and 2GB memory.
there is about 700 megs ram being used and <1% cpu usage.
I scanned for malware with macafee and nothing is showing.
I have also noted though that many programs can take a long time to start
with many delays in operation. keypresses do not show on screen for up to 30
sconds.
I recently upgraded to a new hard drive and now have >800 gb disk space.
Don

Here's a couple of less tweaks to make shutdown fast. You have
to be comfortable with editing the registry a bit to make the
following tips work. They're not going to hose your system and are
reversible. Grab a pen and paper to write down your settings as you
go.

Here goes:

Go to Start > Run and enter REGEDIT and press OK. This fires up the
registry editor.

Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop. Edit the
following keys:

1) AutoEndTasks: Default is 0, make it 1

2) ForegroundLockTimeout: Default is 20000, make it 0

3) HungAppTimeoutefault is 5000, try 1000, if it's still slow, try
500. I don't suggest going anything lower than 250 though as it could
really make programs / services that need a momentd or two to end
act...funny.

4) WaitToKillAppTimeout: Default is 20000, try 1000, if it's still
slow, try 500. I don't suggest going anything lower than 250 though as
it could really make programs / services that need a moment or two to
end act...funny.

Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control

1) WaitToKillServiceTimeout: Default is 20000, try 2000. I don't use
this setting personally and it's questionable whether XP supports it
or not.

When you finish, reboot. Log into XP and then do a shutdown and see
how long it take.

If some of the keys above don't exists, just create them using the
right mouse button.

#1 is a String Value
#2 is DWORD value
#3 is a String value
#4 is a String value

- Thee Chicago Wolf [MVP]