XP SP2 hangs at "Windows is Shutting Down..."

G

Guest

I've been doing a lot of googling to find a solution and haven't found one
yet...

If I shut down my PC within a couple of hours of starting it up, it shuts
down fine. However, if I leave it running for a few hours and then try to
shut it down, it takes 3 or more minutes to get to the "Windows is shutting
down" screen and then it freezes there permanently.

I'm not sure if it's a related problem or not, however, also after 3 or more
hours, my USB printer won't respond if I send a document to the printer.
I've tried deleting the printer, but that doesn't solve the problem. It
appears to be a problem with the Print Spooler. The printer status window
won't allow me to delete the document. It hangs at "deleting", I have to
shut down windows and restart to make it go away.

I've tried a number of "fixes" I've found online. However, none of them
talked about the problem only occuring after the PC has been on for longer
periods of time. I have tried disconnecting my USB devices, and disabling my
startup programs and services.

My specs are:
Athlon 64 3000+ 2.0GHz
1GB RAM
Windows XP Home SP2
McAfee Virus Protection
HP PSC-2175 All-in-one Printer, Scanner, Copier
Creative Labs external USB Sound Blaster sound card

I would be willing to do a new install of XP and start from scratch,
however, my PC had XP pre-installed and I don't have any disks. Is there a
way to get new install disks without having to buy a new version of XP?

I'd be grateful for any additional ideas.

Harry
 
F

Frank Saunders, MS-MVP OE

G

Guest

Thanks guys, I appreciate the referrals... but I've already been through the
aumha.org site and tried almost all the suggestions there over the last
couple of weeks. They seem to address the issue if it's consistent, but none
of them seem to address the issue of the problem occurring only after the
system has been on for a few hours. Any other suggestions would be
appreciated.

Harry
 
M

Malke

harry-u said:
Thanks guys, I appreciate the referrals... but I've already been
through the aumha.org site and tried almost all the suggestions there
over the last
couple of weeks. They seem to address the issue if it's consistent,
but none of them seem to address the issue of the problem occurring
only after the
system has been on for a few hours. Any other suggestions would be
appreciated.
Click to expand...

I wonder if this could be hardware-related. I wonder if your computer is
overheating. I think I'd open up the case and clean it out and then run
it open, checking all the fans and feeling (without touching anything!)
how hot it's getting in there.

Malke
 
G

Guest

I did have an overheating problem before. The CPU fan quit on me. I've
since replaced it and now it's running cool enough, but I'm still having the
problem. I don't know if any damage might have been done to the CPU from the
heat, but I did have the problem before the CPU fan stopped working. I've
always had a System Control utility on the PC that controls the CPU fan and
the System fan and gives a CPU temperature, so I was able to tell when it
started overheating. However, I had the shutdown problem prior to that.

I do appreciate the responses... any other ideas?

Harry
 
G

Guest

I found this in my Applications Event Log...


Event 1517

"Windows saved user CISNET\Harry registry while an application or service
was still using the registry during log off. The memory used by the user's
registry has not been freed. The registry will be unloaded when it is no
longer in use.

This is often caused by services running as a user account, try configuring
the services to run in either the LocalService or NetworkService account."



I don't have multiple user accounts set up and I checked all my Services,
they are all running either in the LocalService or NetworkService account.
(CISNET is the name of my PC). Any ideas?
 
S

Shelly F

I found this in my Applications Event Log...


Event 1517

"Windows saved user CISNET\Harry registry while an application or service
was still using the registry during log off. The memory used by the user's
registry has not been freed. The registry will be unloaded when it is no
longer in use.

This is often caused by services running as a user account, try configuring
the services to run in either the LocalService or NetworkService account."



I don't have multiple user accounts set up and I checked all my Services,
they are all running either in the LocalService or NetworkService account.
(CISNET is the name of my PC). Any ideas?
Click to expand...
If this is an HP Computer: just before shutdown, do a Ctrl-Shift-Esc,
go to the Applications page, and see if Updates from HP Agent is
running. If so, click end task, then try to shutdown. If the computer
does not hang at the shutdown screen, y'all found the problem.
Worked for a couple of folks that I know............hth
 
M

Malke

harry-u said:
I did have an overheating problem before. The CPU fan quit on me.
I've since replaced it and now it's running cool enough, but I'm still
having the
problem. I don't know if any damage might have been done to the CPU
from the
heat, but I did have the problem before the CPU fan stopped working.
I've always had a System Control utility on the PC that controls the
CPU fan and the System fan and gives a CPU temperature, so I was able
to tell when it
started overheating. However, I had the shutdown problem prior to
that.

I do appreciate the responses... any other ideas?
Click to expand...

Since you know you had a hardware problem before, then I'd pursue that
line of troubleshooting. Here are general steps:

1) Open the computer and run it open, cleaning out all dust bunnies and
observing all fans (overheating will cause system freezing). Obviously
you can't do this with a laptop, but you can hear if the fan is running
and feel if the laptop is getting too hot.

2) Test the RAM - I like Memtest86+ from www.memtest.org. Obviously, you
have to get the program from a working machine. You will either
download the precompiled Windows binary to make a bootable floppy or
the .iso to make a bootable cd. If you want to use the latter, you'll
need to have third-party burning software on the machine where you
download the file - XP's built-in burning capability won't do the job.
In either case, boot with the media you made. The test will run
immediately. Let the test run for an hour or two - unless errors are
seen immediately. If you get any errors, replace the RAM.

3) Test the hard drive with a diagnostic utility from the mftr. Download
the file and make a bootable floppy or cd with it. Boot with the media
and do a thorough test. If the drive has physical errors, replace it.

4) The power supply may be going bad or be inadequate for the devices
you have in the system. The adequacy issue doesn't really apply to a
laptop, although of course the power supply can be faulty.

5) Test the motherboard with something like TuffTest from
www.tufftest.com. Sometimes this is useful, and sometimes it isn't.

Testing hardware failures often involves swapping out suspected parts
with known-good parts. If you can't do the testing yourself and/or are
uncomfortable opening your computer, take the machine to a professional
computer repair shop (not your local equivalent of BigStoreUSA).

Malke
 

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