Hanging on bringing up shutdown box - Win XP

[katz]

Win XP -

When I click on start - shutdown, it takes a couple of minutes for the next box to appear, which is the "restart, shutdown, cancel" box. I did the following and it was fixed for a day or so & now the problem has reappeared.

Any ideas on how to fix this once & for all?

You need to optimise some registry keys values in order to speed up the shutdown process.

1. Open Start >> Run and type regedit and press enter

2. Now navigate to ‘HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop\’
In this entry, you will see a registry key named WaitToKillAppTimeout .

Double click on it and set its value to 1000 , this value is the time in milliseconds for which the windows waits before all the processes and services are closed.

This way you have set it to 1 second.

Not only this, there are some other registry settings set by default due to which Windows XP will prompt the user for input if there are one or more applications still not closed or not responding. This increases the shutdown time due to no response from the user.

So, you should also change that registry key settings value.

3. Navigate to ‘HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop’


Double click on the registry key ‘AutoEndTasks.’ and set its value to 1

4. That is all, Trouble Fixed.

Now restart your system, you will see a considerable reduction in the shutdown time this time.

 

[OfficeTechs]

Quick shutdown tool http://www.mydigitallife.info/quick-shutdown-your-computer/

More reg entries....

http://teamtutorials.com/windows-tutorials/speed-up-windows-xp-boot-and-shutdown-times#.T7s9E3lYvxY

http://www.mydigitallife.info/how-to-speed-up-windows-shutdown/

 

[katz]

Thanks OfficeTechs,

I went through the links & most of the registry entries were set as they suggested by default, or else I changed them previously.

I could create that quick shutdown tool, but I don't know if the customer would like to have that or not. They might view it as a "workaround" to something I couldn't fix.

I did pull a good bit of viruses, trojans, etc. off of this pc. It really should be reformatted, but the owner has a ton of saved games & other stuff on here & they don't want to reformat.

I suppose there could be something still lurking virus - wise that is causing a problem.

Any other ideas/suggestions?

 

[mobomojo]

Those fixes you're trying shouldn't speed up how fast the shutdown box comes up only what happens after the final shutdown button gets clicked. Do other start menu items open slow? Is the computer pretty much slow all over? Have you tested the hard drive?

 

[katz]

Hard drive tests out okay, pc is fast otherwise. 2 gb mem. installed. It seems like there is a doggy program that is hanging...I don't know - strange. I haven't encountered this one before.

As you mentioned, the problem is how long it takes for that box to pop up, not the final shutdown. Because of that, I was wondering about those fixes too, but I am trying anything at this point.

 

[Mr.Mike]

Have you considered msconfig and what that shows you? You might use process explorer to see if any leftovers from the virus are present. You might also consider bringing up the repair console and see if that doesn't fix what may be corrupted files. Worth a try I think.

 

[katz]

All looked good in Process Explorer; I went through msconfig prev. & unchecked everything I thought would be an issue.

After a closer look, I started thinking about one entry again -

"visicom antiphishing program" (Part of Panda Security)

I disabled that, did a few reboots/shutdowns & for now all seems okay.

When I picked up the pc there was No AV installed on it - it was a real mess, so this must be a leftover from previous AV days...

Crossing my fingers that this one is done.

 

[katz]

Oh...spoke too soon.

After leaving the pc on for several hours & then trying to shutdown, same problem. As suggested, I am going to run the repair console at this point to see if that will do it.

 

[mm201]

There's a program I've dabbled with called "What is Hang" you might try.

 

[katz]

Thanks mm201,

Might try that next if my current tools doesn't fix it. I came across a Microsoft article about this exact problem & they (M$oft) advice running UPHClean. You install it & it starts as a service at startup & runs all the time.

The odd thing is that if I shutdown within maybe 5 min. or so from startup, the pc shutdown just fine. But if a wait longer than maybe 20 min./half hour, something like that, that is when the hang occurs.

Also, this happens on its' own, I do not have to be using any programs in the meantime.

At any rate, UPHClean is now installed & I will report back with my findings.

 

[Slaters Kustum Machines]

I believe UPHClean and Whatishang are both part of D7. Does memory or processor usage go up when the computer is sitting idle after said 20 minutes or so of use?

 

[katz]

I believe UPHClean and Whatishang are both part of D7. Does memory or processor usage go up when the computer is sitting idle after said 20 minutes or so of use?

Nope -

Usage stays very low - pc runs incredibly fast, no apparent issues other than shutdown - which UPHClean did not fix, I'm sorry to report.

I'm going to create a new user profile & copy everything over to that & see if that might remedy things.

 

[Slaters Kustum Machines]

Nope -

Usage stays very low - pc runs incredibly fast, no apparent issues other than shutdown - which UPHClean did not fix, I'm sorry to report.

I'm going to create a new user profile & copy everything over to that & see if that might remedy things.

You might try the new user account bare, meaning create the account, but don't copy anything to see if the problem persists then test after copying data if the problem does not occur with the new bare account. Might help to narrow the problem down rather than doing to many things at once.

 

[mm201]

I believe UPHClean and Whatishang are both part of D7.

Correct on both counts.

 

[katz]

You might try the new user account bare, meaning create the account, but don't copy anything to see if the problem persists then test after copying data if the problem does not occur with the new bare account. Might help to narrow the problem down rather than doing to many things at once.

Did that - no good.

Still hangs after attempted shutdown after approx. 30 min.

Tried to boot back into "Owner" (main) account & now I am having issues with that. Trying to attempt a system restore at this point.

Wow - I never "broke" one this bad, lol.

This thing needs a re-install, plain & simple.

Owner has no disks, alot of data on here & to top it off it is an XP Media Center edition pc...

 

[Mr.Mike]

Did that - no good.

Still hangs after attempted shutdown after approx. 30 min.

Tried to boot back into "Owner" (main) account & now I am having issues with that. Trying to attempt a system restore at this point.

Wow - I never "broke" one this bad, lol.

This things needs a re-install, plain & simple.

Owner has no disks, alot of data on here & to top it off it is an XP Media Center edition pc...

Did you use the XP Repair Console? Also, try starting it in safe mode and see if the same thing happens after 20 min. If not, and you are sure it isn't one of the processes causing the problem, I would then go back to doing all the basics. Check memory, test the hdd with a good tester program and look for overheating of the processor or other components. Inspect the MOBO for bad caps, run sfc scannow and double-check for corrupted system files. If you do a re-install (because all these things take time) are you able to clone the hdd before hand?

 

[katz]

Did you use the XP Repair Console? Also, try starting it in safe mode and see if the same thing happens after 20 min. If not, and you are sure it isn't one of the processes causing the problem, I would then go back to doing all the basics. Check memory, test the hdd with a good tester program and look for overheating of the processor or other components. Inspect the MOBO for bad caps, run sfc scannow and double-check for corrupted system files. If you do a re-install (because all these things take time) are you able to clone the hdd before hand?

Customer was getting antsy since I had this since Saturday & they wanted to play their games/facebook, etc. Said they would live with the problem & I offered to do a clean reinstall at no charge when/if they find the disk.

It took me so long to run all the av scanners that I really didn't get a chance to do the repair console & sfc scannow . If they would have been able to part with it for a couple more days I would have done that next. I have a day job & can only devote a few hours in the evenings to repairs.

Mobo caps were all good, HDD & Mem tests okay. So that's where we are for now. I just delivered the pc & they said it is fine like that. I guess it is a great improvement, considering the condition it was in when I received it.

Thanks for all the help guys!

 

[Swadders]

wow this is weird, it is like reading about my life right now

Funnily enough I have a laptop that I am working on this week that has exactly the same issue and I am in the same situation where I cannot do a clean re-install.

I fixed the original problem where it lost it's system file structure and would not boot but now it is really slow to bring up the shutdown, logoff, restart screen.
And guess what? It also has XP media center edition.

All the hardware checks out ok so I will be looking further in to the software side of things.

Like you I have a day job so only get a few hours to look at this in the evening but if I find a solution I will be sure to let you know if you are still interested..

 

[katz]

wow this is weird, it is like reading about my life right now

Funnily enough I have a laptop that I am working on this week that has exactly the same issue and I am in the same situation where I cannot do a clean re-install.

I fixed the original problem where it lost it's system file structure and would not boot but now it is really slow to bring up the shutdown, logoff, restart screen.
And guess what? It also has XP media center edition.

All the hardware checks out ok so I will be looking further in to the software side of things.

Like you I have a day job so only get a few hours to look at this in the evening but if I find a solution I will be sure to let you know if you are still interested..

Yes, please let us know if you find a solution. The owner of this pc doesn't seem to really care what shape it is in as long as it boots & they can facebook & play WOW, so I probably won't be seeing it again for awhile.

I told them if they cannot locate the factory disk for reinstall we'll have to dump the media center edition & just install XP home. They were fine with that.

BTW, was that laptop full of viruses, etc?

 

[Swadders]

Malwarebytes found quite a few bits and pieces , I can't remember exactly what but I'll take a look when I get back home tonight.
I think it was mainly cookies, dodgy web toolbar addins and maybe a vundo variant. I've ran it a couple of times since and it now comes up clean.
It's odd because like yours its fine to shutdown for the first 5 -10 minutes but if you leave it on for longer , the problem returns.
I've got the weekend to have another crack at it but I need to give back on Monday...