Community Newsletter: Q&A: Why does my PC take so long to shut down? How to fix it?
- 9/12/08 9:06 AM
There are several reasons for long shut down time
by willisjohn - 8/24/08 2:04 PM In reply to: Why does my PC take so long to shut down? How to fix it? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
There are a lot of questions that need to be asked for the issue you are describing. Generally windows is updating your registry and boot log prior to shutting down. If you have a virus/antispyware program running it will also scan prior to shutting down. If you are not sure what the issue is go to Run type in MSCONFIG and hit enter. goto startup tab and select disable all. then shut down and start windows normally. It will come up with a message that you have started with a manual configuation. Just put check mark in box do not show again and click ok. try a restart again and see how long it takes to shut down. If it is a lot faster you can go back in and start rechecking items in the startup menu. Usually you only have to have ctfmon and security software running at startup. Hope this helps.
Using disk error check and correction
by ncreb - 8/25/08 6:43 AM In reply to: Why does my PC take so long to shut down? How to fix it? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I had this kind of problem when I owned an XP. What I did besides doing the usual: deleting temporary internet files, defragging the hard drive, clearing browser history, cookies, saved form data, passwords, etc, doing a spyware and virus scan; I turned off Windows System Restore and set all automatic updating and scans for manual operation. Finally I also did is what usually takes hours to complete and consumes total system resources: "C" drive disk scan and error correction.
To do this you must go to "My Computer". Right click the "C" drive icon. Then select "Properties". Then select "Tools". Under "Tools", you will see a button for checking the volume ("C" drive) for errors reading: "Check Now". Select it and a dialog box will pop up prompting you to choose these check disk options; ie: "Automatically fix file system errors" and "Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors". I usually check both boxes and then hit "Start". This will result in your screen going black and a five level process beginning with each level lasting longer than the former. During this time you must let the computer do its thing and do not turn it off or attempt to use it for any other purpose. You will be unable to use your computer as long as this process is going on and when the process is complete, the computer will reboot.
I have done this several times when I owned an XP and while using Vista. If all else fails, back up your data, files, bookmarks, and etc and erase your hard drive, setting it back to the original default settings when it came out of the factory. This is NOT a Windows System Restore function, but an complete erasure. This usually isn't a problem since most computers come equipped with either a factory restore disk (less so nowadays) or a built in utility to do this without a disk. If your Windows XP operating system is not hard wired into your computer (most are) but loaded from a CD, I believe Microsoft allows 3 additional installations of its operating system before it disables further reloads.
Extreme as it may seem, I have done factory setting restores many times for Windows 98, XP, and Vista computers to clean up and clear out things I couldn't identify or remove by other methods. It was from these experiences that I learned the critical value of having a reliable external hard drive as a lifesaver. Good luck.
Long shutdown times.
by Alain Martel1 - 8/25/08 9:22 AM In reply to: Why does my PC take so long to shut down? How to fix it? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Why?
The main culprit for long shutdown time is usualy to many processes running when you shut down.
Another probable cause can be your antivirus (AV) application. The AV can interfere when you want to close and suppress some files and processes, misinterpreting it for some hostile actions.
On shutdown, you need to terminate all running processes. Each one will take some time to do so. Some may need to wait for another one to stop first. Some need to do some, and sometimes, a lot of, cleanup, buffers purging, files closing and suppression.
It can lead to a "race condition", where a process is waiting for another process to stop, and that process si waiting for the stoping of another process, maybe the first one.
How many icons are in your tray, next to the clock? Each hide at least one process. Same thing for the task bar buttons. The quick start buttons are just short-cuts, and don't count.
Open the task manager "hold Ctrl+Shift+Esc", switch to the process tab, how many processes are listed? A "normal" count should be less that 80. (I curently have 42 processes running)
What to do?
Any tray icon that you don't know, or remember, what they are for? Any one that you don't need? Right-click them and look if you can disable the option to load with Windows. Next, uninstall that application.
Close any minimised application before you shutdown.
Manualy close some icons from the tray.
Some times, manualy closing one or two applications can look miraculous.
Try to reduce the number of applications and processes running in the background.
Lower the settings of your AV. If possible, disable any "real time" protections as most users don't need that. The only place where real time protection is realy usefull, is on a server.
Disable any preloader, like the MS Office startup application. They make your bootup and shutdown longer, are not needed after you have started the components you want to use, and are not needed if you don't use any part of Office, and only save you about about a second when starting a component the first time shortly after you have booted.
You may have some malware. Do a full virus, adware and spyware scan. Update all definitions, reboot in safe mode and run the scans.
Those steps should help your computer shutdown faster, boot faster and get more responsive in general usage.
windows xp error?
by lsot girl - 9/6/08 12:52 AM In reply to: Long shutdown times. by Alain Martel1hi i have a problem with my pc each time i try to download skype it rejects the program by a note: invalid windows 33 plz tell me what to do.thanks
Unrelated post to this thread-answer!
by mrlemarquis - 9/6/08 2:20 AM In reply to: windows xp error? by lsot girlAlthough you seem to have got your threads mixed up, be thankful that you can't download Skype - it's a very problematic programme, full of bugs and people who pinch your credits..!
I would suggest and recommend another programme - almost the same, but clean and cheaper!
It's called "VOIP" (full name "voipbuster") - You can Google it!
The phone credits are cheaper than Skype, the programme is almost the same, and SMS (text messages are free - almost always!) The programme is also lighter on PC resources!
I have some sugestions in regard to slow computer sutdowns
by ozzy1122335 - 9/8/08 5:09 AM In reply to: Long shutdown times. by Alain Martel1For Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows Vista!
1. Press the Windows Key + R key at the same time
2. Type in “msconfig” as shown without the quotes
3. In the "Startup" or "Programs" tab uncheck all the programs you don’t recognize or the ones you don’t need for start up. All of mine except my Anti-Virus program is unmarked.
4. Press apply and then Okay and when asked to restart click “restart Now”
If you get a system restart press the F8 key when you restart your computer and move the arrow key to select Safe Mode. And repeat the steps above.
For windows XP, Windows 2000 or Windows 2003 I have a good website to visit
http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/default.htm copy and paste to you Internet Explorer ONLY web browser. And fallow the prompts. If you have Windows Vista copy and paste the link http://onecare.live.com/site/en-us/center/whatsnew.htm
When you do the scanner do the full systems scan. When it asks you what to do, make a check mark all recommended items. When all done restart windows. You should see a significant increase in speed. For free spy ware protection visit http://lavasoft.com/ and best internet suite use Kaspersky visit http://www.kaspersky.com/
Is this really the message to give to users?
by tstar21 - 9/8/08 3:19 PM In reply to: Long shutdown times. by Alain Martel1One of the recommended solutions you have chosen, tells the user to disable "real time protection" of their anti-virus solution.
ie:
Long shutdown times.
by Alain Martel1 - 25/08/08 9:22 AM
In reply to: Why does my PC take so long to shut down? How to fix it? by Lee Koo (ADMIN) Moderator
"Lower the settings of your AV. If possible, disable any "real time" protections as most users don't need that. The only place where real time protection is realy usefull, is on a server."
Is this really what users should be hearing? It's very possible that the system slowdown is a direct result of a virus or spyware and the suggestion of the day is to disable real time protection from anitvirus, thus allowing new infections constantly? Sorry Leo, but I think that this post should not be recommended after all. The average home user needs to have anti-virus turned on always. I'm a gamer but also a tech and I definitely DO NOT turn off my anti-virus for anything.
Better solution, if the anti-virus is causing the system slowdown --> try using A/V with a smaller footprint on the system. If you have trouble with Symantec (and who hasn't?) then try Free AVG, NOD32, or Kaspersky anti-virus. (all of which use less system resource than either Norton or Mcafee)
I am more than slightly shocked to see Cnet supporting any recommendation for home users to disable the anti-virus soltuion real time protection feature.
More detail on how to . . .
by kshafer - 9/10/08 5:52 PM In reply to: Long shutdown times. by Alain Martel1I am sure your advice will be helpful:
"Lower the settings of your AV. If possible, disable any "real time" protections as most users don't need that."
"Disable any preloader, like the MS Office startup application."
"Do a full virus, adware and spyware scan. Update all definitions, reboot in safe mode and run the scans."
However, para 1 & 2 are over my head. Could you explain how to do each for me, please? I have the same issue.
Also, I keep my virus definitions upto date and run regular scans; however, I never boot in safe mode. Is that critical? It is the first time I have heard it. If so, do you pres F8 during startup?
either or
by patriciawest - 8/25/08 10:24 AM In reply to: Why does my PC take so long to shut down? How to fix it? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I work at a college. We have both PCs and Macs. In fact the computer labs are everywhere. I suggest you get a good flash drive to carry around your files. You may find you don't really need a laptop to lug around if computer labs are plentiful.
Test the computers at school to see which you like using best. Each has their good and bad points. Schools have discounts if you buy through them.
I use a Mac here at work and a PC at home. Programs appear and react differently on each machine so it's a personal preference. Some things I like better on my PC and then again the Mac some features that I wish were on my PC.
shut down.
by sparquart - 8/25/08 8:09 PM In reply to: Why does my PC take so long to shut down? How to fix it? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Dear Victoria, I had the same problem just a short time ago with my win XP. I went to run, typed in msconfig then start up menu and unchecked most of items in startup, with the exception of my virus controll and systemtray and monitor. Then did a virus scan. I ran spybot,adaware. I found spyware and worms. I recently bought an installed Kaspersky Internet Security protection and it uncovered a very bad Trojan. I removed it. I shut down the computer.Turned it back on. It shut down fast and came on fast. If you have to many programs running in the background it takes time to shut them down. Also virus, worms, trojans, and spyware can really slow things down as well. I did a scan check for errors and did a defrag. Hope this helps. sparquart
Probably a zapped DLL
by SkywayTraveler - 8/25/08 9:44 PM In reply to: Why does my PC take so long to shut down? How to fix it? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I also had this exact problem on one of my computers running Windows XP. I tried everything, including removing all of the startup files, and manually closing all possible open files one at a time to try to find it.
My conclusion was one of two things was wrong. (1) A DLL somehow got contaminated, or (2) Some programmer did not cleanup his workspace properly at the end of execution. Since I try to use brand name vendor software, I am leaning towards a DLL being contaminated. The most common place for this to happen, excluding bad code, is when a system is shut down unexpectedly.
Sometimes programmers write code that changes inline as it is being executed. This is risky business. If there is a power failure while the code is swapped out, the DLL may be permanently damaged. To correct this problem, you need to de-install this appplication and re-install it. Sometimes even this doesn't do the trick, because the culprit may be a shared DLL. When this is the case, the de-install will not de-install the shared DLL without your permission and the problem persists. (If you can determine the other application(s) that are using the shared DLL then you can de-install it/them along with the shared DLL).
I think that my case was the latter. So I backed up all of data, deleted everything from my disk and erased it. I then reinstalled all of my programs and reloaded the data files. Sure, it took about two days, but my system is significantly faster overall, and it shuts down right away.
Now (hopefully) to preclude this from happening again, I installed a backup UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) on my CPU and monitor. (You don't need it on other peripherals). Because of where I live, I have had dozens of power hits since then, but the performance problem has never came back.
If you already have a UPS installed then it most likely is a contaminated DLL that may be shared. The solution, however, is the same.
Hope this helps.
operating system related problem
by biboasiri - 8/26/08 2:49 AM In reply to: Why does my PC take so long to shut down? How to fix it? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hello Victoria,
It not a new thing discovering such problem.Thinking its new to you,really! you need to understand that such problem must be the fact that your computer system must have been contacted by serious virus or your computer operating system must have been corrupted.
By the way I will like to know if you are a computer technician or an ordinary computer user.OK if you are a computer technician I will like to suggest the following solution to such problem;
-Download and scan your computer with an antivirus
-Remove all temporary files and folders
-or otherwise repair your computer operating using operating system disc (win 2000,win xp, win vista )
-if all those steps doesn't works out ,format your computer and reload it with licensed anti virus.
by JIMOH ISMAIL 'SOLA
Shutdown Problems
by Ankit B. - 8/26/08 4:41 AM In reply to: Why does my PC take so long to shut down? How to fix it? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hi Victoria.
When you shutdown your Windows XP computer, it may take more time to complete the shutdown process. Slow shutdowns are caused by a number of factors. One of the common cause is the Clear Pagefile at Shutdown option enabled.
Virtual memory support uses a system pagefile to swap pages of memory to disk when they are not used. On a running system, this pagefile is opened exclusively by the operating system, and it is well protected. However, systems that are configured to allow booting to other operating systems might have to make sure that the system pagefile is wiped clean when this system shuts down. This ensures that sensitive information from process memory that might go into the pagefile is not available to an unauthorized user who manages to directly access the pagefile.
When this option is enabled, it causes the system pagefile to be cleared upon clean shutdown. This takes considerable time of the Operating System to flush-out the pagefile, thus causing the slow shutdown. You may disable ClearPageFileAtShutdown option to improve shutdown times. But the pagefile.sys will be intact and accessible via other Operating System, in case or dual or multi-boot
Using Group Policy Editor [for Windows XP Professional]
1. Click Start
2. Click Run
3. Type Secpol.msc
4. Click Local Policies | Security Options
5.In the right-pane, set Shutdown: Clear virtual memory pagefile to Disabled
OR
1. Click Start
2. Click Run
3. Type regedit.exe
4. Find the folder: [HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management]
5. At this point you will see a list of files, Double click on Clear Page File At Shutdown
6. Change the value of the paging file to "0"
However, this setting is not the only cause for slow shutdowns. Non-responsive programs and Services also contribute to slow shutdowns. If the problem is seen recently after installing a third-party driver or software, try a System Restore rollback to see if that resolves the slow shutdown problem.
Cut down number of the programs and processes running in the background :
When you start your computer many unnecessary processes are loaded. You can eliminate this by managing your msconfig.
Here is how:
1. Open your Start menu.
2. Click Run
3. In the command screen type "msconfig.exe"
4. In the system configuration utility,click either service or startup tab.
5. Uncheck all programs that your are no longer want to run in the background.
6. Click OK
Clean your Registry: Usually slow computer shutdown often occurs due to a corrupted registry. You should perform a Scan of Your Registry. If you receive more than 30 errors, this is the reason why you have slowdown.
Defrag your Computer: The faster your computer can find files the quicker it can shutdown. A very slow computer shutdown can be the result of your hard drive trying to search for disorganized and fragmented files that it needs for shutdown. Organize your hard drive by performing a defragmentation.
Check Your Device Drivers--When your computer shutdown, the operating system must disengage from all your hardware devices. This action allows the devices to power off. If the device has error or cannot be find the device, Windows will have a very slow shutdown or even hang forever. Updating the driver or troubleshooting it may eliminate this problem.Check your device drivers for any errors which are indicated by an yellow exclamation mark or an X.
You Can Create a Windows XP shutdown icon on your desktop, here’s how:
Right-click an empty space on your desktop
Select the option "new shortcut"
1. Type "shutdown -s -t 0" (Exactly as shown here, but without the quotes. The last character in the command is a zero.)
2. Click next
3. Type a name for the shortcut (e.g. Fast shutdown) and click finish
4. Now you have a new icon on your desktop.
Make sure to close all applications and double-click your new icon to Shutdown your computer.
Check This Forum thread also:
http://forums.cnet.com/5208-6142_102-0.html?forumID=5&threadID=173949&messageID=1914609
Hope this helps.
Ankit
PC TAKING TOO LONG TO SHUT DOWN
by GEO2003 - 8/30/08 2:30 AM In reply to: Why does my PC take so long to shut down? How to fix it? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hi Victoria, Geo2003 here,
I had the same problem as you with 3 third party applications running on my old xp machine. I was able to solve it, and may be able to give you some pointers, however is going to take some work in addition I can't remember the name of the 3 applications because I switched to Vista 1.1/2 years ago.
It has been a week since your question was posted on the community help letter. My self and others were trying very hard to help another member with installation of Vista SP1.
Everything with her went really great.
My Question is, since it has been a week, have you had responses that help you, or any responses at all to your question.
If you have not been able to resolve the issue, post back and I will try my best to help you out.
If you are in the process of trying out other possible member suggestions, then let me know how far along you are because I don't want to be repeating the same things.
Since this is my first post to your question, even though I will be tracking the discussion, I can't at this moment see any member responses.
Regards,
Geo
PC takes so long to shut down
by WantU2Know - 9/2/08 11:38 AM In reply to: Why does my PC take so long to shut down? How to fix it? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Perhaps you have downloaded some stuff from the net since you got your PC - that tends to slow the PC down -
Perhaps you haven't closed some programs or Internet connection before closing down PC or/and some programs tend to run in the background of whatever it is you do (= unknowingly )- they need to shut down as well before the PC can do the same.
Try cleaning and defragging your drives from time to time, perhaps once a month to regroup your programs which can be scattered on it.
Hope that helps a bit
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