Community Newsletter: Q&A: Why does my PC take so long to shut down? How to fix it?
- 9/12/08 9:06 AM
Software issues?
by LynnE216 - 8/23/08 6:51 AM In reply to: Why does my PC take so long to shut down? How to fix it? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I had the exact same thing happen to me. In my case, through sheer accident, I discovered that it was some kind of a conflict that had developed with a little freeware program called Weatherbug, and as long as I closed Weatherbug first, my system shut down normally. Interestingly enough, at first uninstalling and reinstalling Weatherbug didn't help, but after uninstalling for a few weeks or a month and then reinstalling, the issue was gone. Maybe they upgraded versions or something.
You might have a software conflict of some kind, too. You might try manually shutting down all running individual programs first, and see if your computer shuts down normally that way. If it does, you could then pinpoint which one is causing the problem. The hard part is finding everything that's running. You can use Control-Alt-Delete to pull up a list of all processes that are running, but at least on my system, it's horrifyingly long! You can Google the individual names to figure out which ones are background programs that can be safely closed by you, and which ones will cause system issues if you close them.
At any rate, that's what worked for me.
Slow Shutdown
by Sandie115 - 8/23/08 7:05 AM In reply to: Why does my PC take so long to shut down? How to fix it? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
There are a number of reasons.
1) a virus that is running in backround
2) programs running in backround take a long time to shut down but should not be running in backround so probably due to #1
3) Make sure you have shut down all programs before you "shutdown"
XP Shudown issues.
by Rohn12345 - 8/23/08 7:08 AM In reply to: Why does my PC take so long to shut down? How to fix it? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Hi: This is usually a problem with programs that hang as Windows close. Until you solve the problem of which program you might do this which we call a diagnostic shutdown. I don't often shut mine down, maybe once a week or so or if there is a problem and I need to do a reboot.
You push in the power button and hold it in until the unit shuts off, on notebooks or what some call laptops you also do the same. Hold the start of power button in, that is press it and hold it down until the unit shuts down completely. On the notebooks you will get an error message on start up but just enter or wait and in 30 seconds Vista or XP will resume on to the normal start, Desktops don't show this message.
This is a diagnostic shutdown and saves a lot of time especially with the lightning speed of Vista that is guaranteed to never frustrate you!
Also you could have restored, using restore points to when this hang was not there.
You can open the control panel as well and turn off all startup programs for a clean boot.
Then turn off, then if all is fine start adding them one at a time.
Again holding the button until it is totally off works for me and has saved me much frustration. Does not hurt the system.
Rohn
Windows XP hanging on shut down.
by rhb512000 - 8/23/08 7:18 AM In reply to: Why does my PC take so long to shut down? How to fix it? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
I work for an adult technical/vocational school where I teach and am also the IT Department. I have found that you cannot fix this within Windows easily, so the easiest thing to do is to reinstall Windows XP or if you have Windows backup switched on, go to the last setting before you experienced this problem. If that is not the case then, if you have the disks that came with your computer you can use them to reset your computer to its original settings. Back up everything of importance on your computer before you do this.
Insert the disk used to reset your computer to it's original defaults. When you do this you will use any programs and files you installed on your computer since it was new, so this will take some time, but it will solve your problem.
If there is another solution, I'd enjoy knowing it. I'm always open to any suggestions. You can also so the the Microsoft site and search for their solution. I've found the Microsoft site to be more of a problem than a help.
XP no shut down
by Rohn12345 - 8/23/08 7:34 AM In reply to: Windows XP hanging on shut down. by rhb512000Hi:
Don't forget the system restore point option. It works 90 percent of the time if you do it as soon as the problem appears and don't forget the adware spyware possibility. After restore option does not work use the msconfig option. Note once you do this you have no restore points so do the restore first from safe mode! Then failing that works
go start run type in msconfig and turn off your start up programs until you find the culprit.
draconian measures!
by tekw - 8/23/08 8:35 AM In reply to: Windows XP hanging on shut down. by rhb512000While I appreciate that your suggestion will cure the problem, it is by far too drastic to do until nothing else has worked.
You may be attuned to such solutions because of the environment of the school, where installs, uninstalls, re-installs are common, and you don't retain the data from previous students anyway.
But for real people with real data in real use, such solutions are overkill. Many solutions will cure the problem, but you don't want one that does so by killing the patient.
These kinds of problems, if carefully tracked down to the actual root cause, only need the solution that fits.
Why nuke a fly when swatting will do?
Why nuke a fly when swatting will do?
by DGrayeagle - 8/23/08 11:13 AM In reply to: draconian measures! by tekwI love it man. You are so right. A complete reinstall is the last twig on that very large tree. I've been there and done that ! Only to find out that simply defragging would have worked. THE SCHOOL OF HARD KNOCKS! I just hope people read your post and think before they take that route.
Grayeagle
Windows Slow Shutdown Tips
by relizare - 9/20/08 12:20 PM In reply to: Windows XP hanging on shut down. by rhb512000Hi,
I wanted to respond to people having long shutdown times. I am constantly setting up windows OS from scratch on computers for people, usually friends and family. I too got tired of having this problem so I just wanted to share some insights to what I found by experience.
The first thing I notice was after setting up Windows XP, everything shuts down fast before you put all your programs on. Obviously after, there are many programs needing to be shutdown adding to the shutdown time. Usually these are not too bad. If all goes well, baring no problems, especially with Microsoft updates, usually shut down time is about 30 to 35 seconds.
Lately it has been my experience, as I only put any Microsoft updates last and make a clean restore BEFORE updates in case of any problems. So far, recently every computer that I put all Microsoft updates on as the final step, to come up with a strange message when I try to shut down. It says something to the effect, "Windows is currently in the middle of a long operation. Either wait for it to finish or cancel it before you quit Windows".
Solution, careful of updates and have a restore without them. I have not yet been able to isolate which update it is. I tried everything I have seen online to this problem from everything to Nero having a page file system that does not want to shutdown to it being the new ccleaner. But I did not have this problem until the updates on every computer. After going back to my restore before updates, all is fine. Now I will update a little at a time to try to find the culprit.
I also noticed something very interesting. On my son’s computer, he likes me to change the windows sounds and sometimes the wallpaper or the theme to windows.
For some reason, I noticed that changing the sounds or theme causes an instant long lag in shutdown. Wallpaper is ok.
But even if you want to go back to the original sounds or theme, now the lag is always there. So now I do not change sounds or theme when setting up windows, and I make sure to make a NEW restore of my fresh Windows Install after doing a disk cleanup and defrag. I also, always use ccleaner to clean out all the temp files and various things one does not need to build up on ones computer.
My son did not have much ram on his computer and we would sometimes see this warning about running out of virtual ram. So after looking for a solution online, we made the virtual ram, also called the paging file, bigger to help with that problem. I noticed the bigger we made the file, the longer it took to shutdown windows.
Finally I gave him 4 gigs of ram for his birthday and put it in his desktop. I decided to do an experiment. I completely turned off the paging file, (right-click on my computer, go to properties, advanced tab, performance section hit settings, then the next advanced tab, virtual memory section near the bottom, and hit the change button, check off "No paging file", and hit SET button and reboot.)
I then did another disk cleanup, (start button, all programs, accessories, system tools, disk cleanup) and then another defrag. Now every computer I do this on takes around 8 seconds to shut down.
I tried turning the page file back on and doing a disk clean up and defrag, and the shutdown time became very long again, yet I saw no difference in performance. So I shut it back off to have my shutdown back to 8 seconds, and am having no problems.
Please Note*, unless you have a large amount of ram, I do not think this will work. But I am demonstrating that the page file of virtual ram also has much to do with shutdown time. I almost forgot, another really BIG deal with the page file, is to go into your “control panel”, “power options”, and shut down hibernation. Hibernation uses up gigs of your hard drive space, and also makes for slow shutdown. We just set the sleep mode for various devices, and it takes no virtual space nor slows down the computer shutdown time.
There are also various windows tweaks you can search for that will allow you to set the shutdown times of many things to something faster. While it does help a bit, it is not as noticeable as turning off the virtual ram, meaning the page file, and the hibernation. Just do a search on Google for XP tweaks.
For computers with very slow shutdown times, I also found a program called, "super fast shutdown". It makes a couple of buttons that will shut down some computers, or either reboot very fast. It works better on some type of computers than others. You will find it if you do a search on Google. Hope this helps some of you out there.
windows problem or hardware
by zothug - 8/23/08 10:10 AM In reply to: Why does my PC take so long to shut down? How to fix it? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
there can be various factors.
1.windows file missing(reinstalling windows)
2.too much programmed running on your task manger.
3.can also be cause by virus
4.too much fragmented files e.t.c
the best way to fixed your computer is,backup all your important files.format your hard disk,repartion your drive;there can be a problem on your bootsector too.hope this will work.am always willing to help you-ZOTHUG
One possible fix for you
by DGrayeagle - 8/23/08 10:52 AM In reply to: Why does my PC take so long to shut down? How to fix it? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
It sounds to me like you have TOO MANY PROGRAMS RUNNING, and they must shut down before your computer can safely shut-down. My wife , kids and myself are gamers, we depend on our computers running fast, very fast. There is a program you can get at=
Iobit.com/advancedwindowscare
This program is free for personal use, and I find that it is well worth running at least once a week. My wife runs it every day. It has Spy ware removal, a Security defense, Registry fix, System optimization, Privacy sweep, it Cleans Junk files, and most importantly it allows you to Manage Start-up programs. This one is important because with just a click of your mouse you can stop a program from running. If you click on the blue link under (Startup Manage) you will see all your running programs. When you click on a program look to the left you will see a Description of what it does, you then decide if you want to run it or not. You can always come back and turn a program on if you find you need it. I hope this helps you.
Grayeagle
Hard drive housekeeping suggestions
by loreefg - 8/23/08 12:40 PM In reply to: Why does my PC take so long to shut down? How to fix it? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Some program is not letting shutting down on its own quickly enough to speed the shutdown process on its way.
Three suggestions:
1. Run your virus scan program to make certain you have no trojans or virus programs that need to be cleaned up.
2. Run the system defrag. I'm a chronic hard drive house cleaner and I do this at least once-per-week.
3. Run the system error-check. You can do this after running the virus scan and defrag. You'll shut your computer down and restart it before the error check can happen.
If you don't know where the defrag and error check programs are, do the following:
1. Double click on my computer
2. Right click on local disk (C:)
3. Click on Properties
4. Click on Tools
5. Click on Check Now and put a check mark in both boxes in the next dialogue box
6. Click on Defragment Now
7. Click on Defragment
When the defrag program is complete, close it and shut your computer down. If you're through using it for the day, the error check program will occur the next time you start your computer.
I use these steps pretty frequently whenever some piece of memory or remnant of a program gets hung up.
Good luck with yours.
Faster Shut-down
by LinuxOne - 8/23/08 2:03 PM In reply to: Why does my PC take so long to shut down? How to fix it? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
If you have many background apps running, such as skype, google talk,and others, you might consider not running all of those all of the time.
Why Shutdown is slow
by Ancient-One - 8/23/08 2:11 PM In reply to: Why does my PC take so long to shut down? How to fix it? by Lee Koo (ADMIN)
Victoria:
I don't clasify myself as a super computer nerd. But have been computing since 1985 - so I know the keyboard from the monitor.
I can't believe what I have been reading - and read darn near all those posted so far. From what I saw, it looks like most -- before they can repair a flat tire on their car, first -- they have to build the car. Yee Gads! Many wanted to expound on things that were not related to your question. Suspect many were just ego trips to show off their computer skills. Though "NOT ALL" -- there were some very good suggestions, and some I forgot to mention in my first mail.
So, never mind nuking your computer and starting all over again... What a drastic and dumb idea. You want to fix it -- not build a new one.
You will note several mails recommended CCCleaner. THAT is darn good advice. Once you use it, you will never change. Just make sure yodon't have any of the boxes on the left side checked other than "COOKIES" - "TEMP FILES" AND "INTERNET FILES".
And YES! adding 2 or 3 gigs of RAM WILL speed up your computer --- but will do only a little for your shutdown time (Which was your question)
And also YES! If you are running Norton, and it runs a scan when you shut down, THAT is a BIG slow down. BIG TIME. Some suggested your getting rid of Norton. They are correct. However, you really don't have to be that drastic. You can change your scan time to run in the MIDDLE OF THE DAY -- OR a time you are not on your computer -- maybe every two or three days. NOT when every time you shut down. THAT's a No-No!
Next, they were correct when they suggested defraging. This is VERY important in keeping your computer running fast. You should check your fragmentation at least once a week, or even sooner is OK. Again, you don't have to build a computer in order to repair it. K.I.S.S. Have a good firewall (PC Worlds highest recommendation "Best free Firewall" awhile back) was ZONE ALARM Though I run their "Pro" edition-- And have for years and would not have anything else. - do your home work, Google it, and the other programs I have mentioned here -- Z/A will stop all those malwares - worms, viruses, etc, that other replies mentioned - you might have)
And trying to make the salution to your problem simple -- (Again)
I again say, use the free CCCleaner - and also FREE "Advanced Windows Care V2 Personal" and you can forget about all the other stuff. Both are 100% great programs and the two will keep your computer running good as new. Promise! -- Scout's Honor! (grin) I use them daily - and swear by them both. Would not be without them. And also stop your Norton or any other Virus program from running on shut down.
Nuff said,
Good Luck,
Ancient-One
THANKS
by robby_lorider - 9/5/08 9:16 PM In reply to: Why Shutdown is slow by Ancient-OneTHANK YOU FOR THE TIP, I BEEN PAYING THROUGH MY NOSE FOR VIRUSES,SLOW DOWN PC, FOR MONTHS NOW, I LL TRY CCLEANER NOW, AT LEAST I DONT HAVE TO PAY $300.OO BUCKS TO HAVE MY PC AGAIN, I BEEN WORKING ON PCS SINCE1990
Long Shutdown
by redhead5839 - 9/6/08 4:29 AM In reply to: Why Shutdown is slow by Ancient-OneAncient One,
I also have a problem with a long shutdown. Thank you so much for all the information in your reply. I am going to get rid of the programs I am using to clean my PC and put in CCCleaner and the V2 program you wrote about. Could you suggest a registry cleaner? I am currently using Wise Registry Cleaner and everything seems to be going slower.
Thank you again for all your help.
Redhead5839
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