Computer Hangs on "Windows is Shutting Down"

Hello wbbs,

I'm having problems with shutting down my computer. It hangs when it enters the "saving your settings" screen.

I have been able to narrow down the root of the problem.

If I disable my network connection before I shut down, I do not have any problems.

 

I can't find a better match for what I have now.

Device:
Netgear WG111 802.11g Wireless USB 2.0 Adapter

Driver:
Version 2.1

 

I'm not sure what you want me to do at this point.

edit: I have filled out my system details to the best of my knowledge. Is there anything else you need?

 

Hi pkujulo,

My 2¢: There's a couple of things you could try. First, uninstall, reboot, and reinstall the drivers. Second, there's a registry tweak (WaitToKillAppTimeout; WaitToKillServiceTimeout; HungAppTimeout) that might work. Or, you could try Wizmo and amend the Target line to: "shutdown!" (without the quotes). Wizmo works on all flavors of Windows from 95 to 7.

Any help?

 

Hello everyone.

Sorry for the late reply, I've been busy recently.

jpChris, thanks for the tip, but I'm going to leave any registry tweaking options as a last resort. Thank you though for your input.

Arie,
I should have the precise model number by tomorrow

Again, I apologize for not being able to respond more quickly.

 

Hi pkujulo,

At least try Wizmo.

 

Thanks for showing me this program. I'm sure it will prove to be useful in the future. However, it did not work for me at all. I even tried adding the dammit (!) command.

I was unable to find my exact computer information, but I will be able to get that information in about 2 weeks when I return home. Unless there is an alternative way to check what version of Dell Dimension 9200, I'm afraid I won't be able to have that information now.

Is there a temporary solution that I could use for the time being? Maybe a command to use in conjunction with shutdown -s -t #?

 

Hi PK,

I'm absolutely sure this is going to sound absolutely stupid, but, by chance do you have 3D screen savers?

The reason I ask is because MS acknowledged about two weeks after dirt was invented that certain 3D screen savers (I don't remember which ones) caused problems with shutdown, resuming from standby and hibernate, etc.

I'll hunt for them now and post as soon as I find them, but for the time being, how long have you had your present setup and has it always been working? Did you install anything before the problem started? And, have you done a sfc /scannow?

 

I just found something you might want to try. The worst thing that'll happen is you'll uninstall it.

http://www.karenware.com/powertools/ptstopper.asp

And, I just found this:

When Windows XP won’t powerdown automatically, the APM/NT Legacy Power Node may not be enabled. To enable this, right-click on the My Computer icon, click Properties | Hardware | Device Manager | View. Check the box labeled “Show Hidden Devices.” If it’s available on your computer, there will be a red X on the APM/NT Legacy Node. Try enabling it and see if this resolves the powerdown problem (Tip from Terri Stratton). Or, to check the other side of the APM/ACPI coin, open the Power Options applet in Control Panel. If there is an APM tab, make sure the “Enable Advanced Power Management Support” box is checked. (MSKB 313290).

Also:

. . . several correspondents have noted that their Win XP computers will not powerdown correctly unless they have Turn Off Monitor, Turn Off Hard Disks, and System Standby all set to “Never” in Control Panel | Power Options. (Tip from Dan Mitchell & others)

 

No 3d screensavers here. I don't download any screensavers at all. The problem started at least two months ago, and the only things I can remember installing were:
1)an AOL update
2)a windows update

I changed my isp on Nov. 11 and completely got rid of any and all AOL related files by using Revo uninstaller. I thought that this would resolve the problem, but it didn't.

If I had to guess, I'd say that the problem lies with a stub file left in the registry, but I do not know how to view all of the processes that are ended during the shutdown process.


edit: I did "sfc /scannow" and got a prompt asking me for the windows cd. Let's see what happens.

edit 2: It appears that the cd loaded some files onto my computer. There was no end prompt, so I don't know exactly what happened. I'm going to try shutting down to see if it works.

edit 3: it did not work. I'm going to try Show Stopper now.

edit 4: Show Stopper did not work, however I wish to try out the pre-shutdown tasks. Do you happen to know where I would look to find the windows program that controls network connections (if it exists)? The pre-shutdown tasks can only be added if they have an .exe extention.

 

Sorry, that I don't know. Maybe Arie or someone knows.

Since you are loath to edit the registry, there's not much I can suggest other than going to msconfig and unchecking anything unnecessary.

Also, do you have any anti-virus or spyware programs that are set to scan or update when you shut down? You might set these to manual temporarily to see if it makes a difference.

I take it you've gone into Network Connections and clicked "repair "? Also, you might try to clear your Prefetch folder and let the programs repopulate themselves. You did delete AOL, but chances are it's still in the PF folder.

Do you know what the Windows update was? You can do a *.* search and in the "When Was It Modified" menu, click "Specify Dates ". Then you can do a Google and see if anyone else has a similar problem and uninstall the update.

Here's a link to add\change a couple of registry settings that's harmless and you don't have to open regedit to do it:

http://forums.techarena.in/operating-systems/1136433.htm

1. Copy the contents of the box into notepad:

2. Save the file as shutdown.reg to your Desktop.
3. Double click the file to import into your registry, or right-click the file and left-click "Merge ". You'll get a nag box asking if you want to do this; click Yes.

If I think of anything else, I'll post back
p.s. How long have you waited for the computer to shutdown?

 

I just read a post by "broni" about Microsoft Updates and it made me think: Do you have automatic updates turned on? If so, try turning it off and see if that helps.