My laptop will not shutdown properly - help please

[wemorgan]

Hi,

My Dell 6400 laptop is not shutting down properly.
I do the usual:
Start - Turn off computer

All the applications in the task bar close, but then nothing further happens.

In the task manager there are still various system applications running, but nothing I can quickly attribute to a hanging software application.

If I then repeat:
Start - Turn off computer
the computer finally shuts down.

I can't think of any software that I've recently installed that may be causing this.

Is it recommended to kill services one by one to diagnose the problem?

Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks.

 

[Sp!ke]

When did the problem start? If recently, have you tried system restore to a point before the issue arose?

 

[wemorgan]

I've been living with the problem for a month or two now.

I did change my antivirus from AVG to Avira a while ago. I though it was a long time before this issue, but I could be mistaken.

Do you know of any troubleshooting software I could try?

 

[markmifsud]

Right click "my computer" and select Manage, this will enable you to view the event logs.

 

[wemorgan]

Thanks.

Whilst rebooting the only errors I could see were:

The attempt to reboot ****** failed
For more information, see Help and Support Center at Events and Errors Message Center: Basic Search.

Windows saved user *****\Will 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.
For more information, see Help and Support Center at Events and Errors Message Center: Basic Search.

I looked through my Services and all of them are; Local System, Local Service, Network Service.

Is this a red herring or worth understanding further?

 

[dougal74]

If you think it might be a registry issue/uninstall problem run CCleaner to see if it can fix the problems: -
Linky

 

[grober]

If you are running XP try control/alt/del to bring up the task manager. If no applications are running have a look at processes to see if there is anything unusual or any legacy progs like your old antivirus running.

 

[markmifsud]

go to start / run
type services.msc
press ENTER

now you can see the services open each of them, and view the "Log ON" tab, that will show you who the service runs under.

 

[wemorgan]

go to start / run
type services.msc
press ENTER

now you can see the services open each of them, and view the "Log ON" tab, that will show you who the service runs under.

Thanks.

How do I then decide which entries are right and wrong?
Most are local system and local service with 7 of them being network service.

 

[markmifsud]

if none are running as the logged in user, then it could just be a dll or something thats not exiting from memory, or even an open read handle on the user hive in the registry.

Try installing this to see if it helps

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...6d-8912-4e18-b570-42470e2f3582&displaylang=en

 

[columb]

I'm surprised no one has asked:

- is your Windows updated with all the latest patches?
- try defrag
- check for events 1517 and 1524 (and if any, run tool recommended by markmifsud)

Post more logs (really what we need is event ids)

Cheers
Chris

 

[wemorgan]

I'm surprised no one has asked:

- is your Windows updated with all the latest patches?
- try defrag
- check for events 1517 and 1524 (and if any, run tool recommended by markmifsud)

Post more logs (really what we need is event ids)

Cheers
Chris

Thanks.

Yes, it's Windows XP SP2 updated with all patches.

I've run the tool as recommended by markmifsud.

The hard disk and registry is recently degragged.

The only event warning I get is 1517 (in attached picture)

 

[columb]

Thanks.

Yes, it's Windows XP SP2 updated with all patches.

I've run the tool as recommended by markmifsud.

The hard disk and registry is recently degragged.

The only event warning I get is 1517 (in attached picture)

Yeah, as expected Fixable by program recommended by markmifsud. IMHO SP3 will fix it even better.

You could try fixing it by yourself (in Service MMC snap in)


cheers
Chris

 

[wemorgan]

Yeah, as expected Fixable by program recommended by markmifsud. IMHO SP3 will fix it even better.

You could try fixing it by yourself (in Service MMC snap in)

oops I meant to say patched with SP3.

Sorry, I'm a bit lost by (in service MMC snap in).

Thanks.

edit: that program from markmifsud fixed the event error but it still will not shut down correctly. I think I'll just live with it for now. One day I'll do a clean install of windows which should make things all OK.

Thanks everyone for your help.

 

[Sp!ke]

I'd be tempted to investigate whether it is being caused by the system restore function taking a snapshot at shut down.

As long as you dont want to do a restore to an earlier date, I'd try turning it off temporarilly and then try a shutdown to see what happens.

 

[stevesey]

I did change my antivirus from AVG to Avira a while ago. I though it was a long time before this issue, but I could be mistaken.

Yes, it's Windows XP SP2 updated with all patches.
The only event warning I get is 1517 (in attached picture)

Interestingly I swicthed from AVG to Avira while ago (again XP SP2 + patches) and I've just noticed (earlier this eve) that I seem to be collecting the odd 1517 event log entries. Haven't noticed a problem shutting down - but the machine has only been shutdown 4 time in the past month - hibernates most of the time.

May have a look at the 1517 issue tomorrow.