Windows is shuting down.........next day: "windows is shutting down"

[Jose]

or something like that, it's happended to me, and keeps happening, (well not on the other day anymore...).
What's the true reason for this?

 8-)

[Ilwrath]

Probably one of the most commonly asked questions of the Windows 9x series.  "Why won't my computer actually shut DOWN??"

Best answer I've heard is that something that was active has stuck and won't properly close.  It seems to be network connections that cause the most problems.  Though sometimes this can be caused by an app that hangs at shutdown, as well.  Particularly if that app happens to be a spyware, or some other network-aware thing.

Running a quick scan for spyware is a good idea.  If there is nothing like that there, then of all the stupid things to do, updating Internet Explorer (even if you don't directly use it!) often eases this problem.

[Waccoon]

Microsoft has had a number of Knowledge Base entries on this issue, and apparently, there's all kinds of things that can cause it.  WinNT has it, my Win2K machine has it, my dad's XP system has it...  you just have to live with it.

Something is not responding to the Term signal when Windows shuts down.

I can tell you what it isn't, though.  I've found power management has nothing to do with it, so don't bother fooling around with your BIOS, like I did.  ;-)

[Jose]

No network connections, no spyware, no nothing. And it's still happends to often. But wait, it's not that I'm unhappy with this..:-D .sadly this problem doesn't seem to occur so much with XP at least from the few things I've heard..  

[Jose]

"my dad's XP system has it..."

Nice to know. I didn't knew XP had that plague too.

Does Linux has that too? I have an i386 Debian CD lying around I never bothered to install, but that day is coming closer.

[voytech]

I know, I know!!
It's not an app or network problem, the whole termination process SUXX in windblows (it hangs itself)!.


And no, linux is ok with shutting down. Never happened to me that linux would hang itself.. :-D

[graffias79]

Strange and off-the-wall as it sounds, try reinstalling or upgrading the sound card drivers. Sometimes that fixes the problem for me.

[voytech]

Kick winshit out of your HDDs, this will solve the problem :-D

[note: No money needed! This is a freeware advice, also presented as/is, and without any Warranty!]

[Tomas]

What windows version are you using? I know WinME had a known bug like this.. It would hang upon shutdown on faster hardware.. I think the solution was to turn off quick shutdown or something.. Good luck

Does Linux has that too? I have an i386 Debian CD lying around I never bothered to install, but that day is coming closer.

That has never ever happened to me  :-)  Not that i need to shutdown/reboot computer very ofen though  :-D

[mikeymike]

The step-by-step solution:

1> Buy decent hardware

2> Use decent drivers

3> Set up Windows properly and minimally

4> Don't install crap

It's been years since I've seen any of my systems not shut down properly, so I simply won't believe anyone who says they do all of the above and still gets problems.

I've updated my install guides to include a basic dialup/DSL home machine setup with Win2k, an XP one will follow soon, though I don't particularly recommend XP.

[HopperJF]

4> Don't install crap
[/quote]

avoid windows  ;-)

[bloodline]

Open a Shell or use the run command in the start menu.. then run msconfig


you will find an option to in the advanced panel to correct the shutdown problem  ("Disable Fast Shutdown" IIRC) :-)

[seer]

Have a look at these text and links... The first part is not for your problem, but if anybody has similar problems..

Note that these problems are discussed at length in Window Support forums, so most links come from there;

 POWERDOWN ISSUES
 "Powerdown issues" are quite distinctive from "shutdown issues." I define a shutdown problem as one wherein Windows doesn't make it at
least to the "OK to shut off your computer" screen. If Windows gets that
far, or farther, then it has shut down correctly. However, the computer
may not powerdown correctly after that. This is a different problem, and
I encourage people reporting these issues to make a clear distinction in
their labeling.

  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.

  ---

  Quick idea here. I had several problems with shutting down XP and tried many things to cure it. Eventually, I got adaware and rant it. I had over 85 spyware items on my PC and removed them all. XP shuts down fine now. It seems that some of them don't shut down properly and hang the OS.

  ----



  Link 1

  Link 2

  Link 3

  Link 4
 
  Link 5

[mikeymike]

The original poster wasn't talking about older PCs not being able to shut themselves down.  This is a hang on shutdown, so the PC never gets to the stage of switching off or saying "it is safe to".

[lempkee]

back when i was a admin for pc #### this was a very common question indeed.

what cauzed it? ..

modem's (card + install)
Virus Checkers (yep , they wont in all cases quit)
and last but not least windows Updates.

my advice, use AMIGA OS like me or use another Proper os, sure it has downsides (like u need atm  10+ year old HW and we dont have a decent browser, but seriously it makes up for all the crap in the x86 world)