It seems that in the past two weeks I have been experiencing a problem
with shutting down my computer. I have asked everyone I know and no
one seems to have any solution. So I hope someone here may know, as by
reading a lot of the questions and answers on this board, it seems
that there are some very knowledgeable researchers.
Bit of a background: My computer is new ( bought in early Sept ).
Pentium 4 with all the toys. Win2K Professional. Now for the problem.
When I try to shutdown the computer, it goes as far as the dialoque
box
" Saving your Settings ", then it just hangs there for 2-3 minutes. It
used to shut off very quickly but this problem now seems to be getting
worse.
I close all programmes and windows before I go to shut down, so I'm
not sure what could be causing this delay. Nothing appears to be
running in the background.
I have defragged,deleted temporary files, scanned disks... all to no
avail.
This computer shuts off itself and, although someone suggested I hold
the power button down for a few seconds, I'd rather not force it as
that is not the way the computer was made.
Would anyone here know what the problem might be? |
Request for Question Clarification by
sublime1-ga
on
28 Dec 2002 17:09 PST
steph53...
Per a message board posting I found, here a a couple of things
to consider:
"One of my colleagues reports he's had the same problem, and
noticed a correlation between the shutdown time and how long
it had been since the machine was last booted. When he
reboots regularly, it doesn't take very long. When he
reboots very infrequently (weeks/months), it takes forever.."
http://www.experts-exchange.com/Operating_Systems/Win2000/Q_20005184.html
I use W2K as well, and the above seems to hold true for my
machine. Try a reboot right after a successful boot, and
see if it takes any less time.
Another commonly-mentioned possibility is your resident
antivirus program. Try shutting that down before you
exit Windows, and see if that speeds the process.
Post your results in a clarification, and we can proceed
from there.
sublime1-ga
|
Clarification of Question by
steph53-ga
on
28 Dec 2002 18:07 PST
Sublime1,
I will definately try your suggestions and let you know the results.
My resident antivirus program is Norton 2002 which I have running
right now as a last resort. So when it is finished I will certainly
shut it down and try the reboot, which by the way, I do regularily.
I will post the results later. Thanks............
|
Clarification of Question by
steph53-ga
on
28 Dec 2002 21:13 PST
Sublime1,
I managed to shutdown fast after first boot. Then when I rebooted, the
shutdown was again " hanging ".I also shut down my anti virus program
and exited all windows.
I'm wondering if perhaps it may have something to do with a recently
installed programme.I had installed it a couple of weeks ago about the
same time this problem started occurring. I have tried uninstalling it
many times, however when I log on , a dialoque box comes up saying
something like "file not found.....insert disc???"( not sure of exact
wording ). The programme still shows in my files although I have tried
to uninstall it repeatedly. I am thinking that perhaps this may be the
cause although I cannot be certain. Just seems to be a bit of a
coincidence that the times match.......Mabe thats whats running in the
background. Any other suggestions I am certainly open to..By the
way.......My IP runs on DSL if that is any help.....
|
Request for Question Clarification by
sublime1-ga
on
28 Dec 2002 22:06 PST
steph53...
Your intuitive suspicion of the 'recently installed program'
sounds like a lead worth following, especially if there are
still files from it on your system, and there's a dialog box
related to it when you boot up.
Do you know the name of the program? Does the dialog box
stay up long enough for you to transcribe the text exactly,
and post it here? You say the program still shows in your
files. In what way are you aware of this - by seeing its
folder in Windows Explorer, e.g.? Do you remember the
method you used to uninstall the program (as best you can
recall)? These details will greatly assist in helping you.
sublime1-ga
|
Request for Question Clarification by
alienintelligence-ga
on
28 Dec 2002 22:51 PST
Hi steph,
I have a Win2k PC that works perfectly
otherwise but if you leave a USB device
plugged in, mouse in particular... it
won't shut down. Any USB or other devices
connected to your PC? For me, removing
the mouse does the trick, no problems.
-AI
|
Clarification of Question by
steph53-ga
on
29 Dec 2002 11:24 PST
alienintelligence...
Thanks for your input. However I would prefer not to go to the bother
of unplugging my mouse or any other device that is connected to the
computer.As this problem has just recently surfaced and I had no
problems with shutdown before this, I would rather explore other
options.
vinods...
Thank you but I have checked my page file settings and shutdown
options and I cannot find anything amiss.
sublime1...
Regarding my recently installed program, yes I know the name of it but
for personal reasons I prefer not name it in this forum. Its still in
my program files ( add/remove ) and when I try to remove it the
uninstaller says it is uninstalled but it still shows as there. I have
tried this several times.
As for the startup dialog box,here is the exact wording:
" the drive or network connection that the shortcut "..blah..blah.."
refers to is unavailable. Make sure that the disk is properly inserted
or the network resource is availabe then try again ".
In order for me to continue startup I have to click the X or okay.
I did have it set as a desktop icon at one time...that may be why the
"refers to a shortcut" keeps popping up.
If you know how I can completely rid my computer of this program, as I
suspect this is the cause of my shutdown problem, please post it as an
answer. Thanks!!
|
Request for Question Clarification by
sublime1-ga
on
29 Dec 2002 12:56 PST
steph53...
I'll suggest what I can, given that you can't name
the program.
First, the dialog is telling you that the file referred
to by the shortcut is no longer available. That's good.
It means that that particular part of the program is gone.
The fact that it's still being called on startup means
the there's a shortcut somewhere in the startup process.
The first place to look is on the taskbar:
Start -> Programs -> Startup
Look there for a shortcut related to the program you
uninstalled. Before you delete it, right-click it
and select 'properties' and notice where the 'target'
window says it is located. You can then open Windows
Explorer and navigate to that folder (probably under
'Program Files') and delete that folder and what
remains of the program (it's not unusual for a program
to leave behind the folder and a few files, even when
you've uninstalled it). Once you've done that, you can
go ahead and delete the shortcut in the 'Startup'
folder.
If the shortcut is not located in the 'Startup' folder,
things get a bit more complicated. It may be that the
file is being called by an entry in the registry, which
is not generally something you want to play with unless
you know what you're doing.
If you don't find the program shortcut in the 'Startup'
folder, go to Start -> Run and type in 'msinfo32'
Then hit 'Enter'. In the window that opens, click on
the + next to 'Software Environment' and then click
on 'Startup Programs' and see if your program is listed
there. If it is, this means there's a registry entry
that needs to be removed.
Let me know what you find after all this, and we can
proceed from there.
|
Request for Question Clarification by
sublime1-ga
on
29 Dec 2002 13:12 PST
oh!
I meant to warn you that, removing this shortcut, while
it may speed up your windows startup, may have no effect
on Windows shutdown, since the program file the dialog
box refers to is not being found. This means that program
is not running, and is not likely the cause of the slow
shutdown.
Also, the fact that the dialog box is saying:
"the drive or network connection that the shortcut
"..blah..blah.." refers to is unavailable. Make sure that
the disk is properly inserted or the network resource
is availabe then try again".
makes it sound like it's not looking for a file on
your hard drive but on, say, the CD ROM. So
when/if you do locate this shortcut (hopefully in your
'Startup' folder) please copy exactly what it says,
(minus the program name) so it looks something like this:
C:\Program Files\XXXXX\XXXXX.exe - or whatever it says.
This will be very helpful.
|
Clarification of Question by
steph53-ga
on
29 Dec 2002 15:36 PST
Sublime1...
I found the shortcut in the Start -> Programs -> Startup ->
Under properties it says: C:\XXXX\pnetaware.exe
It doesn't mention that it is a program file so I am hesitant to
delete it..if you say its safe then I will.
As for the slow shutdown, I have started and shutdown the computer 5
times today using your aforementioned suggestions and the problem
seems to have corrected itself.
As the original question has certainly been answered, feel free to
post as an answer and I can post a new question regarding the shortcut
program.
Thanks...
|
