Why does my PC take so long to shut down? How to fix it?

1. Too many processes running can cause this problem.
2. Do scheduled hard disk defragmentation.
3. Maybe you can scan for viruses/spyware.
4. Windows has "feature" to clear paging file to shut down. And, it can cause Windows to take long time to shut down.

Greetings. Are you waiting for the End Program windows to close? Windows has to process ending each and gives you SOME TIME to decide whether to manually end their running. That takes time.

You can tell windows "Hey, don't wait so long to end that program"
*** Use care when editting your registry, everyone tells you this for a reason... i.e. type with one finger ***

Click START select RUN Type in REGEDIT press enter.
Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Control.
Click on the "Control" Folder.
Select "WaitToKillServiceTimeout"
RIGHT click on that name and Left click Modify.
Change the value lower than the default 2000 (Mine is set to 300).
Close REGEDIT.

Now your computer should shut down faster.

I work in tech support for a national fiber optic network - and I encounter this problem a lot from our customers. What we usually start with is we will clear out all of the temporary interenet files, cookies, and form data - this can help to clear out some common forms of spyware which can continue running while you are trying to shut down your machine. You can access this by opening your internet browser as if you are going to go on the internet and then selecting tools from the tool bar across the top of the screen, or it may look like a gear and be located on the right side of top of the screen. After that is done I will direct them to go to the task manager. This can be accessed in xp by pressing and holding ctrl + alt + del in that order and then releasing them all at the same time. When the task manager opens, along the bottom of the little pop up window you will see "processes " this number should be around 30 or so, if it's higher than 50 than there are a lot of programs running in the backrground that need to be shut down to restore proper operating, start up, and shut down speeds. Also you will find to the right of that number, a percentage that represents your processor usage, this should jump between 2 and 10 %. If it is high, or if it is 100% then that either is due to too many processes running, or could be an indicator of a virus. Then I will direct our customers to update their acessory drivers. When microsoft sent out the last set of security updates it played havoc with a lot of systems. You'll also want to check for updates to your anti-virus. If that doesn't help, or if our customers have a lot of processes running, I will have them go to processlibrary.org, this is a web-site where you can cross reference what the abbreviated names of the processes represent and then shut down only the unnescesary ones. Also I will direct my customers to go to microsoft's support web-site, and maybe even call their virus hot-line. Good - luck, this problem can be caused by a lot of different things, but these steps usually solve the issue for most of our customers.

It seems to me You have to many programs running in the backround.
download freeware from Cnet.com: Advanced Windows care personal,it will check and remove any errors, problems in registry, startup, junk,optimize your system
and imunize your system of syware and adware. it gives you the option to allow or disallow programs you may or may not want to start when windows starts, thus allowing windows to shut down faster. Also try: Ccleaner it will also remove errors. Hope this will help I use them on a regular.

hiiiiiiii
i am binil computer engg

* first u go to start up
start >run >type "msconfig"
remove ticks expect "igxtray ,igxpres,sensor,sttray"

* u don't add or play (log off music expect custom music) music on shutdown

* better u use "tune up utilite" software

Try going to start then click on run and type in MSCONFIG then click on the start up tab go through the list and uncheck the programs you don't use a lot. Also make sure all the ones that our blank our unchecked as well. This should speed up your start up and shut down. You will have to restart your computer when you are done with this. MAKE SURE YOU DO NOT TURN OFF YOUR ANTI VIRUS OR INTERNET CONNECTION AND IF YOU PLAY ONLINE GAMES YOU WANT TO KEEP JAVA RUNNING TO. Most everything in their can be turned off. Then you need to do a disk clean up and defrag this will speed you up as well. The last step would be to run a virus scan to make sure you have no viruses. If in the end you still have problems may need more memory or a bigger hard drive. Good luck!!! I hope this has helped speed things up.

Tim Millard
PC EXPRESS
COMPUTER REPAIR
OKLAHOMA

The best method I apply since now more than ten years is a monthly removal of all evidence by, I believe, the best evidence eliminator for PCs with Windows XP. Go to www.evidence-eliminator.com and download the program version 6.0. You will be astonished how the program offers you a clean PC after 15 minutes searching and removal of the clutter.

Not to say that any other suggestion isn't valid but on my PC I seem to have some poorly behaving programs that just don't want to shut down no matter how virus/malware free or how clean my PC is of junk or how defragmented my PC is. One thing that was suggested to me and seems to work great is to go to http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=1B286E6D-8912-4E18-B570-42470E2F3582&displaylang=en and download UPHCLEAN and install this free service. As soon it was installed on my XP machine shutdowns were no longer slow.

you may need to check to see if your NVIDIA Driver Helper Service is shutting down properly.You can find it under SERVICES in ADMINISTRATIVE TOOLS. If it is set to "automatic" then you may need to set it in "manual". If you pc starts up faster and shuts down faster after switching the NVIDIA Driver Helper Service to "manual" then that was the problem. You might also have a firewall that is taking up too much resources. A firewall that is taking up too much resources will cause a pc to stall when it is trying to shut itself down.

06Sept08

Have you tried cleaning out your temp files, cookies and etc.?

OldGaDawg

1st right in front of icons on lower right side of screen,go to task manager shut down all running programs.if you are using explorer get rid of it ,after you download firefox/mozila.

Hello Lee,
I had this very problem to the point where my XP PRO would even lock up at the windows shutting down and never really shut down. In my investigation it could be several things to why XP won't shut down. The number one reason is a program in your Hive isn't allowing your computer to shut down. (This can also relate to hardware or a network but you would know if its one of these because you just tried to install it)... If the shut down process is gradually getting worse the best answer I found was to use the Microsoft profile cleanup hive service Worked wonders for me.It may take a few reboots but it usually only takes one or two. I've used this on 4 different computers.


Here's the shortcut:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=1b286e6d-8912-4e18-b570-42470e2f3582&displaylang=en


Below is another answer that may work for you as well but installing the hive repair service is like a wonderdrug and shuts it down like a Charm.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/learnmore/russel_02may13.mspx


Good Luck,
FurryDog

Instead of buying/getting more things to put on the computer to slow it down rvrn more thsn it is, why not just do a search and then delete all .tmp .chk and all other junk files. Seems a lot simpler

BBp

I'm no tech geek,but heres a web site that my be of some help..just do a little tweaking up...Mine works great after i did the (command prompt)stuff..GOOD LUCK.http://www.speedguide.net/read_articles.php?id=2574

the newly installed os is as no extra software so it was some what faster.than in some days the there are some software are installed so the so anvanted files are allowcate some space*
**
by prossce the pc take care the all file in the os so it take more time to shut down

Check Ccleaner or check www.filehippo.com

Go to Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools, and Disk Cleanup. Disk Cleanup will analyze your hard drive of any junk files. If Disk Cleanup find anything, click OK, then click Yes to remove those files.

Next, go to Start, Run, and type in temp and %Temp%. Delete those unnecessary temp files in both of those folders.

Go back to Start, Run, and type in cookies. Delete all those cookies.

Double click on My Computer icon. Right click on your local disk drive
and click Properties, click Tool tab, then click "Check Now..." Make sure "Automatically fix file system errors" and Scan for and attempt
recovery of bad sectors" are checked, click Start, and you get a pop up stating Windows can't run this utilty because it needs some files. Click Yes and reboot your machine. It will go through five stages to file system file errors to recovering any bad sectors which slow down your machine's performance at boot time.

Defragment your hard drive. As you download, remove, add, and move files, your drive will become fragmented. To defrag your hard drive, go to Start, Programs, Accessories, System Tools then click on Disk Defragmenter. Click Analyze. If it says you don't need to defragment this volume, go ahead and click Defragment. If it says you need to defragment this volume, click Defragment. Make sure not to have no programs running or opening. Exit out of Disk Defragmenter and resume
using your computer.

Go to Start, Run, and type in Msconfig. Then click the Startup tab. Uncheck those startup items you don't want starting up at boot time. Leave your anti virus, firewall, or all in one security applications alone and checked. If you don't know what to remove, google it. Click OK, apply, and reboot your machine.

Scan for viruses, malware, trojans, ad-aware, spyware, etc. These types of nasties are known to cause computer problems. Scan using an up to date anti virus software. If you don't have one, download, install, and register Avast from http://www.avast.com. It's a free anti virus program. For malware, adaware, spyware, etc., try SuperAntiSpyware from www.superantispyware.com, Spybot Search and Destroy from http://www.safer-networking.org/en/mirrors/index.html, and Ad-Aware 2008 from http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-2008/3000-8022_4-10045910.html. Download, install, and update the definitions in all three programs, scan for nasties, and these should get rid of the spyware, malware and ad-aware problems for you. After you are done
using these applications, you are welcome to uninstall SuperAntiSpyware, Spybot Search and Destroy, and Ad-aware if you want to. Do NOT uninstall Avast.

Go to Start, Control Panel, and click User Accounts. Click on "Change the way users log on or off". Uncheck "User Fast User Switching" then click Apply Options.

Upgrade your RAM to 1GB if you are on Windows XP or 2GB for you are on
Vista. A slow shut down can be relative to the lack of physical RAM.

Registry defragmenters and cleaners doesn't work for me or my PC or
laptop. I didn't notice a noticable speed difference at all on both. The best defense is reinstalling Windows XP or Vista once a year. To
get it like the day you bought the PC or laptop home.

These things might or might help you. But it ceretainly helps speed up
my computer.

hello the problem with your computer its that maybe you have too many programs running at the same time so its really hard to make windows shut down fast, the first thing you can do is upgrade your memory ram 1gb is recommendable or you can change your star up programs by going to control panel (classic view) administrative tool and system configuration if it ask for your permission accepted then you will see many programs so choose which one should run and if it still doesn't work then call customer support from your computer tell them the model and serial number and maybe they can assist you with the problem

1) Backup your entire system and verify the contents of the backup to the best of your ability.

2) Reboot your system and make sure nothing is running as much possible. If you have Windows XP, go to Start->Run and type in ?taskmgr? (without quotes) and press Enter. Click on the Performance tab. Your CPU usage should be 5% or less and your PF Usage should be 400MB or less. If either or both are higher, check your startup configuration to see if anything can be eliminated.

3) Go to http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com/ and install current Service Packs from Microsoft for your version for Windows. Reboot. If you are prompted to install one or more SP?s, reboot and check shut down performance after everything is stable. If you have a valid licensed copy of the OS, consider changing from Windows Updates to Microsoft Updates. This will possibly help identify hardware driver updates which can help reduce hardware related issues. This step is to increase Operating System integrity.

4) If you have a good Anti-Virus and Spyware package installed and licensed, get the latest updates and run a manual scan of ALL FILES. I have seen virus/spyware hide in TXT files, so make sure you scan ALL FILES. This can take from 30m to 30h depending on the number of files you have, and the overall speed of your PC. This step hopefully identifies and eliminates most viruses and spyware.

5) If you don't have a good anti-virus package license, download the free AVG anti-virus software at http://free.avg.com/ww.download?prd=afe. After installation is complete, run an Update to get current virus signatures, launch a manual scan for ALL FILES and scan the entire PC. Depending on how many files you have and how fast your PC is, this can take anywhere from 30m to 30h.

6) If you engage in a lot of file swapping (Limewire, Kazaa, NAMBLA, etc.), consider running a spyware scanner such as Ad- Aware. It is free and can sometimes catch spyware that others miss. http://www.download.com/Ad-Aware-2008/3000-8022_4-10045910.html. This also can take from 10m to 10h, depending on ?

7) If you have Windows XP, go to Start->Run and type in ?cleanmgr? (without the quotes) and press Enter. If you have multiple drives, select C: drive in the next dialogue box. If you only have one drive, the analysis for your main drive will start. If this is the first time you have run this Microsoft utility, it may need 10m to 10h. Once the analysis is complete, it will ask you which FILES TO DELETE. Check all boxes and click OK. It will confirm the actions you requested so click OK on the confirmation dialogue also. The cleanup phase can take anywhere from 10m to 30h depending on the number of files, speed of your PC, and the last time you have run this utility. This step will eliminate most temporary files your OS generates over time and improve OS performance in some cases.

Open up Windows Explorer and right click on your main drive/partition. Click on Properties, and then click on the Tools tab. Then click on Check Now in the Error-checking section. Then enable options such as ?Automatically fix file system errors? and ?Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors? and then click on Start. This will again take from 30m to 30h depending on ? Additionally, you may be prompted to ?schedule a disk check to occur the next time you restart the computer?, click YES. This particular step of CHKDSK needs to occur in single user mode and therefore is conducted during a reboot. Again, this will add anywhere from 10m to 10h to your reboot (one-time only) depending on your HD size and PC speed. This step will help check your HD media integrity.

9) Download, for free, and run CCleaner for both files and especially registry. Run each type of cleanup two times. http://www.ccleaner.com/download . This step will help reduce trash files and also increase registry integrity.

10) Download, for free, and run Auslogics Registry Defrag. http://www.download.com/Auslogics-Registry-Defrag/3000-2094_4-10678033.html . To ensure maximum performance, make sure all unrelated applications are closed during this and all steps. This may require a reboot. This step will help create a contiguous registry tree.

11) Download, for free, and run Auslogics Disk Defrag. http://www.download.com/Auslogics-Disk-Defrag/3000-2094_4-10567503.html. To reduce the amount of time, make sure to set the Priority to HIGHEST in the Settings menu, prior to initiating the defragmentation. This step will help defragment most of the files on your hard disk.

12) After the above steps are complete, you should have at least 20% free space available on your primary hard drive partition. For example, if you have a 65G C: drive, at this point, you should have at least 13G free space available on your C: drive. If at this point, you have less than 20% free space available, consider removing applications and files you have not needed or used in the last 12 months.

13) Test your system and see if shut down performance has improved any. If not, download, for free, and run User Profile Hive Cleanup Service from Microsoft. http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=1b286e6d-8912-4e18-b570-42470e2f3582&DisplayLang=en After installation, you have actually run it manually, so follow the directions indicated on the web page carefully. This step will help check and improve your user profile hive.

14) If the problem still exists, create a new User account on your PC. Make sure this new User account does not have any type of administrative privileges. Completely shut down your PC and wait 2 minutes. Turn your PC on, log into the new user and initiate a shutdown. If this shutdown completes in a timely manner, it raises suspicion of your normal user account. You may want to consider deleting your normal user account and reestablishing it. If you select this route, make sure you click on YES when prompted for deletion of all User files.

On the other hand, if the shutdown for the new user also takes a long time, it points to either a problem with your Operating System or PC Hardware. To eliminate possible OS related issues, one option is to reinstall your OS from scratch (yuck). If after doing this, shut down issues continue to persist, you can be confident the problem is Hardware related. At this point, you should consider taking your system into a PC shop for HW analysis.

use registry fix First fix registry. Then use disk cleaner. Use revco un-installer's windows cleaner to delete un-needed stuff. Defrag Hard Drive. Go to registry fix create a new back-up. Re-Run registry fix to make sure no errors. If not fixed do a spyware and anti-virus full scan might have migrating spyware.

I've used a marvelous variety of solutions, including limiting the cache size of the browswers, but only got marginal improvements. Seeing a free day, I managed to upgrade the memory in my XP computer from 1 gig to 3 gigs, expecting an overall speed improvement. What I got was nearly instantaneous shutdown, because all of the loading into memory of all the virtual, paged memory space no longer had to be done!

This also improved startup of Word processors.

If you decide to do this, go to www.crucial.com and check to see what kind of memory your machine takes, and how difficult it is to expand. It has both databases for known machines and a scan program that asks your motherboard what it has. Very nice. In my case, I had an open pair of slots, and could just add in another 2 gigabytes to get 3. 3 is about all one can use without a 64 bit operating system. For XP, I am told 2 gigs is enough for good function, and for Vista, 3 gigs.

Good luck!

I went through the first page of posts
1. I found the "press the power button" the best, because that it what I mostly do but I always assumed it hurt the OS
2. Virus scan and spyware scan is also good
3. Defrag your drives

BUT, the best option, and the option I use, and have no problem with start up or shut down over the past 2 years, is simply:
The next time you buy a computer, try switching to a mac. You must have read tons of stuff about the topic, but take it from me,there is absolutely no problem in booting up or shutting down a mac, it has never stalled on me and even after 2 years, and a full hard drive, I have never had trouble switching in off, or on.

So, try THIS solution, it might sound radical, but it will be far more durable than any of the others and far less frustrating!

hello
please go to gpedit.msc in runbox,computer configuration/windows settings/security settings/local polcies/security options, at
Shutdown; clear virtual memory pagefile,you make it disable.
may u be happy

Hi Victoria,

Just too many replies to read them all, so sorry if someone has already suggested the following. Since you state that your PC used to shut down swiftly, then its quite possible that all you need to do is validate just one registry key. This key could easily have been automatically changed for any manner of reasons - dont even worry as to why. So here's how to proceed:

FIRSTLY - A CAUTION - GO SLOWLY & CHECK EVERYTHING CAREFULLY BEFORE YOU AMEND ANY REGISTY KEY.

1 - Click on MENU START, RUN & enter REGEDIT
2 - Navigate - HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon
3 - In the right hand window, look for the key: "PowerDownAfterShutdown"
4 - If the key doesn't exist (unlikely so look carefully), create it:
Right click in a free zone on the right hand side of the window, choose NEW, then DWORD, then type the name (PowerDownAfterShutdown) without spaces
5 - If the value of PowerDownAfterShutdown is 0, change it to 1.
To do so, right click on the value 0, choose Modify, type 1, then click OK
6 - Close the register, restart your PC and (hopefully) watch the difference in shutdown speed!

If there is no difference, you do not need to put the registry key back to 0.

If there is no difference, please note that any of the following could be the cause of the slow shutdown:

1 - One of your drivers isn't fully compatible. eg:- some of the older logitech drivers for the keyboard or mouse. (Replace with a generic of Microsoft).
2 - A program you have downloaded (or was pre-installed as part of an OEM) isn't compatible.In particular, check that Roxio CD, Easy CD & Direct CD are up to date.
3 - An accessory (printer, webcam etc) isn't compatible. Check them one by one.(Just uninstall them & see if there is a difference).
4 - Your BIOS isn't up to date. If you don't know - DONT TOUCH - get someone who knows.
5 - If you've installed additional memory, validate that it is to the same spec.
6 - Your RAM may simply be insufficient, so increase it if you can. If you can't, either accept the slow shutdown - or take off some of the downloaded software (that you got from CNet).

I am assuming that you habitually "clean" your PC - Defrag etc & all the other good stuff I've read in this thread (particularly CCleaner).

Good Luck, Peter