# [SOLVED] Computer not shutting down



## c2d (Apr 25, 2007)

I have a dell computer with windows xp that is apx. 1 years old and for some reason the computer stopped responding to the shut down and restart requests. I can put the computer in standby mode and can log off- but even then, I am not truly logged off.

What should I do. Is this bad or should I just leave the computer as is?

any help would be greatly appreciated,

thank you.


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## tosh9i (Aug 3, 2006)

*Re: Computer not shutting down*

When you say stopped responding, do you mean that nothing happens when you click on shutdown, or that your computer freezes when you click on shutdown


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## c2d (Apr 25, 2007)

*Re: Computer not shutting down*

nothing happens when I try to shut down or restart.


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## tosh9i (Aug 3, 2006)

http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=831431

does this happen all the time or only sometimes.

how long ago did this occur.

You could try a system restore


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## c2d (Apr 25, 2007)

This happens all the time. I have tried several times to shut down the computer several ways and it will not but i have not tried to unplug and restart the computer.

I do not know when this started. I do not work on this computer, but last week I went to shut it down for the day and it would not shut down.

I cannot try it now, but I will try the suggestion from microsft a little later today and if that does not work, I will try a system restore and then let you know what happens.

I think something was upgraded and then it messed up the system. The computer gives a prompt that states something like: "in order for the upgrades to take effect you need to restart the computer". I click on the "restart now" button and nothing happens. But I think that the restart problem has been around before this current upgrade.

thank you.

I am able to shut down and restart only if I go to the switch users screen first. I tried a system restore from a week ago and it did not work and so I undid the restore. I am not sure if I should go farther back and if yes, how far. 

I guess as long as I can use the workaround that is suggested by Microsoft (from the link you posted above) I can shut down when I need to. 

Is there any problems with not being able to shut down properly? If there is none, than I will just leave the computer the way it is.

thank you very much for you help in this matter.


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## tosh9i (Aug 3, 2006)

*Re: Computer not shutting down*

There's no harm in it.

This is what I use to shutdown my computer:

http://www.winutility.com/qsd/

it places an icon in the system tray, and when you click on it, it shuts down your computer. It's a lot easier and faster than going to the Start Menu > Turn Off Computer > Turn Off

But, I'm not ready to give up on you just yet. I'm going to keep looking.


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## c2d (Apr 25, 2007)

*Re: Computer not shutting down*

thanks a lot.


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## tosh9i (Aug 3, 2006)

Man, this one is tougher than I thought, I just went to over 100 websites trying to find an answer. 

Try this, try to shutdown your computer then open event viewer:

To run the Event Viewer do Start > Run type EVENTVWR.MSC then press Enter

See if there's anything for when you tried to shutdown your pc.

If you see something in event viewer about "user" and "hive"

then download and install this:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...6D-8912-4E18-B570-42470E2F3582&displaylang=en


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## c2d (Apr 25, 2007)

*Re: Computer not shutting down*

i downloaded the above and will now try to restart the computer and let's see what happens.
thank you!


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## c2d (Apr 25, 2007)

*Re: Computer not shutting down*

ok. I just tried to restart and shut down via the start menu and nothing is happening. Is there anything I need to do with the hive cleaner? I double clicked on it and did the repair option and the message is that it is installed. but nothing is happening.

Do I have to save it to a specific location?


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## tosh9i (Aug 3, 2006)

No, you did everything correctly.

I'm beginning to run out of ideas.

Try this one:

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Windows-XP-3282/Windows-XP-won-t.htm

This next one is probably a waste, but like i said, i'm running out of ideas:

Go to control panel > Admin tools > local security policy > expand Local Policies > click on user rights and assignments > double click on Shut down the system > what does it say in that list.


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## c2d (Apr 25, 2007)

I am getting the following error messages when I run the event viewer:

1. the microsoft diagnosis stoped diagnosing on Nov. 2nd. How frequent is it supposed to run?

2. in the application menu there is an error of: Userenv from yesterday. the error message states: "...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... " (this error also appears several times within the past three months)
- there are several application errors from as far back as sept.- but I do not think that has anything to do with this. I think the computer might have frozen and an error was logged.

3. there is an asp.net warning from 10/30: "Updates to the IIS metabase were aborted because IIS is either not installed or is disabled on this machine. To configure ASP.NET to run in IIS, please install or enable IIS and re-register ASP.NET using aspnet_regiis.exe /i."

4. there is an Ftdisk system error on oct. 19: "The system failed to flush data to the transaction log. Corruption may occur."

5. aug. 24 is the earliest time when restart and shut down have failed. something was downloaded or deleted then to mess up the system.

that is all, I think.

thank you very much.

in the admin tools it says:

adminstrators, backup operators, power users, and users.


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## tosh9i (Aug 3, 2006)

*Re: Computer not shutting down*

But what does it say the "moment" after you try to shutdown your computer? Does it record an error for that "precise" time?


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## c2d (Apr 25, 2007)

*Re: Computer not shutting down*

Nothing happens when I try to shut down. 
There were updates installed on the computer and it had to restart, so it had the automatic restart. This got stuck and that is where there is a recording of the error/warning.
Otherwise, nothing is happening so there is no record of it.


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## tosh9i (Aug 3, 2006)

*Re: Computer not shutting down*

You make it sound like there are only a "few" events recorded.

Over the past 7 days, there have been 3675 events recorded in my Event Viewer, and that's only for Application, under System there are 1833 Events.

How many events are there in yours (you can see it up near the top where it says Type and Date)


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## Vheissu_ (Nov 9, 2007)

*Re: Computer not shutting down*

Try doing this. Hold down "ctrl" and left click "shutdown". This skips some windows XP shutdown procedure and should do the trick.


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## c2d (Apr 25, 2007)

there are many events, I just posted for you the ones that were labeled warning or error.

Veheissu: thank you, holding down the ctrl key helped to shut down the computer. I guess that is another way of bypassing what is wrong.


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## tosh9i (Aug 3, 2006)

Let's go back to this "update" that was never completed. Do you know the name of it?

I found something here, where other people have the same problem, and they think is was because of an update from August 2007. One person suggested removing the August updates one by one, and, as usual that's where that thread ends. So we don't know if it'll work or not:

http://help-xp.com/post-153220.html


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## FLCL (Nov 9, 2007)

*Re: Computer not shutting down*

Do you have PACE InterLok anti-piracy software installed on your computer?


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## tosh9i (Aug 3, 2006)

*Re: Computer not shutting down*

I don't think Pace is responsible:

"PACE INTERLOK ANTI-PIRACY SOFTWARE. According to the MS Knowledge Base article Computer Hangs During Shutdown Because of Resource Conflict, PACE InterLok anti-piracy software installs a driver (TPKD.SYS) that uses the same IRQ as the Standard Floppy Disk Controller device. This can cause Win XP to hang at a blank screen (with mouse and keyboard nonresponsive) when you try to shutdown or restart. Additional symptoms may be that the floppy drive doesn’t show in My Computer; the Standard Floppy Disk Controller device in Device Manager may display the error status “This device cannot find enough free resources that it can use. (Code 12)”; and/or when trying to shutdown from Safe Mode you get the error message, STOP 0x0000009F Driver_Power_State_Failure. The solution is to get the updated TPKD.SYS file from PACE."


According to C2D, his computer doesn't hang, it's like the computer is ignoring his command, but he can still use his mouse.


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## IAmNutsAboutPCs (Sep 29, 2007)

*Re: Computer not shutting down*

I had the same problem.

I bet you have 512mb of RAM.


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## FLCL (Nov 9, 2007)

*Re: Computer not shutting down*

hmm, true. I wonder if C2D can shutdown from the command line. 
C2D, try this, go to start>run>then type in "cmd" without the quotes. this will bring up the command prompt. next type in the following command: "shutdown -s" without the quotes again. This should tell your system to shutdown your computer entirely.


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## tosh9i (Aug 3, 2006)

*Re: Computer not shutting down*



IAmNutsAboutPCs said:


> I had the same problem.
> 
> I bet you have 512mb of RAM.


"Had" the same problem? Does that mean you managed to fix it, if so, how?


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## IAmNutsAboutPCs (Sep 29, 2007)

*Re: Computer not shutting down*

Upgraded my RAM.

If you have a lot of stuff on a Media Edition version of Windows with a small amount of RAM, when Windows shuts down all of the programs before turning off, it requires a lot of RAM, if you don't have it, it will freeze.

Well it worked for me like I say.


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## auntiej (Aug 14, 2006)

*Re: Computer not shutting down*

one fresh thought to add: had you downloaded any large files, eg music, immediately before the problem first appeared? Say as a .wav file. This happened to me and once I converted the file to .mp3 thereby compressing it, I could shut down again.


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## c2d (Apr 25, 2007)

*Re: Computer not shutting down*

I have to check the memory. I think I have a 1gig, but I am not certain. I also have to check the updates. I will hopefully get to it later today. and I will try to shut down from the "cmd". I know when I hit the ctrl before clicking the shut down button the computer shut off without a problem. I do not know if that is just a bypass or a fix though.

I think the problem started in late July or August. The only think I can remeber downloading then was the google package with the picasso picture sorter. but that program has since been uninstalled off the computer. If I am not mistaken, the computer has since been re-installed - i.e. we have reinstalled windows on it b/c of a crash of some sort. I cannot remember exactly. I have to look into that.

Thanks for all your help and suggestions.


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## IAmNutsAboutPCs (Sep 29, 2007)

*Re: Computer not shutting down*

Is your operating system the Media Center Edition?


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## c2d (Apr 25, 2007)

*Re: Computer not shutting down*

I just checked and I have 504 mb ram and am using windows xp professional.

I think there was an update downloaded on the computer in the summer and now it is not shutting down. We also re-installed windows afterwards, but that did not help.


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## IAmNutsAboutPCs (Sep 29, 2007)

*Re: Computer not shutting down*

Hmmmmm maybe it it a RAM issue. Do you know if you have DDR Samsung RAM? Speed - PC3200?


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## c2d (Apr 25, 2007)

*Re: Computer not shutting down*

I just tried to shutdown and restart using cmd but that did not work. I got a message box stating the comp is shutting down in xx seconds and when the time was up, nothing happened. I am able to use the comp as if I never comanded the machine to shut down.


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## c2d (Apr 25, 2007)

*Re: Computer not shutting down*

How do I check what type of RAM I have without opening the comp up and checking the actual memory stick?


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## c2d (Apr 25, 2007)

*Re: Computer not shutting down*

when I checked the log, it shows there was an attempt to shutdown or restart.


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## IAmNutsAboutPCs (Sep 29, 2007)

*Re: Computer not shutting down*

Easy... download and run CPU-Z:

http://www.softpedia.com/progDownload/CPU-Z-Download-6980.html

Click the 'SPD' tab, it should be 'Slot #1' where the memory is... next to 'Manufacturer' is where the make is. :grin: 

Check all the other slots as you may have two 256mb sticks instead of one 512mb stick...


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