xp 64bit not shutting down

[amer abidi]

so my workstation at home has been going crazy lately with a new "windows update" everysingle time i try to shut it down lately, but it was all ok up untill two days ago. I left my workstation to "install the reqquired updates then shutdown" and, yes, you guessed it, it has not been shutting down ever since! stays on the windows log out page "windows is shutting down..."

 

I just finished my second restore pointattempt, from over a week ago, and still the same problem, computer never shuts down!

 

I really dont feel like re formatting, i mean i am so sick of windows i feel like throwing the towel in!!

 

What to do? is there an analysis tool that can tell me whats wrong? call up microsoft and expect to be served before windows 8 comes out? just manually shut it down from the power button for the next foreseeable future?

 

I hate windows.

[SandmanNinja]

My xp64 has never done that, so it might be something else.

 

It will continue to download until it thinks you have the proper files.

If it won't shut down, then it can't "close" off the "required update".

 

Do you have a LOT of files on your desktop?

It sounds like either a virus issue or a profile issue.

 

Can you go to:

c:\documents and settings\[your user name]

and right-click on the Desktop folder and select properties.

See how big it is.

Anything over 5 or 10 megs isn't good.

Lots of people use the desktop as a temp. holding area but then end up leaving all the files on there. That can stuff your profile up. If that's the case, copy the files to a folder on one of your drives.

 

You can even log on as another administrator (make an admin account if you need to) and log on as that person. Then rename your OLD folder (username).OLD and then log back on under your normal name. Then go to c:\documents and settings\

and copy the Favourites from the .OLD to your current folder.

 

That's a profile refresh.

 

I'd also scan for viruses (I use Avast!) and then download CCleaner and Defraggler (just google them) - they are free registry cleaners and defraggers. BEST stuff on the market. Have one scan and repair your registry (do it 3 or 4 times) and then have the other defrag your hard drives.

 

Your system will be like new.

Edited August 22, 2009 by SandmanNinja
typos

[mi75]

Great tips Joel. I never realised the size of the stuff on your desktop could have such an impact, which may answer a few questions I had regarding my profile issues randomly on start up.

 

Also After using the power button to shut the computer down and then doing a restart it might be worth having a look at the "Event Viewer" to see what you system was doing when it should have been shutting down.

- Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Event Viewer.

 

Also since its related to windows updates you could also try disabling "Automatic Update" in windows services. It would be more as an experiment to see if after doing that and doing a hard restart, the computer then shuts down normally. I have quite a few things in there disabled to make my system a bit cleaner.

- Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Services

 

 

Good luck

Martin

Edited August 22, 2009 by mi75

[SandmanNinja]

good tips, Martin.

If you get lost in all of the entries in the event viewer, you can try clearing the entries and then rebooting & reviewing the new entries. Anything with red Xs or bangs (yellow triangles with an exclamation mark) are worth reviewing.

 

And I'll revise my max suggested limited for desktop to 50 megs.

 

Never hurts to clear out your temp folder, too.

[amer abidi]

i'll have a look into those when i get home, I think the event viewer might have a few answers.

 

Thanks guys.

[dogragurjeet]

switch off the auto windows update from msconfig for a while

[STRAT]

(keep in mind i'm not too technical here )

 

i dont know the reason windows hangs on shut down sometimes, but i had an I.T. mate that pressed a few buttons once that easily solved this, so i know it's a simple problem to fix. when my computer fails to shut down properly these days i just usually resort to holding my finger on the main on/off button for a few seconds for a complete shut down. never fails

 

also, i have auto updates constantly turned off. this is because the friggin' software always decides to update/install and restart usually in the middle of the night when i'm overnight rendering and wrecking my whole session. i usually manually update myself once a week.

 

i also regularly check what start-ups i have going in the msconfig file. i keep these to a bare minimum.

[SandmanNinja]

Very true, Strat. By default, Windows will update around 3am. Very inconvienent. You can change it, however.

 

OR - just go to http://www.microsoft.com and do it manually.

 

Also, PCs weren't really designed to be run 24/7 without shutting down.

I try to shut my PC down a couple times a week (unless you're rendering out a 900-frame animation!)