| One of the most common, but most overlooked
problems with the Windows operating system are shut down problems. People
tend to place a low priority of fixing Windows shutdown problems, but
these problems can be symptoms of something more serious. In this article,
I will explain how to diagnose a Windows shutdown issue. |
Have you ever tried to shut down Windows, only to have the shutdown
sequence hang, or to have the computer reboot instead of shutting down? Shut
down problems are one of the most common types of problems with the Windows
operating system. At the same time though, they are also one of the problems
that is most seldom resolved because shut down problems tend to take a back
seat to more serious issues. Troubleshooting operating system shut down
problems is easier than you might think though. In this article, I will share
some techniques with you that you can use to resolve shut down problems on
machines in your office.
Before I Begin
Before I get started, I want to point out that the techniques in this
article are intended for use primarily on Windows XP. You can probably get
away with using most of these techniques on Windows 2000 and Windows 2003
systems as well, but these techniques will not work on Windows 95, 98, or ME.
If you need to troubleshoot shut down problems on an older version of Windows
then I recommend consulting the Microsoft Knowledge Base at
http://support.microsoft.com
Rebooting Rather Than Shutting Down
By far the most common shut down problem is that the system will reboot
rather than shutting down. In most cases, the reboot is triggered because
Windows XP is designed to reboot after a critical failure. To put it simply,
if something were to go wrong during the shut down sequence, Windows may
interpret the problem as a crash, and reboot the system as a result.
If you just want to band-aid the problem, you can disable the restart on
system failure setting. To do so, right click on My Computer and select the
Properties command from the resulting shortcut menu. When you do, you will see
the System Properties sheet. Click the Advanced tab and click the Settings
button found in the Startup and Recovery section. Finally, deselect the
Automatically Restart check box, shown in Figure A, and click OK.
Figure A: The Automatically Restart check box allows
Windows to automatically reboot after a failure
The technique that I have just shown you will prevent the system from
rebooting itself, but it still doesn’t get rid of the root cause of the
problem. There are several known causes of Windows shutdown problems.
Roxio Easy CD Creator
One of the most common causes of Windows shut down problems is a bug in
Roxio’s Easy CD Creator (particularly version 5). Roxio does have a patch
available at
http://www.roxio.com/en/support/ecdc/software_updatesv5_2.jhtml Keep in
mind though that the patch has been known to disable Roxio’s Take Two backup
software that came with Easy CD Creator 5 Platinum. You should also keep in
mind that version 5 is an old version that Roxio no longer supports. The
current version is Easy Media Creator 7. If you suspect that Easy CD Creator
may be causing your problem, then I recommend upgrading to a newer version
rather than patching an old version.
Wake On
Another common cause of system restarts is the Wake On setting. The Wake On
setting allows a computer to be automatically booted if it receives LAN
packets intended for it, or if the modem line rings. Typically, the Wake on
LAN settings would be adjusted through your computer’s BIOS setting. If you
have checked the BIOS though and the Wake On LAN setting is disabled, it is
possible that Windows might be responsible for waking the system up. To find
out, open the Device Manager and locate your system’s network card. Right
click on the card and select the Properties command from the resulting
shortcut menu. When you do, you will see the network card’s properties sheet.
Now, select the Power Management tab and verify that the Allow This Device To
Bring The Computer Out Of Standby option is deselected, as shown in Figure B.
Figure B: Certain types of network traffic can wake a
computer up
Hardware Issues
Another common cause of reboots during shutdown are minor hardware
incompatibilities. Microsoft maintains a hardware compatibility list for
Windows XP. Only hardware appearing on the list is guaranteed to be 100%
compatible with Windows XP. Even so, most people don’t pay any attention to
the hardware compatibility list. Most of the time, minor hardware issues go
unnoticed, but they can manifest themselves in the form of reboots during
shutdown.
Unfortunately, I can’t possibly tell you every piece of hardware out there
that’s known to cauyse reboot problems. What I can tell you though is that
pariphrial devices are especially notorious for causing the problems. This is
especially true of high end keyboards and mice with lots of extra features,
and of various USB devices. I have even heard of cases in which USB devices
would cause the reboot problem if they were plugged directly into the system’s
USB port, but the problem would go away if the devices were plugged into a USB
hub instead.
Unfortunately there is no quick fix to minor hardware compatibility issues.
If you think that your system’s hardware may be to blame then you will have to
use trial and error to locate the offending device (or devices).
I recommend starting by unplugging any external devices. If you have a high
end keyboard or mouse, then temporarily replace your keyboard and mouse with a
generic set. Now boot the computer up and try to shut it down. If the system
shuts down properly, then one of the devices that you disconnected was causing
the problem. If the system does not shut down properly, then I recommend
leaving those devices disconnected during the rest of the testing for the
purpose of simplifying the system’s configuration.
The next thing that I recommend doing is to open the device manager and
make note of the make and model of your system’s major hardware components.
Specifically, you should pay attention to things like network cards, video
cards, sound cards, and modems. After you have documented the make and model
of each device, then turn off and unplug your computer. At this point, you
should remove the computer’s case and verify that the hardware listed in the
device manager is what’s actually in your system. Windows XP is notorious for
misidentifying hardware devices. For example, I recently helped a friend
install Windows onto a new computer. Windows identified his system as having a
D-Link network card. When I couldn’t get the card to function, I removed the
case and realized that his system actually had a Net Gear card instead.
After you have verified that the hardware listed in the device manager is
what’s actually in your system, then I recommend putting your computer back
together and going online. I recommend visiting each hardware manufacturer’s
Web site and downloading the latest driver for the corresponding hardware
device. Hardware manufacturers frequently revise drivers when bugs are
discovered. While you are at it, try visiting the Web site for your system’s
motherboard manufacturer. It could be that an updated BIOS is available.
Extremely Slow Shutdown
Probably the second most common shut down problem for Windows XP is that
the shut down takes an excessive amount of time to complete. To understand why
this happens, you must remember that the Windows operating system is not a
single program, but rather a collection of individual services. Each of these
services must be stopped during shut down. Therefore, a glitch related to any
one of the services may prolong the shut down process or cause the shut down
process to fail completely.
Many people have claimed that the Nvidia Driver Helper Service (used with
Nvidia video cards) causes extremely slow shut downs. However, this is one of
those cases in which an updated video driver usually solves the problem. Other
people have mentioned that disabling the terminal services greatly expedites
the shut down process. The Terminal Services are used for remote assistance,
remote desktop, and fast user switching. If you do not use any of these
features, then the Terminal Services can be safely disabled. You can access
the services console by entering the SERVICES.MSC command at the Run prompt.
Another potential cause of slow system shut downs is that Windows contains
an option to erase the system’s virtual memory and system hibernation cache at
shut down. These security features are disabled by default because they take a
long time to complete, and cause the system shutdown to look like it has
frozen. Although these features are disabled by default, some privacy software
will enable it.
To determine whether or not these features are enabled on your PC, enter
the GPEDIT.MSC command at the Run prompt to load the Group Policy Editor. Now,
navigate through the console tree to Computer Configuration | Windows Settings
| Security Settings | Local Policies | Security Options. At this point, locate
the Shutdown: Clear Virtual Memory Pagefile option in the column to the right
and verify that it is disabled, as shown in Figure C. If this option is
enabled, you can disable it by double clicking on the setting and choosing the
Disabled option.
Figure C: Clearing the virtual memory file during shut down
takes a lot of time.
Conclusion
In this article, I have explained that the two most common types of shut
down problems are shut down reboots and shutdowns that take a long time to
complete. I then went on to demonstrate various troubleshooting methods.
