I believe that my Machine is taking too long to completely shut down.
Gerald & Shirley wrote:
Just curious. I am running Windows XP and I believe that my Machine is taking too long to completely shut down. Does you have a rule of thumb as to the time that normally is used after hitting the Turn Off Computer Icon .
Hmmm, that's a good one. I haven't done any research on that one.
There are several factors involved that will effect shutdown time.
1. Speed of machine.
2. Programs/Processes that are started up automatically at boot.
3. Programs that you start up after boot that are still open.
4. Programs that you have opened and closed that may have not closed properly.
5. Spyware/Adware - if you think your Internet browsing is slower than normal, you may have some SpyWare/Adware on your machine. Try getting and running Windows Defender, AdAware and/or Spybot Search and Destroy. AdAware is easier to use but I think in some cases Spybot does a better job. HOWEVER, I think I have had a couple of machines where Spybot might have caused problems. It was hard to verify because I didn't know all of what had gone on before I got to the machines.
If you want to try trouble shooting this, try the the following.
Boot the machine and do not run any programs. Immediately shut it down. If shutdown is fast, than the culprit is something that you normally run like Outlook or IE - reboot and try running different programs one at a time then shutting down. This may tell you something.
If shutdown is slow, than there may be something in your startup. Try the following:
1. Boot the computer.
2. Run msconfig - Start/Run then type msconfig and hit enter.
3. Select "Diagnostic Startup - load basic devices and services only"
4. Click OK and reboot the machine.
When the machine comes up this time only the basic services and programs will be running and if you shut it down now, this should be your shortest or optimal shutdown time. If this is significantly shorter than your normal shutdown, then repeat the first two steps and try various "Selective Startup" settings. This may take some time and several reboots - there may be a lot of stuff loading at startup - especially if the startup process has never been inspected before and you have loaded programs like PrintShop or Creat-a-card.
I would try taking it in stages. From the msconfig general tab, select selective startup and check only the SYSTEM.INI and WIN.INI files and reboot. If shutdown is still quick, then the problem is not there. Run it again and System Services. Try it again. Most likely the culprit will be the Startup Items. If so, try it again and go to the startup tab and start making selections there. You might try eliminating 1/2 of the items and rebooting - you should have the general idea by now.
RELATED LINK: Second Tip, Left Column.
RELATED LINK: Help from Bill's folks.
I hope this helps!
Just curious. I am running Windows XP and I believe that my Machine is taking too long to completely shut down. Does you have a rule of thumb as to the time that normally is used after hitting the Turn Off Computer Icon .
Hmmm, that's a good one. I haven't done any research on that one.
There are several factors involved that will effect shutdown time.
1. Speed of machine.
2. Programs/Processes that are started up automatically at boot.
3. Programs that you start up after boot that are still open.
4. Programs that you have opened and closed that may have not closed properly.
5. Spyware/Adware - if you think your Internet browsing is slower than normal, you may have some SpyWare/Adware on your machine. Try getting and running Windows Defender, AdAware and/or Spybot Search and Destroy. AdAware is easier to use but I think in some cases Spybot does a better job. HOWEVER, I think I have had a couple of machines where Spybot might have caused problems. It was hard to verify because I didn't know all of what had gone on before I got to the machines.
If you want to try trouble shooting this, try the the following.
Boot the machine and do not run any programs. Immediately shut it down. If shutdown is fast, than the culprit is something that you normally run like Outlook or IE - reboot and try running different programs one at a time then shutting down. This may tell you something.
If shutdown is slow, than there may be something in your startup. Try the following:
1. Boot the computer.
2. Run msconfig - Start/Run then type msconfig and hit enter.
3. Select "Diagnostic Startup - load basic devices and services only"
4. Click OK and reboot the machine.
When the machine comes up this time only the basic services and programs will be running and if you shut it down now, this should be your shortest or optimal shutdown time. If this is significantly shorter than your normal shutdown, then repeat the first two steps and try various "Selective Startup" settings. This may take some time and several reboots - there may be a lot of stuff loading at startup - especially if the startup process has never been inspected before and you have loaded programs like PrintShop or Creat-a-card.
I would try taking it in stages. From the msconfig general tab, select selective startup and check only the SYSTEM.INI and WIN.INI files and reboot. If shutdown is still quick, then the problem is not there. Run it again and System Services. Try it again. Most likely the culprit will be the Startup Items. If so, try it again and go to the startup tab and start making selections there. You might try eliminating 1/2 of the items and rebooting - you should have the general idea by now.
RELATED LINK: Second Tip, Left Column.
RELATED LINK: Help from Bill's folks.
I hope this helps!