Slow shutdown problem

[blutach]

This happens pretty much all the time now and it's driving me crazy - even my 5 yo old P4 laptop shuts down easier than my dual core desktop.

It sits there for at least a minute on "Saving your settings". There seems to be disk activity but I'm not sure what it's doing. No spyware, malware etc.

I do have Eraser installed but do not have it set to clear my swap file (I recognise this could take a while).

Are there any utilities that can show me what is taking so long (kinda like bootviz in reverse)?

TIA.

Regards

[Chewy]

I finally broke down(or let's say IE and windows finally broke) and did a clean install.

Windows even with my cleanups was over 3 gigs, the registry was bloated and IE hopelessly corrupt.

Windows was slow to shut down and finally started rebooting instead.

XP really turns into a patchwork quilt with enough time.

[blutach]

My registry is fine according to CCleaner (temp files are cleaned daily, too) and the disk is defragged. IE is OK. Here is some data on processes, autoruns (load that file into autoruns.exe via its file menu) and an Everest report. Something is spending a minute doing something to the disk at close - maybe diskeeper or defraggler?

I uninstalled AVG and this helped speed up the PC's booting time as there was no scan after every boot. Now I will use a non-resident AV to scan files periodically.

I definintely do not want to do a new install - I just don't have 2 days to spare.

TIA.

Regards

[Chewy]

Yes, memdefrag.exe, Memory Optimizer, C:\Program Files\Glary Utilities\memdefrag.exe

???????????????????????

I have never bgeen impressed with Glary

[Chewy]

Here's a good heavy duty cleaner

Please download TFC by Old Timer and save it to your desktop.

http://oldtimer.geekstogo.com/TFC.exe

Save any unsaved work. TFC will close ALL open programs including your browser!
Double-click on TFC.exe to run it. If you are using Vista, right-click on the file and choose Run As Administrator.
Click the Start button to begin the cleaning process and let it run uninterrupted to completion.
Important! If TFC prompts you to reboot, please do so immediately. If not prompted, manually reboot the machine anyway to ensure a complete clean.

How big is your windows folder?

How big is the Installer folder in windows

[blutach]

I don't think that optimiser does much actually. I can see if it does any good not to load it.

C:\Windows = 6.96Gb; 26,411 files, 2,397 folders (If I check from within C:\Windows, it is only 5.14Gb; 25,623 files, 2,320 folders, so something is hidden there).

There is no "Installer" folder within C:\Windows

Will TFC kill all my cookies that I want to keep? I would prefer not to have to re-create the ones I like.

Regards

[MilesAhead]

According to this article, you can get verbose startup log on, log off and shutdown messages by setting a registry value:

http://www.raymond.cc/blog/archives/2008/06/18/how-to-troubleshoot-windows-startup-logoff-login-and-shutdown-problems/

[wcbncal]

Hi,

In the cases I have seen this problem, I was caused by some application, or process that either will not terminate, or takes a very long time.

In extreme cases, the shutdown will take "forever" (have to cycle power).

You can use task manager as a starting point to understand what is running. There are also some utilities available from Microsoft (Process monitor, and process explorer that can be helpful (search Microsoft.com)).

Will

[blutach]

Thanks guys.

Looking at my autoruns.arn, are there any processes/services that you would not have on a wireless home network?

Regards

[Chewy]

1.75 GB (1,882,925,134 bytes)

12,961 files 897 folders

Installer is right between inf and java but hidden

[blutach]

There's 1.5Gb (6,800 files) in those $ntuninstall folders, which I am not sure are needed but probably do no harm either.

Calling up C:\Windows\Installer directly shows 1.5Gb in 343 files. Lots of msis and msps etc. I don't mind the space usage - the drive is 68% free. Are these things useful? Should I be running disk cleanup? If so, what to delete?

Regards

[Chewy]

Or, using Group Policy Editor [for Windows XP Professional]

Click Start, Run and type Secpol.msc
Click Local Policies | Security Options
In the right-pane, set Shutdown: Clear virtual memory pagefile to Disabled

http://windowsxp.mvps.org/slowshutdown.htm

[Chewy]

Have you had a lot of power outages that crash windows?

[blutach]

One or two - not that many.

Running XP Home, so SecPol is not relevant.

BTW: Here is a GMER log for rootkit scans.

Regards

[Chewy]

for home

Start Registry Editor and navigate to the following key:

[HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management]

Set ClearPageFileAtShutdown value to 0