Windows XP hangs up on shut down message

[dc2000]

Hi everyone:

It has started maybe a couple of weeks ago and I don't know what could be causing it. My Windows XP SP3 seems to hang up on the light blue screen with the "Windows shutting down" message when I attempt to reboot it or shut it down. The only way to reboot in this case would be to use the power button. First I thought that it was doing something and left it like that for a couple of hours but nothing happened -- it's almost like it's frozen there. I don't think I installed anything lately either (only updates).

Can someone suggest what is happening and how can I fix it?

[ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb]

The first thing that comes to mind is that "something" may still be running that won't terminate. This happened to an earlier version of ZoneAlarm, for example.

Try closing down everything before shutting down, and see if this fixes the situation. Use Task Manager to kill all user processes before shutting down Windows.

[Dencandy]

Have you tried System Restore to a date before this problem started? That sometimes solves these sorts of problems.

If it doesn't since this occurs when you try to reboot & shut down (but presumably not on the initial start up), as PW writes, it does indicate something's running that won't shut down properly. This can be a pain to solve. There's Microsoft debugging tools available which can help solve these, see:

http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/devtools/debugging/installx86.Mspx. Read all the stuff about it first. Once the appropriate version is installed nothing more needs to be done.

My desktop computer (XP Pro) has been plagued by a slowly shutdown for the last year. Early in December the problem suddenly ceased. The only new software installed were December's Windows updates & the latest version of CCleaner. The Windows update included an update to MS's Net Framework (which is a cause of quite a few bugs in Windows).

[Navi379]

Hi everyone:

It has started maybe a couple of weeks ago and I don't know what could be causing it. My Windows XP SP3 seems to hang up on the light blue screen with the "Windows shutting down" message when I attempt to reboot it or shut it down. The only way to reboot in this case would be to use the power button. First I thought that it was doing something and left it like that for a couple of hours but nothing happened -- it's almost like it's frozen there. I don't think I installed anything lately either (only updates).

Can someone suggest what is happening and how can I fix it?

Hello I've experienced the same problem, And causing for me to click to main power button because it hangs up- I wonder what cause's the hang.

[Dencandy]

See the previous advice dc2000. The causes of these shutdown hangs are usually software rather than hardware, but it's the devil's own job trying to find their origin.

[System Overload]

Hi everyone:

It has started maybe a couple of weeks ago and I don't know what could be causing it. My Windows XP SP3 seems to hang up on the light blue screen with the "Windows shutting down" message when I attempt to reboot it or shut it down. The only way to reboot in this case would be to use the power button. First I thought that it was doing something and left it like that for a couple of hours but nothing happened -- it's almost like it's frozen there. I don't think I installed anything lately either (only updates).

Can someone suggest what is happening and how can I fix it?

One of my XP machines hangs if i SHUTDOWN, but it's cool if I LOGOFF, then SHUT DOWN... Weird, but it works...

[dc2000]

Guys, I think I fixed it. I'm not sure what solved it but here's what I did:

1. Go to Start -> Run then type msconfig and OK

2. Go to start up and remove anything that is not associated with your video/sound card and antivirus software. In my case I removed the following:

AdobeRPM

Reader_sl

CS4ServiceManager

Skype

All three above are some junk from Adobe products and the last one came from Skype.

3. I also removed the AVG antivirus, because it is sh*t and hasn't done anything to catch any of the three virus I had my system infected for the past year. The software that fixed it was Malwarebytes' Anti-Malware. So I switched to it. At least it doesn't slow down my system as AVG used to.

So now everything reboots just fine. If you have any of the above mentioned products they are most likely the culprits.

[Dencandy]

Cogratulations dc2000 at solving your problem. Rather than removing totally such programs, many of us on this forum use a free program called Startup Inspector (THIS LINK) to stop such programs starting when you boot your computer. That way you still have the program there if you need it. Of course, if it still causes problems then you have no choice but to delete it completely. Make sure you delete it in the correct way as some programs (like Norton Antivirus) can leave remnants behind that can continue to cause problems.

By the way, I believe the excellent Malwarebytes product is a malware detector and remover, but doesn't provide a guard to protect the computer in real time. For that you should have a full antivirus product. There are plenty of other free ones available apart from the sometimes troublesome AVG. For example, Microsoft now provide there own full security suite called Security Essentials (THIAT LINK) which is free to all users of genuine Windows products.

[dc2000]

There are plenty of other free ones available apart from the sometimes troublesome AVG. For example, Microsoft now provide there own full security suite called Security Essentials (THIAT LINK) which is free to all users of genuine Windows products.

Wow, thanks for the heads-up. I didn't know that Microsoft released their own FREE antivirus program. (They should've done it a long time ago!)