Computer says shutting down but doesn't

valleye

New Member
I just recently found this site and have been trying to find some answers to some dilemma's. Searching past posts have been spotty for me so I am going to ask.

For about 3-4 months my laptop does not shut off normally. I will go to the start menu and shut down that way. The screen will go blue stating the user is logging off and the also states "shutting down". Instead the computer keeps on running and the system does not shut down. So I pretty much do it manually.

I contacted the manufacturer Dell. And they recommended to restore the system. Before i go that route I wanted to see if there was any alternatives. Also I have never restored the laptop and am "leery" about it. If it has to be done I may need to look at some tutorials first.

Thanks,
 

My Computer

Hi valleye and welcome,

Shutdown problems are notoriously difficult to diagnose, and it's a slow process.

Some things to try, though:

Check Device Manager to see if there are any problems.

Review the Reliability Monitor (Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Reliability and Performance Monitor > Reliability Monitor and review all incidents (Click on the + sign beside each category).

Review Event Viewer entries (Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Event Viewer, expand Windows Logs and review the System and Application events.

Ensure that your BIOS and all your drivers are up to date by checking on manufacturers' websites.

Ensure that Windows is up to date through Windows Update.

A 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 below:

image0021106572142998.jpg


(excerpted from Troubleshooting Windows Shutdown Problems)


And...

Try those for now.

Ed
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Home Grown Desktop
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6600 @ 2.40GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS P5B-E
    Memory
    3006 MB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS 512MB
    Sound Card
    Motherboard - SoundMax
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic VX2235wm / Dell 17" Generic PnP Anolog
    Screen Resolution
    1680 x 1050 x 4294967296 colors / 1024 x 768
    Hard Drives
    3 x ST3250620AS 250GB SATA IDE
    1 x WDC WD1200JD-00GBB0 120 GB SATA IDE
    PSU
    Enerrmax 535W All-in-one SLI 20/24+6+
    Case
    Antec Sonata
    Cooling
    Antec 12cm SmartCool
    Keyboard
    Logitech LX710
    Mouse
    Logitech MX100 Laser
    Internet Speed
    Bell Canada DSL 12MBps (supposedly)
    Other Info
    2 x HP Pavilion 9700v Laptops
Hi valleye and welcome,

Shutdown problems are notoriously difficult to diagnose, and it's a slow process.

Some things to try, though:

Check Device Manager to see if there are any problems.

Review the Reliability Monitor (Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Reliability and Performance Monitor > Reliability Monitor and review all incidents (Click on the + sign beside each category).

Review Event Viewer entries (Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Event Viewer, expand Windows Logs and review the System and Application events.

Ensure that your BIOS and all your drivers are up to date by checking on manufacturers' websites.

Ensure that Windows is up to date through Windows Update.

A 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 below:

image0021106572142998.jpg


(excerpted from Troubleshooting Windows Shutdown Problems)


And...

Try those for now.

Ed

when running the event viewer application what should I be looking for?
 

My Computer

Try shutting down your computer through the command line. Use the force switch: XP: Easy Shortcut or Command-Line Shutdown | Windows | Tech-Recipes

usually shutdown -s -f

or if that doesnt work try

shutdown -f

Also you can hold the power button<<--doing that regularly isnt good for your system.

If the command line works, just make a shortcut and the path should be the command that you typed into the command line. Everytime you double click that shortcut your computer will run the command specified at the path.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Hp pavillion a6110n
    CPU
    amd athlon 64 x2 live! 4400+
    Memory
    4 gigs 3.3 useable
    Graphics Card(s)
    Finally! SAPPHIRE 100283L Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 12
    Monitor(s) Displays
    generic pnp monitor
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    7.2k rpm
    1 linux ubuntu partition
    1 vista partition
    1recovery partition
    1 windows 7 partition
    1linux swap partition
    PSU
    500W, antc earthwatts EA500
    Case
    normal black case
    Cooling
    fans
    Keyboard
    saitek cyborg gaming keyboard
    Mouse
    logitech mouse (small to fit hand perfectly)
    Internet Speed
    dsl
    Other Info
    2.3 ghz amd
There is apparently a process that throws itself into a loop. As was already said, this is not easy to diagnose. What you could try is to end all processes that you know in Task Manager before you shutdown. Take only those processes that you can clearly identify so that you do not cripple the system completely (and do not forget to click on "show processes from all users" on the bottom left). Keep a list of the ones you shut down - hopefully one of those will have caused the problem. Then you can proceed with a one by one elimination.
This may not sound like a very swift task, but you have to catch the faulty process before it goes into the shutdown cycle.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    CPU
    Q6600
    Memory
    4GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    HP w2207h
    Hard Drives
    2x250GB HDDs
    1x60GB OCZ SSD
    6 external disks 60 to 640GBs
    Other Info
    Also 1xHP desktop, 1xHP laptop, 1xGateway laptop
There are quite a few processess functioning. If I were to halt a process and it still doesn't shut down will I be able to restablish that process at a later time? What concerns me is stopping a process necessary for the system to function normally. Unfortunately I don't knwo where to start.....

Thanks for the help, any recommendations on which processes to stop?
 

My Computer

Try a clean boot. Go to msconfig and disable everything from the startup tab. Disable all of the services that are not essential for windows to work: (eg. avast scanner, windows themes).

See if it works then.

And

Does your computer turn off normally when you go into safe mode, and then click the shutdown under the start menu?
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Hp pavillion a6110n
    CPU
    amd athlon 64 x2 live! 4400+
    Memory
    4 gigs 3.3 useable
    Graphics Card(s)
    Finally! SAPPHIRE 100283L Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 12
    Monitor(s) Displays
    generic pnp monitor
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    7.2k rpm
    1 linux ubuntu partition
    1 vista partition
    1recovery partition
    1 windows 7 partition
    1linux swap partition
    PSU
    500W, antc earthwatts EA500
    Case
    normal black case
    Cooling
    fans
    Keyboard
    saitek cyborg gaming keyboard
    Mouse
    logitech mouse (small to fit hand perfectly)
    Internet Speed
    dsl
    Other Info
    2.3 ghz amd
Hi valleye,

Re: Event Viewer

The next time you have the shutdown problem, reboot and look at the entries in Event Viewer that were generated around the time of the shutdown. Look for anything in the System and Application logs that shows an error or is reporting an abnormally long time to run. Same thing applies to Reliability Monitor.

Kato's suggestion is also a good one. this might help you with it How to troubleshoot a problem by performing a clean boot in Windows Vista or in Windows 7.

Ed
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Home Grown Desktop
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6600 @ 2.40GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS P5B-E
    Memory
    3006 MB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS 512MB
    Sound Card
    Motherboard - SoundMax
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic VX2235wm / Dell 17" Generic PnP Anolog
    Screen Resolution
    1680 x 1050 x 4294967296 colors / 1024 x 768
    Hard Drives
    3 x ST3250620AS 250GB SATA IDE
    1 x WDC WD1200JD-00GBB0 120 GB SATA IDE
    PSU
    Enerrmax 535W All-in-one SLI 20/24+6+
    Case
    Antec Sonata
    Cooling
    Antec 12cm SmartCool
    Keyboard
    Logitech LX710
    Mouse
    Logitech MX100 Laser
    Internet Speed
    Bell Canada DSL 12MBps (supposedly)
    Other Info
    2 x HP Pavilion 9700v Laptops
I would try starting up in safe mode. Simply hold F8 after you see the POST (the screen that has information about your MoBo). Then select "Safe Mode". After you get into safe mode, shutdown and see if it shuts down properly, if it does, its a process or driver fault, if it doesn't then run SFC /scannow from the command line (or use one of those nifty batch files a forum user was kind enough to write for us).
 

My Computer

System One

  • CPU
    Intel Core 2 Duo E8200 2.66Ghz (6MB Cache)
    Motherboard
    Asus P5KPL AM SE Motherboard
    Memory
    Corsair 4GB 800Mhz OC (2 sticks)
    Graphics Card(s)
    BFG GeForce 9600 OC Edition
    Sound Card
    Realtek Express Chipset Family
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Samsung Syncmaster
    Screen Resolution
    1920 x 1080 (1080p)
    Hard Drives
    WD Caviar Blue 500GB 7200RPM SATA 3G\s read write
    PSU
    Diablotek 500W PSU
    Case
    NZXT Blue Gaming Case
    Cooling
    Stock Cooling for all parts. 5 fans
    Keyboard
    Logitech G15 2007 version
    Mouse
    Logitech G500, 5700 DPI
    Internet Speed
    High Speed (T3) Bell
We cant really help you if you dont take our advice (even if our advice is hard to take). These kind of exotic problems take time to troubleshoot.
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Hp pavillion a6110n
    CPU
    amd athlon 64 x2 live! 4400+
    Memory
    4 gigs 3.3 useable
    Graphics Card(s)
    Finally! SAPPHIRE 100283L Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 12
    Monitor(s) Displays
    generic pnp monitor
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    7.2k rpm
    1 linux ubuntu partition
    1 vista partition
    1recovery partition
    1 windows 7 partition
    1linux swap partition
    PSU
    500W, antc earthwatts EA500
    Case
    normal black case
    Cooling
    fans
    Keyboard
    saitek cyborg gaming keyboard
    Mouse
    logitech mouse (small to fit hand perfectly)
    Internet Speed
    dsl
    Other Info
    2.3 ghz amd
Try shutting down your computer through the command line. Use the force switch: XP: Easy Shortcut or Command-Line Shutdown | Windows | Tech-Recipes

usually shutdown -s -f

or if that doesnt work try

shutdown -f

Also you can hold the power button<<--doing that regularly isnt good for your system.

If the command line works, just make a shortcut and the path should be the command that you typed into the command line. Everytime you double click that shortcut your computer will run the command specified at the path.


Does it work when you force shutdown????

Post your results.
-Kelvin
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Hp pavillion a6110n
    CPU
    amd athlon 64 x2 live! 4400+
    Memory
    4 gigs 3.3 useable
    Graphics Card(s)
    Finally! SAPPHIRE 100283L Radeon HD 5770 (Juniper XT) 1GB 12
    Monitor(s) Displays
    generic pnp monitor
    Screen Resolution
    1280x1024
    Hard Drives
    7.2k rpm
    1 linux ubuntu partition
    1 vista partition
    1recovery partition
    1 windows 7 partition
    1linux swap partition
    PSU
    500W, antc earthwatts EA500
    Case
    normal black case
    Cooling
    fans
    Keyboard
    saitek cyborg gaming keyboard
    Mouse
    logitech mouse (small to fit hand perfectly)
    Internet Speed
    dsl
    Other Info
    2.3 ghz amd
Thank you all for the information. I have had some family issues that has preoccupied my time this week. I am gonna try some of the steps you guys have recommended.


Thanks,:D
 

My Computer

Try a clean boot. Go to msconfig and disable everything from the startup tab. Disable all of the services that are not essential for windows to work: (eg. avast scanner, windows themes).

See if it works then.

And

Does your computer turn off normally when you go into safe mode, and then click the shutdown under the start menu?

I tried to shut off in safe mode but it still does the same thing. If you can give me a step by step procedure as to incorporating the force shutdown that would be great. I think from your directions I go to the command prompt and then type this

Usage: shutdown [-i | -l | -s | -r | -a] [-f] [-m computername] [-t xx] [-c "comment"] [-d up:xx:yy]

Then you indicated to hit -s or -f.

You also recommended

Assigning this to a short cut, How would I accomplish that.

Sorry for the delay in responding to your posts, I really appreciate your assistance kato, canuck, et al....

Thanks:D
 

My Computer

From a command prompt, all you have to type is

ShutDown.exe /r /t 0 to shutdown and restart or
ShutDown.exe /s /t 0 to just shutdown.

To create a shortcut, right-click on your desktop, click on New, then Shortcut, in the Create Shortcut window type cmd /k Shutdown.exe /s /t 0, click Next, type in a name for the shortcut (e.g. Shutdown), and click Finish. The new shortcut will appear on your desktop. Double-click on it to shutdown your computer. Repeat the process changing /r to /s if you want one for Restart.

Ed
 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Home Grown Desktop
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6600 @ 2.40GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS P5B-E
    Memory
    3006 MB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS 512MB
    Sound Card
    Motherboard - SoundMax
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic VX2235wm / Dell 17" Generic PnP Anolog
    Screen Resolution
    1680 x 1050 x 4294967296 colors / 1024 x 768
    Hard Drives
    3 x ST3250620AS 250GB SATA IDE
    1 x WDC WD1200JD-00GBB0 120 GB SATA IDE
    PSU
    Enerrmax 535W All-in-one SLI 20/24+6+
    Case
    Antec Sonata
    Cooling
    Antec 12cm SmartCool
    Keyboard
    Logitech LX710
    Mouse
    Logitech MX100 Laser
    Internet Speed
    Bell Canada DSL 12MBps (supposedly)
    Other Info
    2 x HP Pavilion 9700v Laptops
From a command prompt, all you have to type is

ShutDown.exe /r /t 0 to shutdown and restart or
ShutDown.exe /s /t 0 to just shutdown.

To create a shortcut, right-click on your desktop, click on New, then Shortcut, in the Create Shortcut window type cmd /k Shutdown.exe /s /t 0, click Next, type in a name for the shortcut (e.g. Shutdown), and click Finish. The new shortcut will appear on your desktop. Double-click on it to shutdown your computer. Repeat the process changing /r to /s if you want one for Restart.

Ed
So the first step is to go to the command prompt and type:

Usage: shutdown [-i | -l | -s | -r | -a] [-f] [-m computername] [-t xx] [-c "comment"] [-d up:xx:yy]

then type your directive?

Thanks
 

My Computer

No, just type what was in my post, i.e.

ShutDown.exe /s /t 0

Forget the other stuff.

Ed

 

My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Home Grown Desktop
    CPU
    Intel(R) Core(TM)2 CPU 6600 @ 2.40GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS P5B-E
    Memory
    3006 MB
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS 512MB
    Sound Card
    Motherboard - SoundMax
    Monitor(s) Displays
    ViewSonic VX2235wm / Dell 17" Generic PnP Anolog
    Screen Resolution
    1680 x 1050 x 4294967296 colors / 1024 x 768
    Hard Drives
    3 x ST3250620AS 250GB SATA IDE
    1 x WDC WD1200JD-00GBB0 120 GB SATA IDE
    PSU
    Enerrmax 535W All-in-one SLI 20/24+6+
    Case
    Antec Sonata
    Cooling
    Antec 12cm SmartCool
    Keyboard
    Logitech LX710
    Mouse
    Logitech MX100 Laser
    Internet Speed
    Bell Canada DSL 12MBps (supposedly)
    Other Info
    2 x HP Pavilion 9700v Laptops
I'd try entering Safe Mode. Then try shutting it down. If it still takes longer than 20s, something might be wrong.

How much R.A.M. do you have? You should have at least 1 GB. Is your "Virtual Memory/Page File" set to "System Managed"? If not it should be.

If you want to set your Page File to a custom size, make sure that the "Initial Size" is 1.5x(Total amount of R.A.M.) that is if you have less than 3.072 GB of R.A.M.

If you have at least 3 GB of R.A.M., set the Initial Size to 3072 MB.

For RAM less than 3.072 GB:

Initial Size = 1.5xRAM
Maximum Size = 2xRAM

For RAM 3.072 GB or greater:

Initial Size = 1xRAM
Max Size = 1.5xRAM

Also, you might want to check your C: drive/partition for errors.
 

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My Computer

System One

  • Manufacturer/Model
    Acer Aspire T180 - Desktop
    CPU
    AMD Athlon 64 2.4 GHz (single core)
    Motherboard
    Chipset - nVidia MCP61/nForce 430 GeForce 6150SE
    Memory
    R.A.M. - 3072 MB DDR2 PC2-5300 (333MHz)/667 = 2(1024 MB), 2(512 MB)
    Graphics Card(s)
    XFX GeForce GT 240 {1GB DDR3, 550 MHz GPU, SM 4.1, dx 10.1}
    Sound Card
    Onboard Realtek HD Audio ALC888
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer AL1706 LCD 17"
    Screen Resolution
    1280 x 1024
    Hard Drives
    Hitachi 160 GB SATA, Partitioned into C: and D:
    Internet Speed
    Rogers Hi-Speed Express (10 MB/s download, 512 kb/s upload.
    Other Info
    AVG Internet Security
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