Very slow shut down on notebook PC.

kevanf1

Hi. Can anybody help me with a problem I have on my daughter's notebook PC. It's running XP with sp3. It starts lovely but when it comes to shutting down it takes about 10 minutes at least.

The sequence is that the taskbar and all the desktop icons disappear to leave just the background wallpaper (the rolling hills and blue sky/clouds). It will stay like this for around 10 minutes when it then finally shuts down fully.

I realise that it is probably a rogue process or perhaps a driver that doesn't want to shut down/relinquish it's grip. Can anybody suggest where I should look to find out what is causing this problem? A log file somewhere perhaps?

It is a fresh and clean install of XP by the way so there shouldn't be too much rubbish in there.

Thank you.

Kevan

mluton

Go to start, then run. Type MSCONFIG, go to the startup tab and remove items that aren't required at startup.

If you unsure post up the list and Ill tell you what to untick.

Also download ccleaner, this is great for cleaning up rubbish. http://www.filehippo.com/download_ccleaner/

Is the laptop old, as SP3 is a bit more power hungry ?

markymark2901

Can you help me as well ... my laptop takes ages to boot up and even longer to shut down ... I am terrified to switch stuff off in case it "breaks" my PC ...

I have the follwoing running ...

Alaunch
SynTPLpr
SYNTPEnh
SOUNDMAN
AGRSMMSG
Rundll32
keyhook
IMJPMIG
ImScInst
TINTSETP
TINTSETP
qtzgAcer
Check
zlclient
QTTask
itunesHelper
Reader_sl
ctfmon
KHost
Office startup
Microsoft Find Fast

What do all these things do ? and do I need them all to be running ?

Many thanks

mluton

Alaunch = acer launch, Leave on
SynTPLpr = touch pad drive, leave on
SYNTPEnh = touchpad, leave on
SOUNDMAN = acer sound control, can be turned off.
AGRSMMSG = modem driver, turn off if you dont use the built in modem
Rundll32 = leave on
keyhook = acer hotkey driver, leave on
IMJPMIG = asian text support, turn off
ImScInst = text support, turn off
TINTSETP = input message editor, turn off
TINTSETP = input message editor, turn off
qtzgAcer = acer configuration tool, leave on
Check = acer restore, leave on
zlclient = zone labs antivirus IIRC, leave on
QTTask = quick time launceher, turn off
itunesHelper = ituneshelper, turn off
Reader_sl = adobe reader quick launch, turn off
ctfmon = office text input, turn off
KHost = share application, turn off
Office startup = office launcher, turn off
Microsoft Find Fast = office find fast, turn off

This is what I would do, but up to you if you do them.

kevanf1

Ok, in case this helps anybody else. I solved the problem. Firstly the laptop is only just over 12 months old so it's not too old.

But how did I cure the problem? Easy. I created a new user account and cycled that through the start up and shut down procedure. It all worked fine. So all I then had to do was to create a fresh user account for my daughter (it's her notebook) and then I deleted the old one. There wasn't any documents to sve as I had only just set up XP from scratch on it.

Why it played up I don't know but I'm just glad that it now works.

Kevan

markymark2901

I have windows XP, pack 3. PC is about 5 years old.
I regualry run CCleaner ... have done an MSCONFIG nd made the alterations suggested ... to confirm, this is what I have ...

Running ....

Alaunch
SynTPLpr
SynTPEnh
Rundll32
keyhook
QtZgAcer
Check
zlclient
avgnt
ctfmon
Miniminder (reminder device for things I have to do)
Poppy for windows (checks my emails in my 3 addresses)

Not running ....
Ad-Watch
Adobe Reader Speed Launcher
AGRSMMSG
AppleSyncNotifier
AVG8_TRAY
ctfmon
FlashPlayerUpdate
IMJPMIG
iTunesHelper
KHost
ImScInst
TINTSETP
TINTSETP (twice)
qttask
SOUNDMAN
TomTomHOME.exe
Microsoft Find Fast
Office Start up.

When I sm logging user off, the light that indicates that the hard drive is being used flash for a fraction of a second and ten stays off for about 15/20 seconds before flashing again.

What can I do ?

kevanf1

That sounds as if something is trying to finish a job off. It may be something is incorrectly trying to say to Windows that "hey, I have a file that needs to updated now". I'm not sure how to troubleshoot this though Have you amde sure you don't have any usb memory sticks in place etc? They often wait until shut down to decide to synchronise and work that has been done on them.

markymark2901

When I shut down, any memory sticks that I have been using have een removed properly.

I close all windows programs that I have been using and clsoe down from the desk top.

I have noticed that my zon larm icon in the sys tray shows transmission for some reason. Why would that be when IE has been closed before shtting down ?

Taffybiker

Why not try disabling ZA then shut down. At least you will get an answer. Before you disable it though, just to add that bit of extra security, switch off any connection to the internet.

markymark2901

Taffybiker wrote: »

Why not try disabling ZA then shut down. At least you will get an answer. Before you disable it though, just to add that bit of extra security, switch off any connection to the internet.

OK will give it a try ...

markymark2901

Tried it. Whilst it seemed to be quicker it wasn't vatly quicker. Could this be just because there was one less program to close ?

Whilst looking at the MSCONFIG function and the services tab, there re loads of services showig as running on my PC. Are these services actually running on my PC so then have to be closed down when logging off ? or are they just function that are available to the PC should they be required and not actually running in the background ?

Any ideas anyone?