System Shutdown Delay

Question

Lately experiencing delays in shutting down system. Using Windows XP on XPS 400.

Have had system for 2 years with no problems. Used to shutdown in about 5-7 seconds. In past 2 weeks system shutdown now taking between 30 and 45 seconds. Wondering why the sudden increase in shutdown time. Regularly use Disk Cleanup and sometimes Disk Defragmenter, but no change. Can I expect further increases in shutdown time possibly leading up to more serious problems?

Message Edited by Tomoso on 02-10-2008 11:27 PM

artizen · Answer

Probably an update was downloaded and installed. You can try clearing the Startup using MSCONFIG and see if that helps. See : http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_msconfig.htm

RoHe · Answer

Try installing Microsoft's User Profile Hive Cleanup Service, free here: http://snipurl.com/1vupw Ron

DElite1 · Answer

Lol, sounds to me you still got it made...mine used to shut down in about 1 Minute. and now its about 90 seconds-120 seconds but I agree it might be one of your latest installations or something.

Tomoso · Answer

Thanks for another good idea.

Tomoso · Answer

Thanks. Your idea cut the shutdown time in half. Maybe I can tweak it a little more to cut it by another 50% and I should be back where I once was. Thanks again.

jake898 · Answer

I just recently started experiencing something similar on my Inspiron E1705, after 2 years with the same Windows XP install.

For me, shutdown runs normally all the way up until the end -- when the screen shuts off. Historicall there'd be about 1-2 seconds delay after the screen turns off, then I hear the power cut off. All is silent.

Now, there's about an 8 second delay before the computer pulls the plug on itself. It just hangs there, on, with a dark screen, then eventually the power goes out as it should. Kinda strange.

Since this happens presumably after Windows is no longer in memory, I wonder what the cause it. I can't blame it on Windows XP. Does anyone know what a Dell laptop like mine might be doing during that time before power-cut?

Thanks,

RoHe · Answer

The screen may be blank, but there could still be some hard disk activity. Perhaps creating an image of the drive or an antiviral screen on shutdown etc.   Ron

jake898 · Answer

Thanks for the suggestion. Hmmmm... Well, I installed my software from scratch, so there's no imaging/backups going on. AV: hard to imagine anything running after Windows has shutdown, but maybe there's something I don't know.

I'm fearing that my HD is growing old, after nearly 2 years (from new) of being on 90% of the time. Maybe I should run diags again.

Can anyone recommend a good cloning software package? I may consider getting a new internal HD, and I'd want to make a bit-for-bit clone (all partitions) in one fell swoop. I guess I'd need some kind of external chasis to hold the newly bought internal HD (externally) while I do the clone (I have no desktop PC to work with).

Thanks.

jake898 · Answer

Problem Solved -- not that it was really a problem to begin with, but a concern certainly.

Once I asked myself the simple question, "Has my hardware configuration changed recently?" I discovered the (possible) answer. A quick test suggested I was right.

Until recently my external HD was connected via USB to my laptop. For some strange reason (I'll blame the HD), the connection started being seen by the laptop as USB1.1 instead of USB2.0 as it had been for 2 years. This was frustrating as I often backup large files. To solve this issue I switched the dual-ported HD to connect to my unpowered FireWire port to guarantee high speed transfer. I had to add a separate power connection for the external HD, but the HD still likes to spin down regularly to save power; not a problem.

At that moment during shutdown after Windows XP has unloaded itself and the laptop is about to cut power completely (where I noticed my strange 5-8 second delay), perhaps the computer is asking hard drives if they are ready to have power cut off, or something to that effect. My external HD may need to spin back up just to say "No, I'm done, you can shutdown as far as I'm concerned".

Anyway, I'm glad to deduce that all's seemingly well.

Windows General

System Shutdown Delay

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