Stall/Lock up at Windows is shutting down

[msolheim]

My windows 98 se machine sometimes stalls at the "Windows is shutting down" screen. Its not all the time but more than half. I have to hold the power button to shut it down. Then I have to go through the beginning harddrive scan because the system was not shut down proporly.

any ideas? Only thing I have installed is HP's software for the PSC 2510 photosmart all in one print. Let me tell you that is a HOG! I've got more crap from HP running in the back ground now and I'm running the printer wireless also.

No search function so I couldn't do a search.

thanks
mike

[GaryRouth]

Our site just got a makeover. I imagine the "search" button and field will reappear soon.

Before I send you to the following three troubleshooter lists, I'll suggest a quick fix first. I've seen a mention on a wireless forum (might have been over at the MS broadband forum) of shutdown issues with wireless peripherals. Just to see if it's a timing problem [can't shutdown because it's not receiving a signal back from the printer within it's timeout period], see if shutting down the printer first helps. Who knows, the shutdown patch which adds a few seconds delay (to enable large disk caches to completely flush) might also help with pokey wireless all-in-ones. It can't hurt, at any rate.

In it's list, HP will recommend using msconfig to trim background jobs (pretty funny, since their machines come with so many running). It is indeed a good idea to trim unnecessary background processes, but I consider using msconfig a temporary solution for troubleshooting. Most of the time, such background jobs can be stopped from starting at system startup by a simple option change in the offending program's "Preferences" menus. Some fairly simple Registry changes to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Run and "Run Services" entries [as well as the same entries in HKEY_CURRENT_USER] will stop the rest. To get a good readup on all the background to this, as well as a good list of what startup is what, visit http://www.pacs-portal.co.uk and go to the Startup material. Another good list is at http://www.answersthatwork.com

From the HP support site:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/famiDocument?product=12455&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&docname=bph07148

From the aumha.org site:
http://www.aumha.org/win4/a/shutdown.htm
[p.s. --- on the menu to the left-hand side of the aumha troubleshooter is a nice index of MS Knowledge Base shutdown articles -- I included the main troubleshooter in the link below, but you might want to look over the larger list too]

From the microsoft Knowledge Base:
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q202633

It's not much fun troubleshooting shutdown issues, but if you stay at it, you'll get there eventually.

Best of luck
. . . Gary

[msolheim]

Gary,

thanks for all the info.
It will give me some reading this weekend.

I was thinking this problem had to do with the wireless.

mike