Shutdown Problems

[yellohut]

my computer has a hard time shutting down and restarting.
I'm running windows Me.
when i go to start > shutdown > reset the computer will go through the motions of shutting down, except when the screen goes blank, it never comes back on. the computer will still be on, with fans spinning and whatnot, but it's not started and i have to manually restart.

then, if i go to start > shutdown > shutdown, the computer will restart. if i do it a second time it will finally shut down.

also, everytime windows loads it says "improper shutdown deteced" and runs scandisk.

i can't tie this problem to any changtes in the system (i.e. new software or hardware) and i'm not really sure when it started, but it's really getting annoying.
I've cleaned my registry as best as i could (using regcleaner) and it didn't help.

anyone seen this before?

Wnidows Me
A7N8X Deluxe
Athlon XP 2800+
512 MB PC2100 Crucial
Radeon 9600pro

[risk_reversal]

It would appear that you have not seen this? If not, just download the patch and install it. This will introduce a 2 sec shut down delay to your o/s and hopefully resolve your problem. I had scandisk restarting also with Win98SE.

Although it says Windows98 at the top of the page, you will note in the article that this supposedly works for Me also.

http://www.microsoft.com/windows98/d...17/Default.asp

[yellohut]

thanks for the link...
and welcome to PCMech
but, i already have the patch..
and when i tried to install it anyway from your link, it told me i had the wrong version of windows.

any other ideas?

[risk_reversal]

Yellohut, you say that you already have the patch ? Or you have a patch that is not installing to your o/s ?

http://support.microsoft.com/default...NoWebContent=1

If you don't have the correct patch then perhaps the above link is correct for your o/s.

The link below (if you go down about half way) has a shut down patch that I understand some people have used successfully. Not sure if this could be a dupe of the MS one though....

http://aumha.org/win4/a/shtdwnme.htm

Hope this helps.

[yellohut]

I think I already downloaded the patch...
but I tried downloading it again, and the above link didn't work. I'll tryt your patch when I get home...
thanks for the help.

[GaryRouth]

That link for aumha.org also has a pretty good list of other things to try - some on that same page. Sometimes it takes a lot of work to get things sorted out for shutdowns on a Win9x/Me system. Best of luck
. . . Gary

[risk_reversal]

Well as I said, I had a very similar problem as yours, tricky shutdowns and scandisk on cold/warm boots. The MS IDE shutdown delay patch cured all for me on Win98SE.

Scandisk running is an excellent indicator that you need the patch, although why it would suddenly require it now with no changes to your set up is (as always with pc's) puzzling.

[yellohut]

I've got the patch, and I tried just about all the tips at the aumha.org site, but nothing has worked so far... it's still giving me problems.

edit:
although now when I choose Shut Down I get a BSOD, then when i hit enter to return to windows it restarts.

[yellohut]

checking my bootlog.txt file, i see that the last line says:

[000BA518] Removing Unknown (PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0066&SUBSYS_80A71043&REV_A1\BUS_00&DEV_04&FUNC_00)

whatever it is it wasn't removed properly and is likely the cause of all my problems..
anyone know what device or driver that may be?

[risk_reversal]

I am not completely certain about this but the item which you listed below is a registry entry associated with the monitor.

PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0066&SUBSYS_80A71043&REV_A1\BUS_00&DEV_04&FUNC_00

Look in your registry at:

> Hkey_Local_machine >Enum > Monitor and open. You should see some key(s).

Click/expand the keys a you will see the details on the pane on the right (althought the value of the key(s) will be on the left pane).

Have a look and confirm (or not) that the string you posted matches the one at that registry address.

Post again once you have looked at this. In case this is correct also note how many entries you see under the Monitor key.

[GaryRouth]

Hi again

You can also check in Device Manager while in Safe Mode for "ghost entries" (stuff no longer in your machine, but still lingering in the Registry) and remove them from there. Of course, if there are any entries for "Unknown Device", post that info here. "Unknown Monitor", on the other hand, should be harmless: just a monitor that didn't have an .inf file on the installation cd, so it uses fail-safe default settings - rather than settings optimized for what it can do.

You've possibly been getting the equivalent of a BSOD all along, but since WinMe has an option to reboot on an error, you were restarting. It sounds like in the process of going through the aumha list you've disabled that after-error reboot (I think that it's better to see an error message than have a mysterious and noninformative reboot) [I believe the option is under system properties]. If you happen upon that error again, post it's text here & we'll take a look.

Best of luck
. . . Gary

[p.s. .... if it seems you're getting nowhere after trying many different approaches, you could also try an over-the-top reinstall, to see if that will help. With WinMe, you'd need to disable System Restore just prior to the reinstall, then enable it afterwards. Here's a guide: http://forum.pcmech.com/showthread.p...threadid=70846 ]

[yellohut]

thanks for the help you guys!
risk_reversal sent me down the right path. I found the entry in my registry under the PCI bus. It turns out that it's my on board Nvidia Networking controller, which is how i connect to my network. I'll try switching to hte onboard 3com one and see if that works. I'll also see if i can find better drivers for the nvidia one.
I'll let you know how it works.

[yellohut]

yup, switching the NIC i'm using seems to have done it. Guess i'll have to wait for some newer drivers if i want to use the nvidia one again... but I can't really tell a difference.

Thanks so much for your help!

[risk_reversal]

Pleased to hear it worked out ok.....

[GaryRouth]

Nice troubleshooting - I wonder: would you like to pin this thread in the nForce sticky thread over on the hardware forum? It might help others who come across the same trouble.

It'd be interesting to see what happens later on, if you try the nVidia controller again sometime, with different drivers.
. . . Gary