Windows XP Slow Shut-Down

My Windows XP machine takes unreasonably long to shut down, sometimes as long as 10 minutes between clicking the shut down button, and anything actually happening. Anyone had this experience, and how have you solved the problem?
Solutions I found in the past only worked for 1 day or 2, after that, back to the waiting room!

Thx

 

• Don't have XP clear your paging file at shutdown. For security reasons, you can have XP clear your paging file (pagefile.sys) of its contents whenever you shut down. Your paging file is used to store temporary files and data, but when your system shuts down, information stays in the file. Some people prefer to have the paging file cleared at shutdown because sensitive information such as unencrypted passwords sometimes ends up in the file. However, clearing the paging file can slow shutdown times significantly, so if extreme security isn't a high priority, you might not want to clear it. To shut down XP without clearing your paging file, run the Registry Editor (click Start > Run, then type regedit in the Run box) and go to:
  
  HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management
  
• Change the value of ClearPageFileAtShutdown to 0. Close the Registry, and restart your computer. Whenever you turn off XP from now on, the paging file won't be cleared, and you should be able to shut down more quickly.
  
  Note: Please be careful when editing the Registry; you can do a lot of damage here. Don't change or delete anything unless you know exactly what it is.

I did not make this tutorial: Original link

 

Do a clean reinstall. Or maybe its time to finally move to Vista

 

Some times its due to conflicts... You can try system restore to restore your system... or you can uninstall additional softwares to see which software was causing trouble.

 

It's never time to move to Vista

 

Delete your temporary files in regular interval and I assure you a faster pc including less time to shut it down.

How to do it?

1. Open Run from start menu.

2. write %temp% and open it.

3. Delete all the files you can.

 

How old is your computer? If I were you and I could I'd move up to Vista at least. If you can go to Windows 7 if you have the hardware requirements.

If you don't upgrade then I'd recommend a clean reinstall or try running Disk Clean Up and CCleaner.

 

Probably some software, service are preventing from shutting down it fast. Have you tried playing with these settings? :


Auto End Task
This registry setting ends the running task and automatically shutdown the application
Go to Start > Run, type regedit to open Registry Editor.
Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
Scroll down to find the registry key called AutoEndTasks. Right-click on the key, select Modify and change the value to 1.
Exit Windows Registry after making changes.


Wait To Kill Application
This registry key function is to set the time interval for Windows before killing the applications to shutdown the computer.
Navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
Scroll down to look for the Registry Key called WaitToKillAppTimeout, right-click on it, select Modify and Change the value to 1000.

Hang Application Time
This registry key sets the hang time of the application before closing.
Navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
Scroll down to look for the Registry Key named HangAppTimeout.
Right-click on it, select Modify and Change the value to 1000, exit Windows Registry

Clear Page File Before Shutdown
Last but not least, make sure Windows doesn't clear the pagefile on shutdown:
Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management
Scroll down for the Registry Key named ClearPageFileOnShutdown, if this is set to 1, right click on it, select Modify and Change the value to 0.
Wait To Kill Service Timeout
This registry key sets the time for Windows to wait before ending services related to Microsoft.
Navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop
Look for the Registry Key named as WaitToKillServiceTimeout, right click on it, select Modify and Change the value to 1000.

Borrowed these already formatted tips from another website.

 

Just support for XP is gonna end. Still millions of business trust XP.

All are recommended to move to Windows 7 as said by Microsoft.

 

this problem comes for the virus, in your system, try to install a good antivirus to fix the problem

 

Contact your system administrator soon and update your antivirus to kasperspy.

 

You mean besides a servant at his home, he also has his own system administrator?

 

If sometime you have installed antivirus it can also b reason to slow shut down of windows. And also sometime if you have enabled automatic updates than windows also became slow.

 

you can use now window7 its really nice window not have any pro with window7 because i also use window7 in past 2 years i did't get any problem with my laptop.