When Windows XP won't restart - how to diagnose, how to shutdown without power-cycling?

When Windows XP won't restart - how to diagnose, how to shutdown without power-cycling?

Sometimes Windows (XP sp3) won't listen when I tell it to Restart/Shutdown/Logoff. Right away, a few things disappear from the system tray, and nothing is running in the Programs pane of Task Manager; then nothing happens. Even if I wait an hour (it's not just slow - it stops). I can launch new programs, fiddle with anything - the system's not sluggish - it just won't shut down.

Asked by: Guest | Views: 335

Total answers/comments: 2

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Guest [Entry]

"I'd have a look into the Event Viewer, probably in the System log or maybe Application log.

Some software will prevent shutdown, for example Virtual Machine software (I believe VMWare does, at least it does on OS X) will not allow you to shutdown / reboot while the guest OS is running.

Another idea would be to load each application you would normally have open and try to reboot after it has loaded. This may help you track down what you're opening when you can't reboot. It would be highly time consuming."

Guest [Entry]

I find that sometimes when that happens, re-issuing the shutdown again or a few more times seems to help it along. Also, manually closing programs during the shutdown, especially ones in the tray (right click and select exit/quit for those that support it) during the shutdown seems to help.