How to Troubleshoot Windows 98 Second Edition Shutdown Problems

15 Step Shutdown Troubleshooter

This lists steps to help you troubleshoot problems using the Shut Down command in Windows 98 Second Edition.

When Windows 98 Second Edition shuts down it performs many functions, including the functions in the following list:

Completes all disk write functions.
Flushes the disk cache.
Runs the Close Window code to closes all currently running programs.
Transitions all protected-mode drivers to real mode.

When Windows 98 Second Edition does not shut down properly, it may appear to stop responding (hang) for several minutes at the Please wait while your computer shuts down screen or with a blank screen and a blinking cursor.

Shutdown problems in Windows 98 Second Edition can be caused by any of the following:

A video card that is not assigned an IRQ in real mode.
An program or terminate-and-stay-resident (TSR) program may not close correctly.
An incompatible, damaged, or conflicting device driver is loaded.
A damaged Exit Windows sound file.
Incorrectly configured or damaged hardware.
An incompatible Basic Input/Output System (BIOS) configuration setting.
An Advanced Power Management or Advanced Configuration and Power Interface setting.

The Fast Shutdown registry key is enabled.

Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI), OnNow, and Advanced Power Management (APM). In addition, the Fast Shutdown code which was implemented with the initial release of Windows 98 has been removed to support these new features.

Although Windows 98 Second Edition includes many new drivers, not all third-party manufacturers have had a chance to update their hardware drivers. Some existing computers or devices may require an updated BIOS or device driver to fully support Windows 98 Second Edition.

To troubleshoot shutdown problems in Windows 98 Second Edition, use the following procedures to attempt to determine the cause of the problem:

Check the programs that are running. This includes disabling any TSR's loading in real-mode, disabling programs that start from your Startup group, and disabling any non-essential 3rd-party device drivers.

Check the hardware configuration. This includes the BIOS settings, the BIOS version. Disable or remove any hardware that may be responsible. It may also be necessary to contact your hardware manufacturer for possible updates.

Check the Programs that Are Running

To check the programs running, use the Microsoft System Configuration Utility tool (Msconfig.exe) to clean-boot your computer. If a clean-boot resolves the issue, you can then use the System Configuration Utility tool to determine the program that is the cause of the shutdown problem.

For information about how to perform a clean-boot and how to use Msconfig.exe, click the articles number below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q192926 How to Perform Clean-Boot Troubleshooting for Windows 98
Q188867 Troubleshooting Windows 98 Startup Problems and Error Messages

Check the Hardware

To check the hardware configuration on the computer, use Device Manager to troubleshoot the installed hardware. To do this, follow these steps:

Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click System.

On the Device Manager tab, disable all devices under the following branches:
Display adapters

Floppy disk controllers
Hard disk controllers
Keyboard
Mouse
Network adapters
PCMCIA socket
Ports
SCSI controllers
Sound, video, and game controllers

To disable a device in Device Manager, follow these steps:
Double-click the branch containing the device you want, click the device, and then click Properties.

On the General tab, click to select the Disable In This Hardware Profile check box, and then click OK.

Restart your computer.

If the problem is resolved, enable the devices you disabled in step 2, and then verify that no devices are conflicting.

Enable devices in the following order:

COM ports
Hard disk controllers
Floppy disk controllers
Other devices

To enable a device and check for possible conflicts, follow these steps:
Double-click the branch containing the device you want, click the device, and then click Properties.
On the General tab, click to clear the Disable In This Hardware Profile check box.
On the Resources tab, verify that there are no conflicts listed under Conflicting Device List. Note that the Resources tab does not appear for each device.

Click OK, and then restart your computer.

If the problem is not resolved, run the Automatic Skip Driver Agent tool to enable any device that has been disabled. To start Automatic Skip Driver Agent, click Start, point to Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, click System Information, and then click Automatic Skip Driver Agent on the Tools menu. For information about how to use Automatic Skip Driver Agent tool, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Q186588 Description of the Automatic Skip Driver Agent (Asd.exe) Tool

If the problem is resolved by these steps and you determine a specific device is the cause of the shutdown problem, please contact the manufacturer for an updated version of the driver or firmware for the device.
Known Issues

IRQ Steering:
This option allows several PCI devices to share the same interrupt request (IRQ). If the BIOS is not fully compliant, this option may lead to machines not shutting down properly… even if 2 or more devices are not sharing an IRQ.

To disable PCI bus IRQ Steering, follow these steps:
Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click System.
On the Device Manager tab, click System Devices.
Double-click PCI Bus, click to clear the Use IRQ Steering check box on the IRQ Steering tab.
Click OK, click OK, and then restart your computer.

After you restart the computer, attempt to shut down your computer again.

For information about how to disable PCI bus IRQ Steering, click the article number below to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:
Q182628 How to Disable PCI Bus IRQ Steering in Windows

If your computer now shuts down successfully, you may need to change the BIOS configuration or you may need a BIOS update. For information about how to do so, contact your BIOS manufacturer.

Plug and Play BIOS:
In some cases, the BIOS and Windows may not be communicating properly with the computer hardware during the shutdown process. It is possible to configure Windows 98 Second Edition to ignore the presence of a PnP BIOS and communicate directly with the hardware.

NOTE: This should only be done for testing purposes, as leaving the PnP BIOS disabled may cause some hardware to stop working.

To configure Windows to not use the PnP BIOS, follow these steps:

Reboot your machine and hold the CTRL key until you see the Windows 98 Start menu.

Choose Command Prompt Only.

Type the following at the command prompt:
cd \<Windows>\System

where <Windows> is the folder in which Windows is installed.

Rename the Bios.vxd file to Bios.old.

Restart your computer.

After you restart, attempt to shut down Windows.

If shutdown is now successful, it is most likely an indication the system BIOS is contributing to the shutdown problems. Contact the motherboard manufacturer or BIOS vendor for a possible update.

NVRAM / ESCD:
There are also specific settings for how the BIOS and Windows interact during the Startup and Shutdown processes. To check this, disable the NVRAM / ESCD updates feature to determine if it resolves the shutdown problem. To do this, follow these steps:
Click Start, point to Settings, click Control Panel, and then double-click System.

On the Device Manager tab, select System Devices.

Select Plug and Play BIOS, and then click to clear the Disable NVRAM / ESCD updates on the Settingstab.

Click OK, click OK, and then restart your computer.

After you restart the computer, attempt to shut down your computer again.

Fast Shutdown registry key is enabled

The Microsoft System Configuration utility includes an option to diable Fast shuts down. If this option is unchecked in Windows 98 Second Edition, your system may reboot instead of shutting down. To resolve this issue, change the FastReboot value data from 1 to 0 in the following registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Shutdown

15 Step Shutdown Troubleshooter

Shutdown problems in Windows 95 and 98 can be caused by many factors including, but not limited to: a damaged exit sound file; incorrectly configured or damaged hardware; conflicting programs, or an incompatible, damaged, or conflicting device driver. This article can be used to troubleshoot the possible causes.

1st. DISABLE FAST SHUTDOWN (Skip this step if you are using Windows 95)

Launch MSCONFIG. Click Advanced. Place a check mark in the box next to "Disable fast shutdown." (NOTE: If the box is already marked, go to SECOND STEP.) Click OK, then OK again. Test Windows shut down by restarting the computer. (For proper troubleshooting, click Start | Shut Down | Restart | OK. Give Windows three minutes to complete the process before concluding that it is hung. This same procedure is referred to in the following steps as, "Test Windows shut down.") Disabling fast shutdown may solve the problem; but if it doesn't, go on to SECOND STEP.

NOTE: This problem may exist on Win98 if your computer uses Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) and the Fast Shutdown feature is disabled. To obtain a supported fix for this problem from Microsoft, see the article "Computer Stops Responding When You Try to Shut It Down."

2nd. STARTUP/SHUTDOWN TROUBLESHOOTING WIZARD

A shutdown troubleshooter is built right into Windows 98 as well. It will take you through many, but not all, of the steps recommended below. Some people may prefer this kind of "walk-through" on-screen troubleshooter. To access it, click Start | Help. In the window type Troubleshooting. Click on the Troubleshooting entry in the menu. Scroll down the new list provided and click on "Shutdown and Startup Troubleshooter."

Microsoft also has an on-line version of this Startup/Shutdown Troubleshooting Wizard.

You can try one or the other version of this troubleshooter as your next option if you wish; or simply continue through the steps that follow.

3rd. RULE OUT DAMAGED EXIT SOUND FILE

In Control Panel, double-click Sounds. In the Events box, click Exit Windows. In the Name box, click None. Click OK. Test Windows shut down. If Windows does not hang, the problem may be a corrupt sound file. Restore the file from your Windows disk or wherever you obtained it and then test Windows shut down.

4. RULE OUT CLOGGED TEMPORARY FILE FOLDERS

Manually deleting the contents of various temporary file folders may solve the shutdown problem. Though these files can be relocated on a given system, their default locations are usually on the C: drive. Folders you might want to manually clean include: TEMP, Temporary Internet Files, and MSDOWNLD.TMP.

5. RULE OUT AUTOEXEC.BAT OR CONFIG.SYS COMMAND LINE PROBLEMS

(If there is neither an AUTOEXEC.BAT nor CONFIG.SYS file, or if both are empty, go to SIXTH STEP. Otherwise:) Rename AUTOEXEC.BAT and CONFIG.SYS to AUTOEXEC.TMP and CONFIG.TMP and test Windows shut down. If it hangs, rename the files to the original names and go to SIXTH STEP. If the system does not hang, rename the files and proceed with these steps:

Restart Windows and bring up the Boot Menu. Choose "Step-By-Step Confirmation." Press Y at each of the following prompts if it occurs (press N for any other prompts):

-Load DoubleSpace driver
-Process the system registry
-DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS
-DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\IFSHLP.SYS
-Load the Windows graphical user interface
-Load all Windows drivers

After Windows finishes loading, test Windows shut down. If the system hangs, go to STEP SIX. If it shuts down properly, the problem may be caused by a command line in the AUTOEXEC.BAT or CONFIG.SYS file.

To determine which line is causing the problem, follow these steps: Restart Windows, bringing up the Boot Menu as before. Press Y for each of the prompts listed above, plus one additional command. Press N for all other prompts. (You will cycle through the additional lines, selecting a different additional command each time until you have gone through them all.) Each time, after Windows finishes loading, test Windows shut down. Repeat the above until the shutdown problem occurs.

When the shutdown problem occurs, you have identified the command causing the problem. Disable the command (using SYSEDIT to edit the file containing the command, or, in Win98, MSCONFIG to remove the check mark in front of the problematic item).

6. RULE OUT VIRTUAL DEVICE DRIVER / SYSTEM.INI PROBLEMS

Launch SYSEDIT. Click on the SYSTEM.INI window. Examine the section [386Enh] and place a semicolon (;) at the beginning of each line that begins with "DEVICE=" and ends with ".386." Save the changes and exit SYSEDIT. (NOTE: In Win98 you can use MSCONFIG and merely uncheck such lines in the [386Enh] section.) Reboot, then test Windows shut down. If Windows hangs, restore the SYSTEM.INI file to its original configuration. If Windows does not hang during shutdown, a virtual device driver may be causing the problem. Contact the driver's manufacturer for assistance.

7. RULE OUT WIN.INI COMMAND LINE PROBLEMS

Launch SYSEDIT. Click on the WIN.INI window and look for any lines beginning with LOAD= or RUN=. Place a semicolon (;) at the beginning of these lines if they have entries following the equal (=) sign. Save the changes to the WIN.INI file and exit SYSEDIT. If you did not make changes, go to STEP EIGHT; otherwise, reboot and then test Windows shut down. If Windows continues to hang, remove the semicolons, save the file and go to STEP EIGHT. If Windows does not hang, one of the disabled program entries may be to blame. To determine the problem program, re-enable them one at a time by removing the semicolon and resaving the file. After each program is enabled, test Windows shut down.

8. RULE OUT PROGRAMS LOADED FROM STARTUP FOLDER

Restart Windows without any Startup folder programs loading.

FOR WIN98: Use MSCONFIG. Click Selective Startup. Remove the check mark from in front of "Load startup group items." Restart Windows. FOR WIN95: Restart the computer and, as soon as the Windows desktop wallpaper appears, press and hold the SHIFT key until Windows 95 finishes loading. After doing one of these procedures, test Windows shut down. If Windows hangs, go to NINTH STEP. If Windows shuts down properly, determine the culprit by ruling out the programs one-by-one:

FOR WIN98: Use MSCONFIG. On the Startup tab, place a check mark next to the first program item listed. Click OK, then OK. FOR WIN95: Manually remove all but one of the shortcut icons from the Startup folder.

FOR BOTH WIN95 & WIN98: Test Windows shutdown. If Windows shuts down properly, then the program that remained is not causing the problem. Restore another startup program per the appropriate method above. After each program is restored, test Windows shut down. Continue re-enabling programs until you either find the problem program (there may be more than one) or all programs have been restored.

IMPORTANT WIN95 NOTE: Holding down the SHIFT key as soon as Windows begins to load will launch Win95 in Safe Mode. (If you wait for the desktop wallpaper to appear, it only suppresses Startup items.) If Safe Mode is used, not only are items in the Startup folder not loaded when this happens, but Windows also uses only basic system drivers, does not launch startup programs normally launched from the Registry, does not execute CONFIG.SYS or AUTOEXEC.BAT (already tested above), does not launch certain sections of the System.ini file (already tested above), does not process the HIMEM.SYS and IFSHLP.SYS files, and does not load DoubleSpace or DriveSpace if present. Therefore, for Win95 computers, if (1) all previous troubleshooting steps have passed, and (2) this step causes proper shutdown behavior after booting in Safe Mode, and (3) removing all items in the Startup folder then rebooting in normal mode does not produce proper shutdown behavior, then Registry startup items, HIMEM.SYS, IFSHLP.SYS, and DoubleSpace or DriveSpace must be considered as likely causes of the problem. Detailed instructions for troubleshooting these items are not given in the present article; if you do not know how to test these steps, please seek help in the online peer support newsgroups for these specific tasks.

9. RULE OUT EMM386-RELATED MEMORY CONFLICTS

A memory conflict sometimes exists when Emm386.exe is not loaded from the CONFIG.SYS file. To test for this, launch SYSEDIT. Click the CONFIG.SYS window. In the CONFIG.SYS file, make sure the following lines exist in this order, at the very beginning of the file:

DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS
DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\EMM386.EXE NOEMS X=A000-F7FF
DOS=HIGH,UMB

If you do not have a CONFIG.SYS file, create one with these three lines. Save the modified CONFIG.SYS and close SYSEDIT. Reboot, then test Windows shut down. If the system hangs, restore your CONFIG.SYS file to its original configuration. If it shuts down properly, see the following Microsoft Knowledge Base article: "Locating and Excluding RAM/ROM Addresses in the UMA"

10. RULE OUT ADVANCED POWER MANAGEMENT (APM) PROBLEMS

(Not all computers have APM features. If yours is one of them, go to ELEVENTH STEP. Otherwise:) Right-click on My Computer, select Properties, and click the Device Manager tab. Double-click the System Devices branch to expand it. Double-click Advanced Power Management Support in the device list. Click the Settings tab. Click the Enable Power Management check box to clear it. Click OK until you return to Control Panel. (NOTE: This box does not exist in Win98 SE. Disable APM from Control Panel | Power.) Reboot, then test Windows shut down. If Windows shuts down properly, the problem may be caused by APM, so contact the computer's manufacturer for assistance. NOTE: For additional information about shutdown problems with APM enabled, see Microsoft Knowledge Base article: "Shutdown Hangs After 'Please Wait While...' Screen"

11 RULE OUT WINDOWS FILE SYSTEM SETTINGS

Right-click on My Computer and select Properties. Click the Performance tab. Click File System. Click the Troubleshooting tab. Mark all the check boxes, click OK, click Close and click Yes. Reboot, then test Windows shut down. If Windows shuts down properly, the problem is related to the File System settings. Go back and uncheck each box one at a time. Reboot and test Windows shut down after each change to identify which item is the problem.

12. RULE OUT WINDOWS DEVICE DRIVER PROBLEMS

See if a Windows device driver is causing the problem or if an installed device is configured incorrectly or is improperly functioning. Right click on My Computer and select Properties. Click the Hardware Profiles tab. Click the hardware profile you are currently using, and then click Copy. Type "Test Configuration" in the To box. Click OK. Click the Device Manager tab. Double-click any device, then click the Test Configuration check box to clear it. Repeat this step until you have disabled all devices but DO NOT disable any system devices. When you are prompted to restart Windows, select NO. (NOTE: If you disabled a PCI hard disk controller, choose Yes to restart Windows. PCI hard disk controllers cannot be unloaded dynamically.)

Restart Windows and you will receive the following message: "Windows cannot determine what configuration your computer is in. Select one of the following:" Choose Test Configuration from the list of configurations. As Windows starts, you will receive the following error message: "Your Display Adapter is disabled." To correct the problem, click OK to open Device Manager. When the Display Properties dialog box opens, click Cancel. Test Windows shut down. If Windows hangs, go to THIRTEENTH STEP. If Windows shuts down properly, the problem may be caused by a Windows device driver or a device installed in your computer that is configured incorrectly or is not functioning properly.

To determine which device driver or device is causing the problem, go back into Device Manager. Double-click a device that you disabled in step E above, then click the Test Configuration check box to select it. When prompted to restart Windows, click Yes. Test Windows shut down. Repeat this with each device until the shutdown problem recurs. If the problem recurs, you have identified the device or device driver causing the problem.

NOTE: If the shutdown problem is being caused by a Plug and Play device that is configured incorrectly or isn't functioning properly, removing the device from the current hardware profile will correct the problem. After you remove the device from the current hardware profile and restart Windows, the drivers associated with the device are removed from memory and the shutdown problem does not occur. However, as Windows restarts, the Plug and Play device will be detected automatically and installed in the current hardware profile. When you restart Windows a second time, the drivers associated with the device are again loaded in memory and the shutdown problem returns.

If Windows continues to hang on shutdown after you complete steps the above steps, reinstall Windows to a different folder to rule out the possibility of damaged files. If your computer has a Plug and Play BIOS, reinstall Windows using the setup /p i command to rule out a defective Plug and Play BIOS.

If Windows still hangs during the shutdown process after you reinstall it, your computer may have faulty hardware or faulty system components including RAM, the CPU, the motherboard or an internal or external cache. Contact your computer's manufacturer for assistance.

13. USE BOOTLOG.TXT TO IDENTIFY THE PROBLEM

If Windows still hangs during the shutdown process, create a BOOTLOG.TXT file by restarting the computer, bringing up the Boot Menu and selecting the option to create a boot log. Let Windows load fully and then reboot normally. Examine C:\BOOTLOG.TXT for "Terminate=" entries. These entries are located at the end of the file and may provide clues as to the cause of the problem. Each "Terminate=" entry should have a matching "EndTerminate=" entry on a successful shutdown. If the last line in the BOOTLOG.TXT file is "EndTerminate=KERNEL," Windows shut down successfully.

NOTE: For Win98 SE, if the BOOTLOG.TXT file ends on "EndTerminate=KERNEL" and the computer still hangs at attempted shutdown, there is signficant reason to believe it will be fixed by the CONFIGMG.VXD solution given in the Win98 Second Edition section below. (Tip from Allan Smith.)

If the last line in BOOTLOG.TXT is one of the following entries, check the listed possible cause:
Terminate=Query Drivers: Possible QEMM or other memory manager issue.
Terminate=Unload Network: Possible conflict with real-mode network driver in CONFIG.SYS file.
Terminate=Reset Display: Disable video shadowing. You may also need an updated video driver.
Terminate=RIT: Possible timer-related problems with the sound card or an old mouse driver.
Terminate=Win32: Problem with a 32-bit program blocking a thread. Possibly Microsoft Visual C for Windows.

14 RULE OUT INTERNAL SYSTEM PROBLEM (Win98 only)

Launch MSCONFIG. On the General tab, click Advanced. Under Settings, click to clear the following check boxes: (1) Disable System ROM Breakpoint; (2) Disable Virtual HD IRQ; (3) EMM Exclude A000-FFFF. Click OK. Restart the computer. If the computer restarts correctly, repeat the above steps, restoring one of the disabled boxes each time. Continue repeating these steps, selecting an additional check box each time, until your computer fails to restart correctly. Once your computer fails to restart correctly, repeat the above steps again, but click to select all the check boxes except the last check box that you selected; click to clear this check box.

15. OTHER SOLUTIONS

(1) The PC Speaker driver (SPEAKER.DRV) can cause Windows to stop responding at shutdown or startup. To disable the PC Speaker driver, disable the "wave=speaker.drv" line in the SYSTEM.INI file, then restart the computer.

(2) On a computer with a BIOS that expects IRQ 12 to be in use by a PS/2-style mouse port, but instead has a software-configurable hardware device (such as a Plug and Play adapter) using IRQ 12, Windows can hang on shutdown. To work around this problem, reserve IRQ 12 in Device Manager, or change the IRQ for the software-configurable device in Device Manager. (You may also want to consider upgrading the BIOS in your computer to a later version.) To reserve an IRQ with Device Manager: In Control Panel, double-click System. On the Device Manager tab, double-click Computer. On the Reserve Resources tab, click the Interrupt Request (IRQ) option, and then click Add. In the Value box, click the IRQ you want to reserve. Click OK until you return to Control Panel.

(3) If a network card is installed in the computer, do the following: Remove the network in Device Manager. Shut down Windows. Physically remove the network card. Restart Windows. Shut down Windows (observe whether it shuts down normally). Reinstall the network card. Restart Windows and let it detect the card as new hardware. (This has been known to work in at least one case in Win98 SE, and should be tried for other versions of Windows9x also.)

(4) If your anti-virus software is set to scan your floppy drives on shutdown, this can result in various symptoms including the computer hanging on shutdown. Often (but not always) a clue will be that the floppy drive light comes on during shutdown. The solution is to disable this particular feature in the anti-virus program.

(5) If the previous steps do not resolve the problem, try resetting CMOS settings back to factory defaults. For information about changing CMOS settings in your computer, consult the computer's documentation or manufacturer. WARNING: Before you reset the computer's CMOS settings back to the factory defaults, make sure to write down the CMOS settings. WARNING: Do not try this step unless you know what you are doing -- mistakes in this step can result in your computer not working at all!

WINDOWS WITH INTERNET EXPLORER SCENARIOS:

(1) If Internet Explorer 4.01 is installed, and one or more network drives are mapped on your computer with the Desktop Update component installed, update to Internet Explorer 5 or apply the IE4.01 Service Pack 1.

(2) If IE (any version) is installed and your user profile contains a large Temporary Internet Files folder (cache), Windows can hang on shutdown. To work around this behavior, use any of the following methods:

METHOD 1: Empty your Temporary Internet Files folder each time you quit Internet Explorer.
METHOD 2: Maintain each user's temporary Internet files in the user's Home directory. Although this still consumes server storage, it does not require that the files be copied to the server when users log off.
METHOD 3: Maintain all users' temporary Internet files in a shared common folder. Note that if you use this method, all users' cookies are stored in the same location.
METHOD 4: Maintain each user's temporary Internet files on the local drive in a location other than the user's profile folder. This is the most efficient method. However, this does not allow a user's cookies to follow the user to other stations.

WINDOWS 98 ONLY SCENARIOS:

(1) If you are using Cisco TCP/IP Suite 100 as your TCP/IP stack, remove it and install Microsoft TCP/IP. For step-by-step instructions, see the Microsoft Knowledge Base article "Computer Stops Responding When Shutting Down Windows 98."

(2) If you are using Norton AntiVirus with the Auto-Protect feature enabled, disable Auto-Protect, then obtain the latest LiveUpdate for NAV from Symantec's web site. If these steps do not resolve the issue, Symantec recommends that (after backing up the Registry!) you delete the following Registry line: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\control\Shutdown\Exclusion List
See the Symantec support article on this topic.

(3) If your computer hangs at shutdown and it either uses Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) and the Fast Shutdown feature is disabled, or it contains a Matsonic BIOS and the "USB Function for DOS" option is enabled in the BIOS, then you may receive one or both of the following messages: Windows is shutting down. [-OR-] It's now safe to turn off your computer. See the Knowledge Base article, "Computer Stops Responding When You Try To Shut It Down" for details on a supported fix that corrects this problem. It has not been fully regression tested and should be applied only to computers experiencing this specific problem. Also see "Windows Startup and Shutdown Issues."

As Posted by James Eshelman.