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Troubleshoot Shutdown Problems



After you install Windows XP on an IBM ThinkPad portable computer (model A20M, A21M, or X20), Device Manager displays the following error message, which is marked with a yellow icon:

UNKNOWN DEVICE
Code 28 -- No drivers are installed for this device. The location of the device is listed on LOCATION: on Microsoft ACPI-Compliant Embedded Controller.
 


This article documents the method for clearing the Windows paging file (Pagefile.sys) during the shutdown process, so that no unsecured data is contained in the paging file when the shutdown process is complete.


When Windows shuts down, each running process is given 20 seconds to perform cleanup work by default. If a process does not respond within this time-out period, Windows displays the "Wait, End Task, or Cancel" dialog box for the process, which prompts you to wait for another 20 seconds, stop the process, or cancel the shutdown process.


This article describes how to configure Windows so that you receive verbose startup, shutdown, logon, and logoff status messages. Verbose status messages may be helpful when you are troubleshooting slow startup, shutdown, logon, or logoff behaviour.

Note: Despite the title of this article, it applies to Microsoft Windows XP Professional.


The shutdown procedure on certain hardware configurations can take up to 15 minutes to complete.


Shutdown Event Tracker is a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 and Microsoft Windows XP feature that you can use to consistently track the reason for system shutdowns. You can then use this information to analyse shutdowns and to develop a more comprehensive understanding of your system environment.


The "Shutdown" button that allows users to shutdown a system without logging in might be not available, if the default value in the registry is changed. This setting will be applied on Servers normally.


When you are using Remote Desktop and connect to a Windows XP Professional computer, the Log Off and Shutdown commands are missing from the Start menu.


The Windows Setup program configures Microsoft Windows XP to use the friendly Welcome logon screen and the shutdown buttons if your computer is installed as a home computer. A home computer is a computer that does not specify a network domain.

This article describes how to use the classic logon screen that Windows XP-based computers use when they are joined to a domain.


This article describes how to troubleshoot difficulties that may occur when you try to shut down Windows XP. This article is intended for advanced computer users.


The "Shutdown" button may not be available in the Start menu and greyed out when you press Ctrl+Alt+Del.


When you use System Restore to perform a restoration to your system, System Restore may not restore all files as expected. You may also receive the following error message when you restart the computer after the restore process:

System Restore

Restoration Incomplete
Your computer cannot be restored to:
Date
Restore Point Name
This restoration is incomplete. It was interrupted by an improper shutdown. You should undo this restore or choose another restore point.
To choose another restore point, restart System Restore.



When you use the at command with Shutdown.exe to schedule a Windows XP-based computer to shut down or restart, the computer does not shut down or restart as expected. When the scheduled shutdown task starts, you may receive the following message in a command-prompt window:

The operation completed successfully.
A required privilege is not held by the client.



After you bring your portable computer back from Standby or Hibernation mode, if the computer's battery is low, the computer may shut down without displaying any warning that the battery is in low or critical condition. The sudden shutdown can cause data loss or data corruption.


If two or more programs try to shut down or restart Windows, the computer that is running Microsoft Windows XP or Microsoft Windows 2000 may stop responding while it is shutting down. The desktop wallpaper may be visible and the mouse pointer may move, but the computer may not respond to keyboard input (including the CTRL+ALT+DELETE key combination). You might have to turn off the computer to continue. If Automatic Update is configured to install updates from Windows Update, from Microsoft Update, or from a Windows Server Update Service (WSUS) server, the Windows 2000 system may stop responding during shutdown or restart after you install updates.


When you shut down your computer, Windows Messenger may stop responding (hang). When this occurs, you receive a Terminate Program dialog box that states "Msmsgs.exe not responding" or "ActiveMovie not responding." This problem may occur approximately 1 time in 200 shutdown attempts. The Terminate Program dialog box appears because a program is not responding during the shutdown process.


Your computer may stop responding (hang) during shutdown if the USB selective suspend option of your USB mouse is turned on.


When you shut down your Windows XP Professional-based computer, the computer may stop responding (hang) when processing the shutdown scripts. Typically, you computer may hang for ten minutes, the default time-out period for shutdown scripts.


When you start or shut down your Microsoft Windows XP-based computer, either of the following behaviours may occur:
  • A Universal Serial Bus (USB) device (for example, a USB mouse or a USB keyboard) may not initialize when Windows XP starts.
  • Your computer may appear to stop responding (hang) when Windows XP starts or shuts down.


You may experience any of the following symptoms: After you click Start, click Shut Down, and then click either Restart or Shut down in the Shut Down Windows dialog box, the computer may begin to shut down but then stop responding (hang). When this occurs, the computer stops at a blank screen. The mouse pointer is displayed, but you cannot move it. The computer does not respond either to mouse movements or to keyboard input; If your floppy disk drive is not present in My Computer, the Standard Floppy Disk Controller device in Device Manager may display the following error status:

This device cannot find enough free resources that it can use. (Code 12)

The following STOP error message may appear when you shut down from Safe mode:

STOP 0x0000009F Driver_Power_State_Failure


When you shut down a Microsoft Windows XP-based computer, you may receive a "Stop 0xD1 in TCPIP.SYS" error message. You must then turn off and then turn on the computer to recover. User profile changes may be lost.

When you restart the computer, you may receive the following error:

Windows has recovered from a serious error

These symptoms may not occur every time that you shut down the computer.


On a computer that is running Microsoft Windows Server 2003 or Microsoft Windows XP Professional x64 Edition, you receive the following message:

The process Lsass.exe has initiated the shutdown of computer
computername


After you receive this message, the computer shuts down.


When you try to remotely shutdown a client computer by using Shutdown.exe, the shutdown may fail with no error message, or you may receive the following error message:

The device is not ready.


When you shut down your Microsoft Windows XP-based computer, your computer may restart instead of shutting down, and a Stop error may briefly appear before the computer restarts.


When you try to shut down your Microsoft Windows XP-based or Microsoft Windows 2000-based computer, the computer may stop responding, and you may receive the following message:

It is now safe to turn off your computer


When you use the Turn Off Computer command on the Start menu to shut down Windows, your computer may automatically power down after the "Windows is shutting down" message is displayed.


You are using a computer that is running Microsoft Windows XP Service Pack 2 (SP2) or Microsoft Windows XP Tablet PC Edition 2005. When you click Turn Off Computer on the Start menu, the Hibernate button does not appear. Instead, only the following buttons appear:
  • Stand by
  • Turn Off
  • Restart
This behaviour occurs even if you have hibernation enabled on the computer.

Note: If your computer is a member of a domain and if you use the classic Shut Down menu, these buttons do not appear.


When you try to shut down your Microsoft Windows XP-based computer, you may experience the following symptoms:
  • You may receive the following message:

It is now safe to turn off your computer.

  • Your computer may stop responding (hang).


Consider the following scenario:
  • You are using a Microsoft Windows XP Media Center Edition 2005-based computer.
  • You have selected an option in the When I press the power button on my computer list on the Advanced tab of the Power Options Properties dialog box.
  • You have put the computer in Away mode.
  • You press the power button on the computer.
In this scenario, the computer may not respond as expected.

For example, when you press the power button, the computer may not shut down even though you selected the Shutdown setting in the When I press the power button on my computer list.

Note To open the Power Options Properties dialog box, click Start, click Run, type powercfg.cpl, and then click OK. Click the Advanced tab to see the When I press the power button on my computer list.


A Microsoft Windows XP-based computer stops responding (hangs) when you try to perform one of the following operations:
  • Put the computer on standby or into hibernation.
  • Resume the computer from standby or from hibernation.
  • Use the Shut Down command on the Start menu.
This problem occurs when the following conditions are true:
  • A universal serial bus (USB) camera is connected to the computer's USB root hub or USB port.
    • Note: Some computers have an internal USB hub. For example, a portable computer may have a single USB bus and use an internal USB hub to provide two or more USB ports on the computer.
  • The Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power option is enabled for the USB camera.
This problem occurs if the USB root hub uses either USB 1.1 or USB 2.0.


If you shut down your Windows XP-based computer, your computer may restart instead of shutting down. The computer may also restart unexpectedly while you are using the computer to perform certain tasks. An error message may appear on a blue screen when the computer restarts.


When the Clear virtual memory pagefile when system shuts down group policy setting is turned on in Windows 2000, the computer may take longer to shut down than it normally does.

Note: Despite the title of this article, it applies to all editions of Windows XP.


If you configure an audit policy to audit successful logon and logoff events, you may find that the user logoff audit event ID 538 is not logged to the security event log after you shut down your computer and then restart it.


On a computer that is running Microsoft Windows Server 2003, Microsoft Windows XP, or Microsoft Windows 2000, a program is running, and you have not saved the changed data in the program. When you try to shut down the computer, you receive a message that prompts you to save changes in the program. If you leave the computer running for a long time while this message is present, the computer may stop responding.


After you attach a keyboard, a mouse or another USB-based input device to your computer, your computer may no longer shut down correctly. For example, your computer may stop responding (hang) after you click Turn off or Restart.

This issue may occur when the selective suspend functionality is enabled on a device that does not support it. This situation may occur when two or more USB-based devices have the same vendor and product identification numbers, and when only one of the devices supports the selective suspend functionality.