XP Won't Shut Down...

[Mini-Me]

Hi all.
:)

Sorry if this has been asked before(I think it has), but I cannot get a machine brought to me, to shut down.

I tried searching the forums first, before I posted this, but could not find the answer I am looking for - plenty of messages/posts about slow shutdown though!

What happens, is that the machine(running XP Pro) boots normally to desktop.

Have run Spybot and ZA Antivirus - found a virus, and a couple of spywares - sucessfully removed all threats, so it reports.

When you try to either SHUTDOWN or RESTART, the pc just immediately drops you back at the main desktop.

The only way to shutdown, is to hard-power-off, or push the reset button on the PC case, which XP does not like very much(when you next boot, it trys to slap you in the face for doing it! :D )

The machine was built and installed by a fella that the family know(and I'm not sure he knew what he was doing).

Motherboard is Gigabyte brand(forget model - can get it, if anyone asks), and new on Oct 2004.
New RAM and CPU on same date.
CPU is AMD 2500+ XP, and RAM is 512MB DDR
DVD writer new also.

Machine was a clean install from a full OEM CD of XP Pro, although, I cannot find the CD, and the clients say they never got it with the machine.

Any ideas?
Can do and post a Hijack This report, if you like.


MM.

[CuratoR]

Yes HJT log would be helpful.
I'm going to sign off though, feeling asleep.
You'll surely get others attention.

[Mini-Me]

Sleep well...
:)


MM.

[Sylvander]

Will it shut down ok from Safe Mode?

[CuratoR]

Hey, thanks for that "sleep well". I did sleep well, I was wondering how, just saw your wish and figured it out. But wheres the HJTlog?

[Mini-Me]

Re: Safe Mode - nope still won't shut down - tried that too - drops you back at the safemode desktop.(but sometimes, it WILL shutdown/reboot, but most of the time, it won't - strange, eh?)

Re: HiJack This - will get this tonight - guy was not at home last night when I called, to get this log...


MM.

[Mini-Me]

OK eveyone - I have decided to flatten the client's machine.
They have agreed to my putting a new 80GB HDD in, to replace the old 20GB one.

As I am buying a new HDD, I can buy a copy of XP Home with it.
I don't like the idea, that they cannot produce the copy of the XP CD that the other guy installed the machine from.

OEM copies of XP Home are quite reasonable in price(in NZ anyway!), at only around $150.00 (approx US$75.00 + sales tax).

Personally, I think XP is worth this kind of money, as it is so much better then the earlier 95/98 versions.

Anyway, to cut all the short, I am going to replace the HDD and re-install XP and see what happens, so I won't be posting a HJT log...

I found out last night, that the guy who tried to install the system, had errors during the install - not making for a happy, stable install...

Thanks to all who replied to my plea.


MM.

[Sylvander]

The "old" HDD will come in useful for backups.
Make more than 1 partition.
Keep only Windows and the Program Files folder [plus odds & ends] on the C: partition.
Move all the HUGE data files to a partition of its own.
Make the swap file of fixed size and move it to a small partition of its own.
Move all your personal data [emails, address book, My Documents, favourites, Temporary Internet files] to a partition of their own.
Get a backup program and backup the separate partitions to different files at different rates [the C: partition needs backed up more often].

Here's my saved spiel:
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RECOVER USING BACKUPS
The easy way to recover from all software [including configuration] problems [without even having to discover the cause], is:

1) As you proceed forward in time, make backups of everything on your C: drive.
Do this at regular intervals, particularly before making software changes [un/installing programs or changing configuration] and keep a log of all this.
2) When you hit trouble caused by a bad configuration change and no hardware or software changes have been made, [use "scanreg /restore" in Win98, or a restore point in WinXP, to] restore a previous good configuration.
3) When the trouble involves more than just the configuration, and involves the files [including the configuration perhaps] but no hardware has been changed [this is important because the software must match the hardware], then:
----------------------------------------------------------
Re-format the C: drive and restore your latest good backup.
----------------------------------------------------------
The software will "jump back" to the way it was when the PC worked.
If this doesn’t fix things, then it probably is not a software problem but a hardware or BIOS problem.

It helps if you keep the C: drive "lean & mean".
I move as much as possible off the C: drive [and keep it as small as possible].
The "Windows" & "Program Files" folders account for 95% of the used space on my C: drive.
All the data that changes day by day [or are considered vital] are re-homed on another physical drive [although another partition would do].
When I "jump back" I still have up to date:
a. My Documents. [Use “TweakUI” to move their home]
b. E-mails for all identities. [use the email client to move their home]
c. Internet Explorer Favourites. [Use “TweakUI” to move their home]
d. Temporary Internet Files. [use the browser (Internet Explorer) to move them]
e. Re-home the Windows Address Book as shown here http://tinyurl.com/24q6l . Use the key “HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\WAB\WAB4\Wab FileName” to specify its new address. [Its normal home address [in Win98] is C:\WINDOWS\Application Data\Microsoft\Address Book\(the owner name).WAB]
f. Any other storage of data files you wouldn’t want to “jump back”.

These can be backed up separately and more or less often.


QUOTE
The AVG Rescue Disk is a special diskette where the most important parts of your computer’s boot up data will be saved. In this backup diskette, the contents of the Partition Table, Boot sectors and some other internal data will be saved. These areas are often targets of computer virus attacks and their damage can (and mostly will) cause the malfunction of the whole operating system – your computer cannot be started.

Repairing such destruction can be very difficult job. But if you have a backup copy, restoring the damaged areas is easy and safe.

In addition to the backup copy of the system areas there is a special AVG-SOS program stored on the rescue disk to handle the saved data.
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