Windows XP Tips Page 6

Fix Virtual Memory Problems

The free way to fix this is to increase the size of your page file. Here's how:

  1. Click the Start button, and then click Control Panel.
  2. Make sure the Control Panel is in Classic View and then open the System applet.
  3. In the System Properties dialog box, click on the Advanced tab. On the Advanced tab, click the Settings button inside of the Performance frame.
  4. In the Performance Options dialog box, click on the Advanced tab. On the Advanced tab under Virtual Memory, click on the Change button.
  5. In the Virtual Memory dialog box, click on the drive that already has a page file size listed in the Paging File Size (MB) column. Select the Custom Size option. Assuming that you have at least 2000 MB of disk space free (you'll see the amount of free space next to the Space available entry), put in the value of 1000 in both the Initial size (MB) and Maximum size (MB) text boxes. Click OK.
  6. Click OK in the Performance Options dialog box. Click Apply and then OK in the System Properties dialog box. You may be asked to restart the computer. Click Yes to restart the computer.

This procedure sets a static page file. By default, Windows XP uses a dynamic page file, which means the OS resizes the page file depending on how much virtual memory is needed. Dynamic page files conserve disk space, but it decreases performance because of the overhead involved in growing and shrinking the page file.

Connecting to Multiple Remote Desktops on Your Private Network

Many of you have multiple Windows XP computers running Remote Desktop on your home or SOHO networks. It would be great to be able to connect to all of these computers over the Internet, but that usually requires multiple IP addresses bound to the Internet interface of your cable or DSL router. Allows you to make all of your Remote Desktops available from the Internet using just a single Internet IP address:

  1. Click Start, click the Run command and type in "regedit" (without the quotes) to open the Registry Editor.
  2. Browse to the following location in the left pane
    HKEY LOCAL MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\TerminalServer\WinStations\RDP-Tcp
  3. In the right pane, right click on PortNumber and click the Modify command.
  4. In the Edit DWORD dialog box, click the decimal option and change the port number to whatever you want. Click OK and restart your computer.
  5. Log into your router and use port forwarding to forward the port you chose to your IP address on the network.
  6. Now when connecting to your computer from another computer, you have to type the following in the connection box for remote desktop
    YourIPaddress:YourNewPort (that is a colon in the middle). For example: 66.245.178.25:3388

How to Share Your Printer with Other Network Users

Before the Internet became so popular, the main reason for connecting computers to each other on a network was to share files and printers. Maybe you have a home or office network that shares an Internet connection but you haven't connected your computers to a shared printer yet. If you're not sharing your printer, it's time to do it now! Here's how:

  1. On the computer that's connected to the printer, click the Start button and then click on Printers and Faxes.
  2. In the Printers and Faxes window, right click on your printer and click the Sharing command.
  3. The default setting is to not share the printer. Select the Share this printer option. In the Share name text box, type in the name for the printer. Other people will use this name to connect to your printer.
  4. Click the Additional Drivers button. You can install printer drivers to support other operating systems used by remote computers that will print to your printer. Just put a checkmark in the checkbox for the operating system(s) you want to support and click OK. A dialog box will appear asking you to insert the CD or disk that has the printer drivers. Install the drivers as indicated. Click OK in the Additional Drivers dialog box. Click Apply and click OK in the printer's Properties dialog box.
  5. Go to the computer that needs to print to your printer. Open the Printers and Faxes window.
  6. Click the Add a printer link on the left side of the window. Click Next in the Welcome to the Add Printer Wizard dialog box.
  7. On the Local or Network Printer page, select the A network printer, or A printer attached to another computer option. Click Next.
  8. On the Specify a Printer page, select the Connect to this printer option and type in the path to your printer. The path is \\computername\printername. The Computer name is the name of the computer that is directly hooked up to the printer. The printer name is the name you assigned to the printer when you shared it. Click Next.
  9. On the Default Printer page, select Yes to make the printer the default printer. Click Next.
  10. Click Finish on the last page of the Wizard.

Remote users can print to the printer right away. You don't need to restart the computer.

Use the Route Tracing Tool (Tracert) to Find Internet Bottlenecks

It's natural to blame the Web site operator when you can't connect to a page. But sometimes the Web server is running fine and there's another problem. The Internet is connected via network devices called "routers" and sometimes it's a router problem that causes Web site slowdowns or disappearances. You can use the tracert command to find out exactly at what point your connection is failing:

  1. Click Start and then click the Run command. Type cmd in the Open text box and click OK.
  2. At the command prompt, type: tracert www.website.com and press ENTER. Replace "website" with the name of the Web site with which you're having problems.
  3. You'll see a bunch of lines of information telling you how many milliseconds it takes to get to and from each router in the path between your computer and the Web site. You'll see a big increase at the router that's causing the slowdown. Of course, if the big slowdown or absence of response comes from the last line, then you know it's actually the Web site's problem.

Calculate Your RAM and Pagefile Requirements

How much RAM does your computer need? How large should your pagefile be? You need the right amount of RAM and pagefile space if you want your computer to run as fast as possible. Here are some things you can do to figure out how much you need:

  1. The pagefile is typically set to be 1.5 to 2 times the amount of RAM. This is a generic opinion and might not meet your specific needs. However, as a rule of thumb, we set our pagefiles to twice the amount of RAM, or 1 GB. We prefer the 1 GB setting if there's enough free disk space.
  2. Windows XP really needs a minimum of 256 MB of RAM if you want to have acceptable performance when doing heavy multitasking. Most users will benefit from having 512 MB of RAM. You probably don't need more than that unless you have specific needs, such as a memory intensive application like a graphics or CAD package, or you're running multiple virtual machines in VMWare.
  3. Right click on the taskbar and click Task Manager. In the Task Manager, click on the Performance tab. Look at the entries in the Commit Charge frame. The Peak entry gives you an indication of the maximum amount of memory used by your computer since the last time it was started. The optimum amount of RAM is equal to this value (assuming the computer has been running for a few days and you've run your typical programs during that time). Notice the Limit entry. This is the total of your RAM and pagefile. We like the limit to be at least twice the Peak value. If you can't buy more RAM, you can increase your pagefile size to increase the Limit value.

Experiment with different pagefile sizes based on these guidelines and see if you notice a performance enhancement.

How to Put an Entire Drive into a Folder

This feature, called "Volume Mount Points" (also supported in Windows 2000) allows you to associate an entire partition with a single folder on your hard disk. Frank recommends using the Volume Mount Points feature to free up disk space on a C: drive that's getting too full. If your C: drive is getting too full, you'll love this trick:

  1. Create an empty folder on your C: drive called "NewDrive".
  2. Install your new hard disk and open the Disk Management console. You can access Disk Management from the Run command. Type diskmgmt.msc in the Run command and click OK.
  3. In the Disk Management console, right click on the new disk and click New Volume. Click Next when the Welcome to the New Volume Wizard dialog box appears.
  4. On the Select Volume Type page, select the Simple option. Click Next.
  5. On the Select Disks page, make sure the correct disk (the new one) is selected and then type in the size of the partition you want to create. The default is to use the entire disk. Type in the size in the Select the amount of space in MB text box and click Next.
  6. On the Assign Drive Letter or Path page, select the Mount in the following empty NTFS folder option and then type in the path to the NewDrive folder. Click Next.
  7. On the Format Volume page, accept the default settings and click Next. Click Finish and the volume will be created and formatted.
  8. Find some folders that are taking up a lot of space. Right click on those folders and click the Cut command. Then click on the NewDrive folder and use the Paste command. Note that you shouldn't do this with Program Folders and System Folders, as there are many files in use in those folders so you won't be able to reliably copy them to the new location. The Cut and Paste operation moves the files from their old folders into the new one.
  9. Notice that all the files still appear to be on the C: drive. This makes it easy for you to save all your stuff to the C: drive, but actually use the space on the new disk.

You can, of course, name the folder whatever you wish instead of NewDrive.

Windows Product Activation

When you activate Windows XP, Microsoft stores the data in the Windows Product Activation database files wpa.dbl and Wpa.bak in the folder %systemroot%\system32. If you change the motherboard or make significant hardware changes, XP will require you to reactive. But if you plan to reinstall XP on the same hardware, you can back up the activation status and then restore it after you reinstall and avoid the activation process. You can backup the Windows Product Activation database files to diskette. They are very small. A directory listing from my XP Pro workstation: 


C:\WINDOWS\system32>dir wp*
 Volume in drive C has no label.
 Volume Serial Number is 8447-0571

 Directory of C:\WINDOWS\system32

10/24/2001  08:28 PM            12,584 wpa.bak
01/14/2002  09:05 AM            12,642 wpa.dbl

After you reinstall XP, to restore the Windows Product Activation database files:

  • Start XP to Minimal Safe mode

  • Change directory to the \%systemroot%\system32 folder

  • Rename the newly created wpa.dbl to wpa.nonactivated and wpa.bak, if it exists, to wpabak.nonactivated.

  • Copy your backed up wpa.dbl and wpb.bak files to the system32 folder

  • Reboot

This should work if you want to avoid activating XP after a reinstall or restore on the same or very similar hardware. It will not work if the hardware is significantly different from that in place when the Windows Product Activation database files were created. This is not a hack to avoid activating installations.

CD autoplay

It is safest to disable CD autoplay in XP using either local group policy or, for an enterprise, an Active Directory group policy. The local group policy editor method:

  • Click Start

  • Click Run

  • Enter GPEDIT.MSC
    Group Policy mmc will popup. On left panel:

  • Double-click Computer Configuration to open submenu

  • Double-click Administrative Templates to open submenu

  • Double-click System to open submenu

  • Double-click Turn autoplay off option which will be near the bottom of the list in the right panel.

The default is the Not configured . Set it to Enabled.

Shutdown problems in Windows XP can be caused by many factors, just like earlier versions of Windows. These included: a damaged exit sound file; incorrectly configured, damaged, or incompatible hardware; conflicting programs, or an incompatible, damaged, or conflicting device driver.

SHUTDOWN & RESTART TROUBLESHOOTING

Shutdown problems in Windows XP can be caused by many factors, just like earlier versions of Windows. These included: a damaged exit sound file; incorrectly configured, damaged, or incompatible hardware; conflicting programs, or an incompatible, damaged, or conflicting device driver.

Most Win XP shutdown problems reported thus far have been that it reboots when shutdown is attempted. This may be a global symptom emerging from several distinct causes, because, by default, XP executes an automatic restart in the event of a system failure. Therefore, more or less anything compromising the operating system during the shutdown process could force this reboot.

Disabling the “restart on system failure” feature may permit the exact cause to be isolated: Right-click on My Computer, click Properties, click the Advanced tab. Under “Startup & Recovery,” click Settings. Under “System Failure,” uncheck the box in front of “Automatically restart.”

Here are some things that have produced this reboot-instead-of-shutdown symptom:

  • By now, the Roxio/Adaptec Easy CD / Direct CD software is well documented as being the major cause of this undesirable shutdown behavior. SOLUTION: Roxio has released new drivers to solve this problem in both the Platinum and Basic editions of Easy CD Creator 5. As expected, at least half of the Win XP shutdown problems went away with the release of these patches.

    One warning about this patch comes from correspondent Bert Smith: Be sure to read the directions! “Roxio Easy CD Creator Platinum 5.0 can be a real hassle to get working under Win XP,” Bert wrote, “and there is the risk of your computer not booting if you blindly go ahead and install it without first consulting the Roxio Web site.” Bert also mentioned that Roxio’s “Take Two” backup program (normally part of Easy CD Creator 5 Platinum) is uninstalled when the Roxio patch is applied.

     
    • Direct CD. Many Easy CD users (but not all) found that installing Easy CD 5.0 does not cause the shutdown problem, provided they do not install the Direct CD component.

       
    • UDFRINST. Several people solved this reboot-on-shutdown problem by deleting the UDFRINST file. This file is part of the Roxio CD-RW software for systems not using Direct CD.

       
    • CDRALW2K.SYS. Correspondent Larry Blumette identified the CDRALW2K.SYS file (version 1.0.0.1048) as the Roxio file causing his shutdown problems and error conditions. When he deleted or renamed this one file, his problems went away. (Of course, you lose your CD functionality that way, too.)

       
    • Video Pack 5. Roxio’s Video Pack 5 causes the same problem because it contains includes the main parts of Easy CD 5. SOLUTION: Uninstall Video Pack 5 and also delete CDRALW2K.SYS (Tip from Christian Männchen). However, this solution may also have the side-effect of disabling access to your CD or DVD drive. SOLUTION TO THE SIDE-EFFECT: Apply one of the repair methods in MSKB Article 270008, Code 31 Messages Occur After Removing Adaptec Easy CD Creator 4.02c in Windows 2000 (Tip from Peter Kingsley).


     

  • Whether or not APM is enabled makes a difference — but the effect could go two ways. Some users report that XP reboots on shutdown if APM is enabled, but shuts Windows down just fine if APM is disabled. Other users report exactly the opposite behavior. According to Jack Dunne, this is similar to a known Windows 2000 problem. The issue seems related to the computer’s specific hardware or BIOS — so, as with all NT operating systems, stick to the Hardware Compatibility List where possible.

     
  • Y-SB3 Logitech Internet Keyboard can also cause this problem. If you use it as a simple generic keyboard, there’s no problem; but, if you install the Key Commander software that drives the special Internet functions, Win XP will restart instead of shut down. Unfortunately, Logitech has decided that they will not be updating this driver for this keyboard. (Tip from Jan K. Haak.)

     
  • Logitech MouseWare 8.6. Windows reboots when shutdown is attempted. The software caused a BSOD with KBDCLASS.SYS. Removing the software solved the BSOD the problem. (Tip from Pablo Cheng.) MouseWare 9.1 has also been linked to reboot-instead-of-shutdown in Win XP. Removing the software resolves the problem. (Tip from Aswin Kindts.)


 

SHUTDOWN HANGS ON “SAVING YOUR SETTINGS”

During shutdown or reboot, Win XP may hang (stop responding) at the “saving your settings” screen. During such a hang, there is no response to Ctrl+Alt+Del; the mouse may or may not work. The problem may be intermittent.

This is a known bug in Windows XP, for which Microsoft has a supported fix. To learn how to get this patch, see MSKB 307274, “Windows XP Stops Responding (Hangs) During Windows Shutdown.” The necessary patch is included in Windows XP Service Pack 1, and also is now available on the Windows Update site under “Recommended Updates” for Win XP Professional, titled “Restarting Windows XP.” However, to find it, you may need to reconfigure how Windows Update appears for you, by enabling the Windows Update Catalog as follows: At the Windows Update page, click Personalize Windows Update at the left, and then Enable the Windows Update Catalog. Save your settings. This adds the Windows Update Catalog link in the left box. Click this link, then click Find updates for Microsoft Windows systems. Pick Windows XP in the drop-down list, click Search, take Recommended Updates, and find the “Restarting Windows XP” patch which references Q307274.

As a workaround, newsgroup correspondent “lou” resolved this problem by dismantling the Windows XP logon Welcome screen. In the Control Panel, click User Accounts, then click “Change the way users log on or off.” Uncheck the box that says “Use the Welcome screen.” This removes the initial logon screen with individual icons for each user and, instead, pops up the classic logon prompt that requires each user to type a user name and password.

SBLive: DEVLDR32.EXE PROBLEMS

In the early days of Win ME, one of the biggest culprits for shutdown issue was the Creative Labs SoundBlaster Live. History repeated itself in the Beta phase of Win XP. SOLUTION: The SBLive drivers in the released version of Win XP solved the shutdown problem for most (but not all) SBLive users.

Here’s the commonly reported problem scenario people encountered: On attempting shutdown, nothing at all appears to happen for a prolonged period of time. Eventually, an “End Task” window appears, wanting to terminate DEVLDR32.EXE. No matter what one does, one ultimately is locked out of shutting down other than by a power switch shutoff. (NOTE: This problem exists with the SBLive in Windows 2000 also.)

You may have to do a couple of extra steps to get rid of old files so that the new drivers will install correctly (especially if you installed the final version of Win XP on top of one of the Beta versions), or to remove troublesome support software. Correspondent Sean Caldwell summarized his steps: Shutdown Windows. Remove the Creative card. Reboot in Safe Mode. In the \WINDOWS\SYSTEM32 folder, delete the DEVLDR file. Fully shutdown the computer before rebooting.

Some users report that the DEVLDR problem continues to plague them even with the new drivers. If installing the new drivers doesn’t solve your shutdown problem, try these solutions:

  • Correspondent Martin Sladek wrote: “I’ve run into the very same problem with SBLive Value drivers. The problem was so severe I ran without the software all together. Since then, SBLive 5.1 came out, and I had installed the 5.1 version of the software in Windows 2000 Pro. I’ve not had a single problem since.”

     
  • But updating your drivers in Win XP may not be as easy as one would hope. Some problems especially appear where multiple users are enabled on the system and one switches between users during a single Windows session. There may be numerous files with the same name (but different version numbers!) variously located in the I386, SYSTEM32, and SYSTEM32\REINSTALLBACKUPS\0000 folders. These may conflict with each other. If you rename DEVLDR32 (ver 1.0.0.22) in SYSTEM32, another one will replace it. (First, you need to press Ctrl+Alt+Del and end DEVLDR in Task Manager). But if you use DEVLDR32 (ver 1.0.0.17) from the I386 folder, this problem doesn’t occur. Reboot when finished to reinaugurate the disabled service. (Tip from Terence Shortt, aka tbone8200 on dellTalk.)

MISC. HARDWARE ISSUES

In addition to hardware issues mentioned under other specialized topics on this page, many users have written identifying specific hardware as at the root of the Windows XP shutdown issue. Here’s what they have reported:

  • CD-ROM DRIVE: Samsung 24x. Correspondent Y. Leroux has identified the culprit in his shutdown problem, but doesn’t yet have a permanent solution. If his Samsung CD-ROM drive is empty, Win XP hangs on shutdown. To work around the problem, he either leaves a CD-ROM in the drive, or leaves the drive door open. He wanted to share this tip with others (thanks, Y.). Does anyone have a permanent solution for this one?

     
  • MODEMS: Intel Ambient HaM Modem. Causes Win XP to hang at shutdown. Previously, this was only resolved by disabling the modem. SOLUTION: Intel subsequently issued updated drivers that resolve this issue. They can be downloaded here. (Tip from Mark Gillespie.)

     

    NOTE: This same problem has been reported for the Creatix V.90 Ham PCI Modem. (Tip from Marco Nolte)

  • MODEMS: Billion BIPAC PCI Passive ISDN-card. Reboot instead of shutdown issue conjoined with BSOD error message STOP 0x000000D1: DRIVER_IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL in file SERIAL.SYS. Previously, this was only resolved by disabling the Billion ISDN card. SOLUTION: Billion has now released a new driver 3.24 that solves this problem, available here. (Tip from Leo Foederer.)

     
  • MOTHERBOARDS: Asus P2B-F. Causes a shutdown problem because Win XP Setup doesn’t enable ACPI by default. SOLUTION: Manually enable ACPI during a Win XP install or reinstall. Correspondent Bill Anderson (based on a solution by “Willy”) gave a lengthy description of how to do this (edited a little bit for space reasons):

     
    1. Boot the computer from the Win XP CD-ROM.
    2. Win XP Setup says it’s checking hardware. Soon after, at the bottom of the screen, it offers the opportunity to press F5. (If offered the chance to press F6, press F5 instead! – Tip from Mick Stone) Do this at once, and cross your fingers! [Various users report difficulty with this. Apparently, sometimes it works; sometimes not. It may be in the timing of exactly when you press the key. You may have to try repeatedly, or try pressing F5 and F6 repeatedly. – JAE] When successful, you’ll see a two-paragraph instruction that begins, “To specify additional SCSI or other mass storage devices.” Press <ENTER> to brings up a small window that appears to contain only two options, but, in fact, contains more (use the arrow keys to scroll up). If this windows doesn’t appear at this point, you need to start over and do more pressing of F5!
    3. When the small window does appear, use the up-arrow to choose “Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI).” (It’s the third from the top of the list.)
    4. Next, you may see that two-paragraph SCSI/mass storage instruction again. If so, press <ENTER>. Many drivers will load, then you should see the Win XP installation screen. If you are running this after Win XP is already installed, choose the Repair option.


     

  • VIDEO CARDS: Hercules 3D Prophet 4500 and all other video cards based on the Kyro II video chip. Causes restart and shutdown issues (or, in some cases, only restart issues) until the video adapter is removed. SOLUTION: New XP-specific drivers are now available from Hercules. At present, they remain uncertified (PowerVR, who makes the Kyro II chip, is working on that), but they reportedly work just fine. Download the Kyro II drivers here. (Tip from MS-MVP Don Lebow.)

     
  • USB: Keyboard or Mouse + Selective Suspend. Some USB input devices (such as a USB keyboard or mouse) do not support the Selective Suspend power management feature. When these devices are used with Selective Suspend turned on, the computer may hang during shutdown, or otherwise not shutdown correctly. WORK-AROUND: Disable power management for your USB hub: Open Device Manager (click Start, click Run, type DEVMGMT.MSC, click OK). Double-click to expand Universal Serial Bus Controllers. Double-click USB Root Hub. Click Power Management. Uncheck the box “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.” OK your way out. NOTE: Doing this may significantly reduce laptop battery life. (Reference & more information: MSKB 315664.)

     
  • USB: Lexar Media Combo Digital Film Reader (USB). There is a problem with the SAUSB.SYS file, apparently part of the Win98 SE driver set for this device, retained during an upgrade to Win XP. Deleting the file solved the problem. The newer version 4.3 SAUSB.SYS driver from Lexar’s Web site works perfectly, and does not cause a shutdown problem. (Tip from correspondent Eric Brown.) Though one correspondent reported that the even newer version 4.5 driver (SAUSBI.SYS) also can be used in Win XP , Lexar says this driver doesn’t work on XP. One correspondent has confirmed that this matches his experience in trying (unsuccessfully) to use 4.5 on both Widows 2000 and XP.

“STOP” ERROR MESSAGES AT SHUTDOWN

Some users, when attempting either to shutdown or restart Win XP, get an error message similar to the following: STOP 0x0000009F: DRIVER_POWER_STATE_FAILURE

Stop Messages literally means that Windows has stopped. (Which isn’t the same as saying it has shutdown!) See Knowledge Base Links: STOP MESSAGES for much more information that the brief remarks below. Most Stop Messages indicate hardware issues; some are caused by troublesome software or a system service problem. The links page just mentioned provides a 10-step approach to troubleshooting STOP Messages in general, then itemized analysis on the most common of these. (STOP messages are identified by an 8-digit hexadecimal number, but also commonly written in a shorthand notation; e.g., a STOP 0x0000000A may also be written Stop 0xA.)

Here are a few that may affect Win XP shutdown and restart. Stop 0x9F and Stop 0x8E are two of the most common of these at shutdown, and generally point to a bad driver. Stop 0x7B on restarting means Win XP lost access to the system partition or boot volume during the startup process, due to a bad device driver, boot sector virus, resource conflict, boot volume corruption, or other problem listed here. Stop 0xC000021A can when on restart after a system administrator has modified permissions so that the SYSTEM account no longer has adequate permissions to access system files and folders.

MS-MVP Jim Pickering advises the following as one approach to these problems: Restart the computer. Press F8 during the restart and select “ Last Known Good Configuration.” If you catch the problem when it first occurs (meaning you likely have installed only one or two drivers or new service), this will return you to a previous working condition. System Restore provides an alternate approach, especially if you need to go back further than the last known good configuration, and Device Manager provides a tool for rolling back to an earlier driver.


 SHUTDOWN WORKS, BUT IT’S REAL SLOW

  1. If it appears that Win XP is not shutting down, give it some time. Some users report a minute or longer for shutdown to visibly start. Generally, this is a consequence of software that is running when shutdown is attempted. It also may have something to do with particular hardware. If you experience this problem, be sure to close all running programs before attempting shutdown and see if this solves your problem. If so, then you can determine, by trial and error, which program(s) are involved.

     
  2. Newsgroup correspondent “Sarah.” provided one specific solution for this. In Control Panel | Administrative Tools | Services, stop the Nvidia Driver Helper service. (You can also get this by launching SERVICES.MSC from a Run box.) Many other newsgroup participants quickly confirmed that this solved this “extremely slow shutdown” problem for them (it’s the most successful solution for this problem to date). According to correspondent Gan Ming Teik, downloading and installing the new version 23.11 Nvidia driver also solves this problem.

     
  3. Correspondent Graeme J.W. Smith reported a more obscure cause of slow shutdown: In Win XP Professional, the Group Policy Editor has a security option to clear the pagefile at system shutdown. The same setting also forces the hibernation file to be wiped at shutdown. These processes take long enough that users may think that shutdown has hung. Since someone actually has to have set this policy, the problem will be pretty rare, but is worth mentioning. To change the setting, click Start | Run, type GPEDIT.MSC, click OK. Drill down to Computer Configuration | Windows Settings | Security Settings | Local Policies | Security Options. In the right pane, find “Shutdown: Clear virtual memory pagefile.”

     
  4. MS-MVP Gary Thorn discovered that the Event Log can slow down Win XP shutdown. Disabling event logging removed the slowdown. If this works for you, then the real troubleshooting begins: finding out, by trial and error, what item that is being logged is causing the actual slowdown. (In Gary’s case, the Telephony service was causing the problem.) To disable the Event Log, launch the Services console as detailed in No. 2 above, and disable Event Log (right-click on Event Log, click Properties, under Startup Type select “Disabled”).

POWERDOWN ISSUES

“Powerdown issues” are quite distinctive from “shutdown issues.” I define a shutdown problem as one wherein Windows doesn’t make it at least to the “OK to shut off your computer” screen. If Windows gets that far, or farther, then it has shut down correctly. However, the computer may not powerdown correctly after that. This is a different problem, and I encourage people reporting these issues to make a clear distinction in their labeling.

When Windows XP won’t powerdown automatically, the APM/NT Legacy Power Node may not be enabled. To enable this, right-click on the My Computer icon, click Properties | Hardware | Device Manager | View. Check the box labeled “Show Hidden Devices.” If it’s available on your computer, there will be a red X on the APM/NT Legacy Node. Try enabling it and see if this resolves the powerdown problem (Tip from Terri Stratton). Or, to check the other side of the APM/ACPI coin, open the Power Options applet in Control Panel. If there is an APM tab, make sure the “Enable Advanced Power Management Support” box is checked. (MSKB 313290)

This should resolve the powerdown issue in most cases. However, other factors can sometimes interfere with correct powerdown functioning. In that case, consider the following tips:

  •  
  • Try some of the solutions on my Shutdown & Restart Shortcuts page. If you really have a hardware inability to powerdown, these won’t solve it; but for some other underlying causes of powerdown failures, they just might.

     
  • If you change the default power settings in the BIOS, it can lead to a powerdown problem. Restoring all BIOS power settings to default will likely fix it. (Tip from Kelly Theriot)

     
  • Sometimes, not all appropriate Registry settings are made when you enable all the right power management settings in Windows. You can force the critical Registry setting with the “ShutMeDown” Registry patch. Please follow sensible Registry editing protocol. Backup your Registry before the change (or run System Restore to create a restore point). After installing it, test Windows shutdown. If the fix doesn’t work for you, remove it by restoring the Registry to its prior state. (For those who want more background information, the fix provided by this patch is based on information contained in MS Knowledge Base article 155117 for Windows NT 4.0.)

     
  • On some hardware, power management features simply don’t work right. This is exceedingly rare on Windows XP when compared to any earlier version of Windows but, on some machines, especially if no BIOS upgrade is available, there seems no conclusion to reach except, “Yes, you’re right, it doesn’t work, so don’t use that feature.” Accordingly, several correspondents have noted that their Win XP computers will not powerdown correctly unless they have Turn Off Monitor, Turn Off Hard Disks, and System Standby all set to “Never” in Control Panel | Power Options. (Tip from Dan Mitchell & others)

     
  • How old is your power supply? Correspondent Andrew Walsh had a computer that wouldn’t power down after a Win XP shutdown until he replaced the power supply that was a few years old. Presto! His problem was gone.

     
  • Correspondent “Snake” restored powerdown functioning by disabling his CD-ROM’s AutoRun feature. The fastest way to do this is with the “Disable AutoRun” Registry patch that you can download here.

     
  • If you have Office XP installed, the culprit may be CFTMON.EXE. This module provides the Alternate Language Bar and provides text input service support for speech recognition, handwriting recognition, keyboard, translation, and other alternative user input technologies. When you close all Office programs, this module stays active. Removing it can cause serious problems with your Office XP products, but you can effectively disable it by setting the installation state to Not Available in Office XP Setup. This isn’t as easy as it sounds though — several steps are involved. For full instructions, plus more information on the file and its function, see What Is CTFMON and What Does It Do? (Tip from Jay Jones)

     
  • VIA Apollo Pro 133 motherboards have a “USB Keyboard support” BIOS setting that can interfere with proper power management function if it is enabled — especially with respect to preventing powerdown during attempted shutdown, and also preventing the computer from waking from Stand-by. SOLUTION: Disable it. This was originally reported on the Chaintech 6ATA2, and confirmed on other VIA Apollo Pro 133 boards. (Tips from “Zef,” The Netherlands, & Robert Lin)

OTHER KNOWN ISSUES & HINTS...

  • BIOS UPGRADE. As with every new operating system that comes along — especially one that is as much of a “step up” as Windows XP is from Windows 9x — the recommendation is made to be sure your BIOS is updated. Many people have reported that this has solved their shutdown problems (and had other advantages) with Win XP, just as it has in earlier versions of Windows.

     
  • “ShutMeDown” REGISTRY PATCH. Download the “ShutMeDown” Registry patch mentioned above under powerdown issues. Please follow sensible Registry editing protocol. Backup your Registry before the change (e.g, run System Restore to create a restore point). After installing, test Windows shutdown. If the fix doesn’t work for you, remove it by restoring the Registry to its prior state. This is not the appropriate shutdown fix for most machines, but does help some users with Windows shutdown problems, and not just with powerdown issues as one might suspect.

     
  • UNSIGNED DEVICE DRIVERS. Some users have found that Windows XP won’t shutdown properly if unsigned device drivers are used. This is simply a variation of the broader device driver issue: Hardware manufactures have not yet released all necessary device drivers for Win XP. This will continue to be a problem for the next few months; it already has been reduced to a very minor cause of Win XP shutdown problems.

     
  • SIGNED DEVICE DRIVERS ON TOP OF UNSIGNED ONES. Good advice on a variation of the above comes from correspondent Attila Szabadkai. For his SBLive 1024 sound card he had originally installed non-XP drivers, then updated these with digitally signed XP drivers downloaded from Creative Labs. Result: He got a 0x0A Stop Message at shutdown. SOLUTION: He removed all drivers, and put back only the digitally signed one.

     
  • PROGRAMS HANG / BECOME UNRESPONSIVE. Sometimes programs don’t close down correctly, or hang for some other reason during the Windows shutdown process. This freezes up, or at least significantly delays, Windows shutdown. For example, a few people have reported an error message that EXPLORER.EXE has become unresponsive during shutdown when they have used Win XP’s native CD-burning capabilities during that Windows session. If Windows is hanging because it can’t force a program to terminate, one solution is to disable the automatic end task logic (AutoEndTask). Use this registry patch to force that setting change. (Be sure to back up the Registry first.)

     
  • PACE INTERLOK ANTI-PIRACY SOFTWARE. According to the MS Knowledge Base article Computer Hangs During Shutdown Because of Resource Conflict, PACE InterLok anti-piracy software installs a driver (TPKD.SYS) that uses the same IRQ as the Standard Floppy Disk Controller device. This can cause Win XP to hang at a blank screen (with mouse and keyboard nonresponsive) when you try to shutdown or restart. Additional symptoms may be that the floppy drive doesn’t show in My Computer; the Standard Floppy Disk Controller device in Device Manager may display the error status “This device cannot find enough free resources that it can use. (Code 12)”; and/or when trying to shutdown from Safe Mode you get the error message, STOP 0x0000009F Driver_Power_State_Failure. The solution is to get the updated TPKD.SYS file from PACE.

     
  • QUICK-SWITCHING USER ACCOUNTS. One reported quirk affecting shutdown is the three-account shuffle. Windows XP gives the ability to rapidly bounce between user accounts, with Win+L. If at least three user accounts exist, and you quick-switch through all three, and then log off all three in reverse order — “backing out” in an orderly way — then the machine may hang on shutdown. There may be other variations of account shuffling that cause this, but this one, clear example was provided by newsgroup correspondent John Ward. Microsoft has now identified something similar as a bug, in MSKB 320008, “You May Not Be Able to Shut Down Your Windows XP Computer.” The situation they describe is that only one user is logged on, quick-switching is used, and “Windows is under heavy stress.” A supported patch is available; see the article for details.

     
  • USING SHUTDOWN SCRIPTS & 802.1x AUTHENTICATION PROTOCOL. This combination can cause Win XP to take in excess of 10 minutes to shutdown normally. (IEEE 802.1x is an authentication standard for both wireless networks and wired Ethernet networks.) Here’s how the dominoes fall: The 802.1x authentication protocol stops after the user logs off. Shutdown scripts run after the user logs off. If the script is on a network share and the connection is no longer available (since authentication has terminated), the script can’t run. The default time-out for shutdown scripts is 10 minutes. So the computer sits there 10 minutes before continuing with its shutdown. (Reference: MSKB 311787.)

     
  • MISMATCHED RAM. Correspondent Morten Bech reported that a combination of PC-100 and PC-133 RAM was the source of his shutdown problem. When he resolved the mismatch (by removing the PC-100 RAM), he also resolved the shutdown problem. A general reminder of a great general tip: You will get the best results if all RAM in a particular computer matches in all respects!

     
  • CHANGE NTFS TO FAT32? MOVE THE PAGEFILE? Correspondent “Curiefleas” wrote that his reboot-on-shutdown problem was solved when he used a third party partitioning program to convert his NTFS partition to FAT32. It isn’t clear why this would be the case, but the tip was worth passing along. In a possibly related vein, other correspondents have reported a shutdown problem in XP either being caused by, or resolved by, relocating the pagefile! Is there some common issue involving substantial moving of the hard drive’s contents? These two hints intrigued me in light of a seemingly dissociated shutdown problem reportedly occurring in Win ME only immediately after a defrag. These all may be unrelated to each other — or not. I list them here as part of the ongoing data collection.

     
  • SHUTDOWN PROBLEMS IN WINDOWS NT/2000. In researching known causes of shutdown problems in earlier versions of NT-family operating systems, most of what I found referred to problems that were resolved in later versions. There is no reason to suspect their recurrence. For example, there were quite a few shutdown issues identified in NT 3.x that didn’t survive to NT 4.0. Very predictable causes were involved most often, especially difficulty with some 16-bit applications or specific hardware incompatibilities. Very few shutdown failure scenarios are documented for Windows 2000. All that I found were conflicts with specific software, specific hardware, or drivers. While these three frame a wide set of possibilities, they are sufficiently narrow to be very encouraging when joined with what we are seeing with Win XP. If approved compatible hardware and software are used, including XP-specific drivers, we see almost no shutdown problems at all. If other hardware or software is used... well, that gives us a starting place to focus our investigations