Unable to shut down computer properly
 

I've been having trouble shutting down my laptop over the past few days. It doesn't seem to matter of I click turn off, shut down, sleep or hibernate...... they all immediately restart my computer (Dell laptop, approx 18 months old).

Last night and the night before, after a multitude of unsuccessful attempts, I ended up pressing the power off button to shut it off.

I have an ADSL line, and the only thing I've done differently during this past week is to replace my modern. I tried the Dell self help forums but could not find this problem there.

Any suggestions as to what might be causing this, and how I can fix it?

Also, when I restarted my laptop after powering down using the power button option, I got an error message (Windows didn't shut down properly). Will closing down this way harm my computer?

Thank you.

Possibly a bug or Trojan of some sorts??
wants it to keep running ... so it can spread the bad stuff more.. or even worse send your info out :eek:

I'd unplug off the internet as soon as possible after downloading a few extra scanners- and run a few deep scans with each one to clean out anything questionable.

moi likes the malwarebytes program - free to download & use
http://www.malwarebytes.org/

cnet.com editor picks for spyware removers -
http://download.cnet.com/windows/spy...g=ltcol;narrow

I think the non shut down is a symptom of a trojan or spyware , but her are some tips on improving shutdown times.

shut down ideas -
http://www.ehow.com/how_5002443_spee...down-time.html

found this too-
http://en.community.dell.com/forums/t/19265619.aspx
and more-
http://www.google.com/#hl=en&q=dell+...6c7832dbb01be6

but until you figure it out don't keep it connected to the internet full time, unplug or turn off modem when not using computer online.
just to be safe..

Thank you Jo*Mar. I've read through those suggestions but I'm still no better off.

I've done a full system scan and I've done a separate spyware scan ..... both came back clear.

I've tried to shut down and restart, and still I can't turn it off. So far it's only the laptop that I've tried, as I rarely use the desktop now. That's more of a backup incase I need it.

The new modern is an ADSL (wired) one that allows me to run up to 10 computers off it. I have 2 PC's (a desktop and a laptop), and my daughter was able to connect her's as well while she was here.

I don't know if installing the new modern has caused my problems or not, because I was able to turn off normally for the first few days.

Also, can somebody please tell me if I'm doing any damage to my laptop by holding down the power button and closing down that way? I've done it several times now and I always get an error message when I switch it back on again. Thank you.

I'll ask my son.... the answer will take a few hours tho.

I know I have been warned to be careful with shut downs, as you can corrupt Windows. Try not to turn off with any files open.

I'm sending an email now...

While we are waiting.... here is one thing I found on Google:

http://www.computing.net/answers/har...ter/43478.html

Is it your new one with Vista or Wndows 7?

power button shut down info - I didn't have time to read them so not sure which to suggest..
http://www.google.com/search?q=doing...ient=firefox-a


Did you try CTRL/ALT/DEL to get the task manager open ?
maybe google anything running that you don't recognize and see if something got in there to stall /hang up the machine.
there's also a shut down tab there to unless they changed it all from XP that I use.

sometimes software programs require a long period of time to shut down, and your machine wont fully go into shut down, until all parts of that program have fully stopped.

it will NOT hurt your machine to hold down the power button for up to 30 seconds (got that from the Dell website)

It may help for you to get something like Ccleaner.com and run the free cleaner that helps get rid of extra stuff that gets left on your machine from installs, and removals, and shifting programs from here to there.

Another consideration is that since the release of internet exp 8 and up to Windows 7 more and more programs are memory intensive. This means they require longer periods to boot up, and more energy to run, and longer periods to shut down. Sometimes upgrading your RAM or random access memory can make those things go faster. Your new hardware that you installed may be a memory hog, and may be requiring longer periods of time to reach a safe point for the machine to shut off.

go thru your normal shut down routine. Keep a timer on how long it took for your machine to completely shut down without you having to interviene with the mashing of the power button, or unplugging it. It can take up to 15 mins if something is pulling loads of memory away from the machine for its own purpose. If it take an extra long time, disconnect from the new hardware you installed, and re time how long it took to shut down. If it zipped thru, then you know you need more RAM on your machine in order to shut down faster, OR you need patience for it to go thru its cycle.

Either way, the Ccleaner.com program is a nice one to clean off the extra stuff that we all collect and bogs us down. One of the tools on it is "start up" and it will explain and let you chose which items YOU want to start when the machine starts. Like adobe updates. I dont want that bogging me down when I start a machine or those pesky java updates and so forth. I want adobe to only start when I click on it, not before then. it lets you pick your programs.

Till then, you are not hurting your machine to mash the shut down button.

Also, I just thought of something: If you have Mozilla Firefox:

Firefox's forums had discussion not too long ago about Firefox being slow to shut down. If it is doing this to you, it might be delaying your Windows close. I seem to recall that if you have lots of TABS open (like working on this site) they drain your RAM and it delays shut down. I am not sure if the more recent updates have fixed it or not. We don't shut down this tower every night. I can tell we need a reboot when things get rather mushy on this unit.

I talked to my son for a short time today...he's had company etc.

He did say he will send me an email...but from what I could gather as a first intervention, he said to look at your task master while waiting for the shut down, to see what is still running.
That might give you a clue. I've had that happen a few times,
and I control+alt+delete and close the running programs.
If your new DSL has a remote viewing program, you might want to close it temporarily and see if that helps. I did that a long time ago. Just write down which one it is, and put it under the mouse pad so if you have to activate it, you can put it back. ;)

I hope to see the email in a day or so.

Problem solved!

I turned off the new modern/router and then tried to close the computer down and it closed immediately... no problems!

It's like .... der! :Doh: Why didn't I think of that? http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p...or/lostit6.gif

So thank you Dejibo, Jo*Mar and mrsD for your replies. I truly appreciate your assistance, but it looks like my new hardware is definitely to blame.

For future record, my laptop was new in September 08. It runs Vista and I use Firefox as my main search engine. The new modern/router is similar to the one pictured below.

Anyway, before I found that switching off the router would allow me to shut the computer down, I had no trouble closing any of the programs that were open, and when I went into the task manager, there are no applications open at all after I've clicked shut down.

Naturally there were processes happening but I wouldn't touch anything in there. Me going into that area would be akin to a bull in a china shop, as most of those are exe. files and if I hit something I shouldn't, I'm likely to crash the whole thing. :o

Now that I know I have to turn off the router/modern whenever I want to shut down my laptop, is the frequent switching off likely to cause any future problems for that? I only ask because I've been through a couple of other moderns (wired, one computer access type) and was told only to turn those off if absolutely necessary.
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