Reference number: CH000285

Microsoft Windows does not shut down.

Issue:

Microsoft Windows does not shut down.

Cause:

Windows 95/98/ME may not Shut Down successfully or may lockup / freeze because any of these possibilities.

1. Program or TSR currently open does not close or does not release itself from memory.
2. Incompatibility, corrupt or damaged driver.
3. Temporary files.
4. Hard disk full, has errors or needs defrag ran on it.
5. DOS driver, configuration error or confliction in the autoexec.bat / config.sys.
6. APM (Advanced Power Management issue).
7. Virtual device driver issue.
8. Corrupt shutdown sound or issue with sound drivers.
9. Internet Explorer 4.01.
10. Norton antivirus 'Load Auto-Protect at Startup' issue.

Important Notice: Windows 98 users may experience a hang when the computer attempts to shut down because of a known issue. If you are running Windows 98 ensure you have read document CH000154.

Solution:

Before beginning to trouble shoot your issue it is important to consider that this issue may be occurring randomly and when occurring randomly may be difficult to trouble shoot or determine where the problem exists. Before assuming that the issue is resolved, ensure to complete the steps and/or Shut Down the computer 2-3 times.

Program or TSR currently open does not close or does not release itself from memory

The most common issue for a computer to lockup or never display the message it is safe to turn off your computer is caused when a program that was being used or was in memory did not close or close successfully. To determine if this is what is causing your issue, End Task all currently running programs. Information on how to do this can be found on document CHTSR.

If, after doing this, you are able to successfully shutdown your computer, it is likely that a program such as a virus protection program may not be closing successfully. You will need to determine which program is causing this issue and reinstall and/or obtain the latest update for this program.

Note: After rebooting your computer all of the programs / TSRs that you End Task will automatically load again.

Incompatibility, corrupt or damaged driver

Drivers loaded for any hardware device that are incompatible, corrupt or damaged can cause the computer to lockup when shutting down.

1. Verify that the Windows Device Manager does not have any conflicts or issues present. Additional information about Device Manager can be found on our Device Manager page.
2. Click Start / Settings / Control Panel, double-click on System and click the Performance tab, ensure that the third line "File System" is 32-bit and not MS-DOS mode. If your file system is running in MS-DOS mode it is likely that MS-DOS drivers are loading and causing your issues. If your system is running in MS-DOS mode, refer to the section on the autoexec.bat / config.sys.

Temporary files

Temporary files can cause issues with the way your computer operates, especially when the computer has several hundred of these files. Follow the below instructions for removing any temporary files from the computer.

1. If any programs are currently open, close them.
2. Click Start / Find / Files or Folders
3. In the named box type *.tmp
4. In the look in box ensure it is the C: drive
5. Click the Find now button.
6. Once completed, if any files are present click Edit and then Select all files.
7. Once all the files are highlighted, press delete on the keyboard.

Additional information on finding files can be found on document CHFIND.

Hard disk full, has errors or needs defrag ran on it

Verify that the hard disk drive has over 200 MB of free hard disk space. To do this follow the below instructions.

1. Double-click My Computer.
2. right-click on the "C: Drive" and select properties.
3. Within the General tab ensure that the Free space is equal to or greater then 200MB

Verify that your hard disk drive has no errors by running scandisk and that it is not fragmented by running defrag.

• Additional information about scandisk can be found on our scandisk page.
• Additional information about defrag can be found on our defrag page.

DOS driver, configuration error or confliction in the autoexec.bat / config.sys

Verify that a line in your autoexec.bat or config.sys is not causing issues by temporarily renaming the files. To do this follow the below instructions.

1. In Windows click Start / Run and in the run line type command.
2. In the MS-DOS window type:
   cd\ <press enter>
   ren autoexec.bat autoexec.ch <press enter>
   ren config.sys config.ch <press enter>
   exit <press enter>
3. Once the above has been completed reboot the computer and determine if issue has been resolved.

If issue as not been resolved or to recover the renamed autoexec.bat and config.sys, reverse the above two lines to read ren autoexec.ch autoexec.bat and ren config.ch config.sys.

If your issue is resolved by renaming the autoexec.bat / config.sys you can leave these files renamed as they are not needed by Windows or rename them back to their original filenames and attempt to locate the line causing the computer to not shutdown. To do this, place REM in front of all lines and reboot the computer. Once back in windows remove one REM statement, reboot and continue process until you determine which line is causing your issue.

• Additional information about the autoexec.bat / config.sys can be found on our autoexec.bat / config.sys page.

APM (Advanced Power Management issue)

It is possible for APM to cause shutdown issues; follow the below steps to determine if APM is causing your issue.

1. Click Start / Settings / Control Panel and double-click the Systems icon.
2. Click the Device Manager tab and click the + next to System devices.
3. Double-click on Advanced Power Management. If not present, skip to the next paragraph.
4. In Power Management click the settings tab, and then click the Enable Power Management check box to clear it.

If this resolves your issue, contact your computer or motherboard manufacturer for a possible update. If this does not resolve your issue and/or Advanced Power Management was not present in the Device Manager, attempt to disable this setting in your CMOS. Additional information about the CMOS and how to enter it can be found on our CMOS page. 

If, after disabling the APM in CMOS, your issue is resolved, contact your computer or motherboard manufacturer for a possible update or BIOS update.

Virtual device driver issue

To determine if a virtual device driver is causing your issue follow the below steps.

1. Click Start / Run and in the run line type sysedit.
2. In the System Configuration Editor locate the system.ini window.
3. In the System.ini window locate the section [386Enh] section.
4. Within this section place a semicolon ( ; ) in front of any line beginning with device= and ending with .386.
5. Once completed, Exit out of the System Configuration Editor and save changes.
6. Reboot computer and see if issue persists.

If the issue continues to persist follow the above instructions and remove all the semicolons placed in the system.ini earlier. If your issue is resolved after following the above instructions, follow the above steps to edit the system.ini; remove one semicolon placed earlier and reboot the computer. Repeat the process until you determine which line is causing your issue.

Corrupt shutdown sound or issue with sound drivers

If you have sounds enabled to play a sound when your computer shuts down ensure that this is not causing your issue by temporarily disabling it. To do this follow the steps found below.

1. Click Start / Settings / Control Panel and in Control Panel double-click the sounds icon.
2. Within the sounds window locate exit windows.
3. If exit windows has a small sound icon ( ) next to it, highlight exit windows, and under name select (none). Click Apply and ok and attempt to shutdown Windows.

If this resolves your issue, attempt to associate a different sound with exit Windows. If another sound works it is likely that the sound file may be corrupt causing Windows to freeze. If another sound file exhibits the same issue we recommend obtaining the latest drivers from your sound card manufacturer and install them. Sound drivers can be found on our sound drivers page.

Internet Explorer 4.01

If Internet Explorer 4.01 is installed on the computer your computer may hang when attempting to shutdown with the Windows Desktop update component installed. To determine the version of Internet Explorer currently installed and resolve this issue if running 4.01, follow the below steps.

Determining version of Internet Explorer.

1. Open Internet Explorer.
2. Click Help and About.

If you are running Internet Explorer 4.01 follow one of the below solutions to resolve this issue.

Delete network mappings.

1. Double-click  My computer on the desktop.
2. right-click on one of the network drives and click disconnect.
3. Attempt to shut down the computer.
4. Repeat steps 2-3 until issue is resolved.

Remove desktop update component

1. Click Start / Settings / Control Panel.
2. Double-click Add Remove Programs.
3. Click Internet Explorer 4.0 in the list of installed programs and click Add/Remove.
4. Select "Remove the Windows Desktop Update component, but keep the Internet Explorer 4.0 Web Browser," and click ok.

Norton antivirus 'Load Auto-Protect at startup' issue

Norton antivirus may cause the computer to hang at a blinking cursor when shutting down Windows. To resolve this issue follow the below instructions.

1. Double-click the Norton antivirus icon in the systray.
2. Click the Options button.
3. Click the Auto-Protect Tab.
4. Remove the check from 'Load Auto-Protect at startup'.

Additional information:

• See our shutdown dictionary definition for additional information about this term and related terms.