Windows Vista & Windows 7 Hangs when Shutting down from a Network Environment

Neither operating system should be resistant to shutting down if operating normally. There is no need to release the pagefile before shutting down.

Do you see a black screen with text in the middle saying what the shutdown issue is?

Since you have both machines on the same network, have you contracted malware on both machines? Do a full and scouring scan.

Look also in the Reliability monitor (Action center in Windows 7). Are there any errors in there that shed light?

I moved from Vista to Windows 7 a year ago on this laptop and have acquired a Windows 7 desktop. Both machines will shut down in about a minute.

Are these machines Vista and Windows 7 certified and come preloaded?  In either event, I would also check the BIOS and the Chipset driver for possible upgrades.

... Thinkpads_User

Also I wanted to let you know that both of these Laptops connect to my home network through a wireless router.. Not sure if that would make a difference in the Shut down or not, because the other 2 computers and my Server is Hard Wired to the Router and all three of them Shut down just fine.. My other 2 computers are running Windows XP, and my Server is running Windows 2003 Server Enterprise 32-bit.. And the other 2 Hardwired XP Computers are 32-bit also..   The 2 Wirless Laptops that are having the problem is one is running Windows Vista the Ultimate Edition 32-bit, and the other Laptop is running Windows 7 Pro -- 64 bit.  But I still have not figured it out why these 2 Laptops hang on the Shut Down process... Please all help is appreciated..

Thank you,
LadyHawk47

Wireless should not make any difference - my Windows 7 Pro 64-bit laptop is wirelessly connected.

I would like you then to answer my questions in my post above so that I can help further.

... Thinkpads_User

I have checked both Laptops for Malware, and I even ran the thorough scan on both Laptops. Also both laptops already do have the most current version of the bios and the most current driver of the Chipsets on both Laptops.  And they still both hang on the Shut Down window..

Thanks,
LadyHawk47

Being connected to wireless I believe does not make and difference in shutting down but it would not hurt to hard wire the 2 laptops to test and see if the problem still persists via a hard wire connection.

Take a look now at errors in the Reliability monitor and the Event viewer.

Also look in the system tray, and exit from any and all applications there that you can exit from. Disable your antivirus suite temporarily. Then shutdown again. What happens?

Are there updates pending? Check Windows updates, Adobe updates, Flash updates, Java updates and AntiVirus updates. Maybe something is trying to update.

Do you have a defragger or Windows defragger that is trying to defrag silently and then causing an error when shutting down?

Any black screen text messages in a box (even quickly) at shutdown?

... Thinkpads_User

I have not looked at the reliability Monitor, which I will check into to see if there are any errors. And no I am seeing a black screen with any error messages on the Screen. They both just hang at the Shutting Down Window, and the Vista Laptop stays at the Window until I manually push the power button to shut if off.. The Windows 7 Pro Laptop, will shut down but it takes 10 to 15 minutes before it does...
Both Laptops have a Genuine Copy of Windows Installed in which I installed manually of both Laptops.

Thanks,
LadyHawk47

Also, I'm not sure if these computers are sharing folders on the network or are mapped to any network drive that is synchronising before shutting down, in that case the wireless connection may make a difference.

Both of these Laptops are Sharing a Printer that is connected to another Windows XP Computer, and they are also sharing mapped Network Drives.. Could it maybe a Group Policy issue.. But is does not effect my computers that are running Windows XP....

Thanks,
LadyHawk47

When you say you installed Windows manually, are the computers Vista and Windows 7 certified? If not, drivers could be an issue even if up-to-date.

Try disconnecting your network drives before shutting down to see if the issue is there. You could even try disconnecting the printer before shutting down (make it not default).

Let us know also about stopping processes (applications) in the system tray before shutting down.

... Thinkpads_User

Good test:

Disconnect your wireless connection (disable).

Wait ten minutes. Deal with any update, mapping, sync, printer or whatever issues that come up in the ten minute interval. Are there any?

Now shut down. Still hangs?

... Thinkpads_User

Well I have checked the Event Viewer and the Reliability Monitor and there are no errors in the logs in either place. However I will try dissconnnecting my Mapped Network Drives and Dissconnecting from my Shared Printer, and then I will dissconnect from my Wireless network before shutting down to see if the Laptops still hang at the Shutting Down Window. I will let you know if does work or if I am still experiencing the same issue.

Thanks,
LadyHawk47

thinkpads_user:

I have disconnected my wireless connection & even disabled it.

Then I waited ten minutes like you told me too. I also disconnected from all of my mapped network drives and also disconnected from the Shared Printer that is connected to another computer on my home network? I then waited ten minutes before shutting down. The Antivirus software that I am running is Microsoft Security Essentials, in which I disabled before shutting down. I do not have any tasks that are running, like a disk defrag or Windows updates. I have my Server pushing out the Windows Updates using WSUS, and it is set to push out the updates every Thursday @ 5:00 pm. Central Standard Time.  After waiting the additional 10 minutes before shutting down. I am still having the same issue, where the Laptops still hang at the Shutting Down Window.


So I am still baffled,

Thank you,
LadyHawk47

More baffling is that you have two machines doing the same thing. Security Essentials is a very decent product - I have it running on several virtual machines with no issue.

No mapped drives, no wireless connections and no apparent complaint (or you would have seen it) means that is not likely the issue.

A few things now:

1. Open task manager. Right Click on the Task Bar and start Task Manager. In options, set it to hide when minimized. Minimize it. It should be dark green in the system tray. Is it bright green (high CPU). Open it and check CPU consumption. Click the Processes tab and sort on CPU. Click again if necessary to get high CPU to the top.

Is something running you cannot identify and using all the CPU?

2. Run Rootkit Revealer. Go here:  http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897445.aspx

and download and run Rootkit Revealer. Run it on both machines. Is something running you do not expect.

3. Look at the software you have installed. Is there something recent that may be causing this

4. Back to drivers: You say you installed Windows manually. Are you really certain the drivers (a) match your computer and (b) are Windows 7 compliant.

What make and model of laptop? When (year) was it built?

... Thinkpads_User

thinkpads_user:

I have checked the CPU Usage on the Laptop that is running Windows Vista, and the CPU Usage only gets up to about 19% and that is at its highest. On the normal it is only running between 4 to 5%. And on the Laptop that is running Windows 7 Pro the CPU Usage gets up to 21% as the highest. On the mormal it is running about 7 to 8% usage. The program in which you told me to download which was the Rootkit Revealer, does this program run while in Windows or does it run as a DOS Command before Windows Loads. Please let me know.

Thank you,
LadyHawk47

It runs while Windows is running. Download it, and run it.  It does not run before Windows loads.

By the way, your CPU usage is completely normal.

... Thinkpads_User

thinkpads_user:

For some odd reason I was afraid you were going to tell me that. That was going to be my next step. I will wipe the Hard Drives after I back up the files on both Laptops, and then I will reimage both Laptops again. I do already have Images Saved with Norton Ghost to reimage both of these Laptops.  

Thank you very much thinkpads_user: for all of your suggestions. I will start in tomorrow on both of these Laptops.

LadyHawk47

I checked through the post above and have answered it to the satisfaction of LadyHawk47
... Thinkpads_User

This question has been classified as abandoned and is being closed as part of the Cleanup Program.  See my comment at the end of the question for more details.