Windows XP shut down window very slow to appear

Question

I click Start->Shut Down and the Shut Down window takes 5 minutes to appear. This problem doesn't happen after a fresh boot, it only happens after I have been logged on for awhile. I am using a Macbook Pro with Boot Camp. The machine actually shuts down quickly, its just really slow to bring up the shut down window. Basically I would like to know if:

1) Anyone has any ideas why this would happen
2) Who owns the "Shut Down" window (I.e. what happens on the OS after I click the Shut Down icon in the start menu)

I've tried perusing the task manager to try and see if any processes look suspicious, but to no avail.

Solution

You may check your event viewer for any errors. see if any particular application is causing the slow shutdown.

Here are a few registry tweaks to speed matters up:

Auto End Task

This registry setting ends the running task and automatically shutdown the application

Go to Start > Run, type regedit to open Registry Editor.

Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop

Scroll down to find the registry key called AutoEndTasks. Right-click on the key, select Modify and change the value to 1.

Exit Windows Registry after making changes.

Wait To Kill Application

This registry key function is to set the time interval for Windows before killing the applications to shutdown the computer.

Navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop

Scroll down to look for the Registry Key called WaitToKillAppTimeout, right-click on it, select Modify and Change the value to 1000.

Hang Application Time

This registry key sets the hang time of the application before closing.

Navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop

Scroll down to look for the Registry Key named HangAppTimeout.

Right-click on it, select Modify and Change the value to 1000, exit Windows Registry

Clear Page File Before Shutdown

Last but not least, make sure Windows doesn't clear the pagefile on shutdown:

Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management

Scroll down for the Registry Key named ClearPageFileOnShutdown, if this is set to 1, right click on it, select Modify and Change the value to 0.

Wait To Kill Service Timeout

This registry key sets the time for Windows to wait before ending services related to Microsoft.

Navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop

Look for the Registry Key named as WaitToKillServiceTimeout, right click on it, select Modify and Change the value to 1000.

Source

p.s.: if you're looking for the easy way out, grab Superfast Shutdown, it does what it says on the tin, guaranteed :)

Comments

[RJFalconer]

As a work-around, you could avoid the wait by pressing "u" after clicking shutdown, as windows should buffer the keystroke.

[laksh]

Great answer, thanks. I've had a bit more luck tracking this down - basically if I shut down the Windows "automatic updates" service it solves my problem. Why, however, the service starts to malfunction or cause the slowdown is another matter altogether...

[Ergwun]

Are these fixes for slow shutdown after clicking Ok in the "shut down Windows" dialog box, or for the delay before delaying that dialog box after clicking the shutdown buton in the start menu? The latter is what the question was about.

[Ergwun]

That link is a 404 :(

[evilspoons]

None of these fixes are for the shutdown DIALOG taking a long time to show up, these are all for fixing the actual shutdown PROCESS, after the dialog has appeared and you have chosen to actually shut the computer down.