Brute-force cure for excessively long shutdowns

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	LANGALIST PLUS[/size][/font] Brute-force cure for excessively long shutdowns[/size]
	By Fred Langa Sometimes, to fix a Windows problem you have to take the gloves off. Slow Windows shutdowns are almost as annoying as long startups — but there are ways to force a quick shutdown.[/size]

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The full text of this column is posted at WindowsSecrets.com/2011/01/13/05 (paid content, opens in a new window/tab).

Columnists typically cannot reply to comments here, but do incorporate the best tips into future columns.[/td]

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I click the “Shut down” button, manually switch off the monitor and external speakers and walk away. Only once have I returned to find the computer still running.

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Have any of these people who keep saying “VLC ignores region protection!” actually tried it themselves with a foreign-region DVD!?

VLC might do the trick in Linux, but Windows enforces region protection at the OS level. As per the link, the only way to really kill region protection is to find region-free firmware for your DVD drive and re-flash it. Otherwise, you’ll need some form of DVD decryption software to rip the disc’s content.

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With respect to the comments about Windows 7’s Search, I frequently want to view the files that satisfy my search criteria. For this feature alone, I find the X1 Profession Client (http://www.X1.com) invaluable. It is not free, but it is worth it for me. It has many advanced search features and many file viewers. (The old and free Yahoo search used the same engine, I think). I haven’t found any free tools that combine a fast indexed and powerful search function with easy file viewing, but would of course be interested in knowing about them.

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Fred, you didn’t mention if Jim’s XP machine was his personal computer or a work computer.

I’ve seen this type of issue on my work computer as my IT dept has a bunch of bat files set to run on Shut Down for Backup, and reset preferences and all sorts of stuff they try to do. Amazingly, as soon as I turn off the wireless, or disconnect the network cable, it shuts down pretty quickly.

If it’s his work computer, it might not be a bad thing to let it shut down properly, at least once in a while, to make sure his system is set the way his company wants it.

Hope this helps.

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Dear Fred:
Thanks for all your column over the years. I still have a problem with the “Create an image system tool” referred to originally in your December 16th and again referred to in your most recent article. The specific error message is as follows:

“There is not enough space to create the volume shadow copy on the storage location. Make sure that, for all volumes to be backup up, the minimum required disk space for shadow copy creation is available. This applies to both the back up storage destination and volumes included in the back up. Minimum requirement: For volumes less than 500 megabytes, the minimum is 50 megabytes of free space. For volumes more than 500 megabytes, the minimum is 320 megabytes of free space. Recommended: At least 1 gigabyte of free disk space on each volume if volume size is more than 1 gigabyte (0x80780119)”.

The specific backup external drive has over 800 gigs of free disk space. Various solutions to this specific problem are posted over the web and are detailed under a Google search using that specific error code.
Have you had an opportunity to research this issue and if so, do you have any thoughts on it?

Thanks
ardoyne

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I don’t find google search that useful either. It also misses files on the machine. And it doesn’t offer nearly enough control over the search criteria.

Most often I use Agent Ransack. It’s not indexed, so it’s a little slower, but it is an accurate search. Furthermore it offers simple wildcard searches in filenames and within files, or more powerful regular expression searching. When I want a search to be thorough and correct–which is all the time–Agent Ransack is my choice.

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I don’t find google search that useful either. It also misses files on the machine. And it doesn’t offer nearly enough control over the search criteria.

Most often I use Agent Ransack. It’s not indexed, so it’s a little slower, but it is an accurate search. Furthermore it offers simple wildcard searches in filenames and within files, or more powerful regular expression searching. When I want a search to be thorough and correct–which is all the time–Agent Ransack is my choice.

Agent Ransack is also avaiable under the name “FileLocator Lite” – it’s exactly the same program, just a different name, chosen to make it less of a potential concern in corporate environments. The link above will give you the option of downloading either. There’s both 32-bit and 64-bit versions, and it’s free for both personal and commercial use.

When installed, Agent Ransack sits in the Windows Explorer context menu so it’s never far away. File searches are very quick and there’s an in-built viewer to have a quick look at the contents of the files the search has found. You can also search for particular contents within files – such a search can be slower, but the same preview capabilities are still available.

If you want a more capable version, check out Filelocator Pro. It’s a “pay-for” version that can also search Outlook .PST files. I haven’t used it, but the extra capabilities might be useful in some circumstances.

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l highly recommend User Profile Hive Cleanup Service, available from Microsoft here:

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=1b286e6d-8912-4e18-b570-42470e2f3582&displaylang=en&pf=true

My shutdown time went from a couple of minutes or more to 25-35 seconds.

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If my shutdown is delayed; I just hold the power switch until the computer shuts down. Next time I start it, I get a warning right after the POST that it did not shut down properly with a bunch of options. I select start normally and wait for the log-in screen. When I get it, instead of logging in I select the “restart” option and let it shut itself down and restart normally. This restart is never a long one. When it comes back, I log in normally and am good to go. I have found that the “restart” step is crucial; otherwise sometimes things just don’t work properly.

I’ve never had any problems with this approach but I would be happy to hear if there are potential problems with it.

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Fred,

Google Desktop Search? Are you kidding? It brings a system to its knees, so I remove it from any computer I encounter. I use Everything (http://www.voidtools.com)
It is super quick and finds any file on an NTFS partition. I set up a hotkey CTRL-ALT-E to quickly bring up the search window.

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What the heck is a DVD region? That is a term I have never heard of and I have been working on computers for almost 40 years.

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Apparently, in different parts of the world, DVD’s are handled a bit differently. Many DVD players allow you to set the region you live in. Almost every country in the world is included in the list. It’s just another one of them, “facts of life”.

This thread went “OFF TOPIC” awfully fast. DVD’s, etc., have little to do with either Quick or Slow shutdowns.
The MS writers of every OS since ’98, have incorporated into their OS’s the ability to alter the Shutdown.exe program with switches, to make it behave differently. It does vary some, between 98, XP and Windows Vista/Win-7, but it’s still there.

I’ve been using a Quick Shutdown routine using window’s own Shutdown program with switches set to either shut down or KILL reluctant programs. I’ve seen no problems with doing this, after doing it for many years now.
My Quick Shutdown Shortcut, (for XP) which I put on the desktop, right above the START button (for continuity) goes like this:
%windir%System32shutdown.exe -s -t 00 -f

Using this shortcut, my shutdown times range between 5 to 8 seconds, depending on just how many programs I’ve left open. Good PC operation would involve shutting down all your running programs that might have files open, before you try to shut down Windows.
I AM gratified to hear that some people DO shut OFF their computers….once in a while anyway. 🙂

Likewise, the MS programmers made it possible for us to increase the amount of junk files that “Disk Cleanup” can remove from your HD.
%SystemRoot%System32Cmd.exe /c Cleanmgr /sageset:65535 & Cleanmgr /sagerun:65535

Put this shortcut on your desktop for a really GOOD HD cleanup. The first time you run it, you must put a check in the box next to each item you want deleted. I just check everything, but, Setup Log Files and Office Setup Files. Just leave those two things unchecked, to avoid problems later on.

Over the years, I’ve been constantly amazed at how many “Safe Defaults” that were programmed into Windows, which can be altered to improve Windows speed and efficiency. But, that’s food for a completely different thread. Eh?

Cheers Mates!
The Doctor

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