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Topic: turning off computer problem |
Ron Victoria
From:
New Jersey, USA
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Posted 23 Jun 2008 7:59 am |
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Lately, when I go to turn off the computer I first get "end program box" for IEXPLORE.EXE. Then I get the not responding box. When I click end now, it finally shuts off. I have WINXP. I just ran spybot, adaware, and cleared temp files. What's going on?
ron |
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Wiz Feinberg
From:
Mid-Michigan, USA
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Posted 23 Jun 2008 9:45 am Re: turning off computer problem
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| Ron Victoria wrote: |
| Lately, when I go to turn off the computer I first get "end program box" for IEXPLORE.EXE. Then I get the not responding box. When I click end now, it finally shuts off. I have WINXP. I just ran spybot, adaware, and cleared temp files. What's going on? |
Ron;
Do you actually see Internet Explorer open on your desktop when this occurs? If not, there is a phantom instance running in the background, or off-screen. Here is what I would do to track down the nature of the problem.
Open Internet Explorer to your usual home page and nothing else. Open Task Manager by using the 3 finger salute. Click on the Processes tab and find Iexplore.exe. There should only be one instance of it. Close out Internet Explorer and watch the processes list to see if it is gone, or if it remains in the list. If it remained in the list check the amount of CPU and memory is is using and report back here. You can use End Process in Task Manager to kill the phantom instance of IE.
If you are getting phantom browser instances and Spybot, etc, find no adware or keyloggers, perhaps a browser helper object (BHO), or an add-on toolbar, etc, is causing instability in your browser. Disable all toolbars and restart IE. Watch the processes again, while you close IE. If the phantom browser goes away you can assume that it is caused by a poorly written toolbar/add-on, or one that is hostile, but not yet detected.
Add-ons to browsers are the primary causes of crashes in them. Sometimes the add-on is out-dated and not compatible with recent security updates. Other times the add-on may be malicious. You can disable Internet Explorer Add-ons from Internet Options > Programs > "Manage Add-ons" button. Go through the listed active add-ons and disable them all, then test for hanging browsers on shutdown. You can re-enable them one at a time until you find the one that is causing the problem. I recommend sorting add-ons by publisher and going through the non-Microsoft ones first. Also check for updates to any toolbars you have installed.
_________________
"Wiz" Feinberg, Moderator SGF Computers Forum
Security Consultant
Twitter: @Wizcrafts
Main web pages: Wiztunes Steel Guitar website | Wiz's Security Blog | My Webmaster Services | Wiz's Security Blog |
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Ron Victoria
From:
New Jersey, USA
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Posted 23 Jun 2008 12:25 pm
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The second is using 37,200. I will check add-ons.
I checked the add-ons. Most were MS, a few from the HP printer, Java, Adobe. I disabled the one from ebay.
ron |
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Ron Victoria
From:
New Jersey, USA
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Posted 23 Jun 2008 1:09 pm
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I rebooted after disabling the ebay one and now that IE is open, I only see one in the task manager. I will repost after closing and hopefully the problem will be gone.
ron
I'm only seeing 1 IE in the task mgr but it's still doing the same thing. |
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Ron Victoria
From:
New Jersey, USA
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Posted 23 Jun 2008 4:13 pm
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I disabled everything not MS related and it closed down fine. I was thinking of putting back Adobe, Spybot, and HP printer to start. Too bad they aren't dated. If I leave the others disabled will that have any effect of the programs running?
ron |
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Wiz Feinberg
From:
Mid-Michigan, USA
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Posted 23 Jun 2008 7:41 pm
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| Ron Victoria wrote: |
I disabled everything not MS related and it closed down fine. I was thinking of putting back Adobe, Spybot, and HP printer to start. Too bad they aren't dated. If I leave the others disabled will that have any effect of the programs running?
ron |
Enable them one at a time, testing each one. When you eliminate the ones causing the freeze-ups you will know what to update.
_________________
"Wiz" Feinberg, Moderator SGF Computers Forum
Security Consultant
Twitter: @Wizcrafts
Main web pages: Wiztunes Steel Guitar website | Wiz's Security Blog | My Webmaster Services | Wiz's Security Blog |
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Ron Victoria
From:
New Jersey, USA
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Posted 24 Jun 2008 4:18 pm
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| I only have MS and spybot enabled and have a phantom in the task manager. I have to close both. Can one of the MS be causing this? Can I just turn the pc off w/o logging off? The other thing I can do is just close them both in the task mgr before logging off. |
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Wiz Feinberg
From:
Mid-Michigan, USA
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Posted 24 Jun 2008 7:23 pm
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| Ron Victoria wrote: |
| Can I just turn the pc off w/o logging off? The other thing I can do is just close them both in the task mgr before logging off. |
If you just power off the computer you will scatter all of the files that are in use all over the disk; e.g. fragmentation. You will also corrupt the master filing table index and probably develop cross-linked sectors.
I would be trying to find out what is causing the phantom browser process. I would definitely run "SFC /SCANNOW" from the Run box, or perform an in-place repair of Windows, rather than have to kill processes to shutdown, then suffer through Chkdsk upon every reboot.
_________________
"Wiz" Feinberg, Moderator SGF Computers Forum
Security Consultant
Twitter: @Wizcrafts
Main web pages: Wiztunes Steel Guitar website | Wiz's Security Blog | My Webmaster Services | Wiz's Security Blog |
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Ron Victoria
From:
New Jersey, USA
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Posted 25 Jun 2008 3:39 am
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| I tried to run sfc/scannow and it can't find that file. |
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Wiz Feinberg
From:
Mid-Michigan, USA
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Posted 25 Jun 2008 10:40 am
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| Ron Victoria wrote: |
| I tried to run sfc/scannow and it can't find that file. |
SFC.exe is a Windows System file, so if it is missing your installation of XP has become corrupted. You should conduct a search for the file sfc.exe to see if it has been moved from its original location, or if it has been backed up elsewhere. In my XP Pro installation sfc is located in C:\Windows\System32\.
If that file is indeed missing you will have to reinstall Windows XP and run all updates over again, including any service packs released since your XP CD was published. Your least painful fix would be to boot from the XP CD, containing the same Service Pack as is on your computer, when prompted press Enter to initiate Setup, select the XP installation you want to repair from the list and press R to start the repair. If Repair is not one of the options, END setup (F3). Do not use the Recovery Console repair option for this process.
When the repair process has completed you will be prompted to remove the CD and the computer will reboot. The repair re-installation usually fixes most instability problems and replaces all missing files. This means that all previously installed critical patches and updates will be overwritten and you must run Windows Updates repeatedly, until all available updates have been applied. However, the Repair Installation replaces a newer file used by Windows Updates with an older version, causing Windows Updates to fail.
If after doing a repair re-installation of XP you cannot get either manual or automatic Windows Updates to work, or take, open the Run box and type this command: CMD .
When the Command window opens you should type the commands in bold, following each with the Enter key (click OK on each verification message that you receive):
net stop wuauserv
(Enter)
regsvr32 %windir%\system32\wups2.dll
(Enter)
net start wuauserv
Exit the command prompt. To do this type exit, and then press ENTER.
More information about this replacement of the updated Windows Update file is found here.
After "registering" wups2.dll you should be able to obtain all available and required critical updates for your OS. This may take a couple of download/install/reboot cycles, because installing some updates opens up others (patches for patches).
You final update will be Service Pack 3. While it doesn't add much functionality to most XP computers it does have the benefit of extending you right to obtain support from Microsoft by one more year.
_________________
"Wiz" Feinberg, Moderator SGF Computers Forum
Security Consultant
Twitter: @Wizcrafts
Main web pages: Wiztunes Steel Guitar website | Wiz's Security Blog | My Webmaster Services | Wiz's Security Blog |
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Ron Victoria
From:
New Jersey, USA
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Posted 25 Jun 2008 12:22 pm
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The file came up windows\system32
now what? |
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Wiz Feinberg
From:
Mid-Michigan, USA
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Posted 25 Jun 2008 1:07 pm
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| Ron Victoria wrote: |
The file came up windows\system32
now what? |
Tell me the file size and date stamp. This will help confirm if it a a legitimate Windows file. Also, check the Version tab to see if it claims to be a Microsoft file with a version number.
Assuming this is the legitimate SFC file one has to wonder why it can't be found on the System path, when started from the Run box.
You can try running the SFC from a Command Window. Go to Start > Run and type CMD then press Enter. When the Command Window opens type SFC /SCANNOW and press Enter. If it runs from the Prompt you can at least have a chance to replace any files missing from the Dll Cache.
_________________
"Wiz" Feinberg, Moderator SGF Computers Forum
Security Consultant
Twitter: @Wizcrafts
Main web pages: Wiztunes Steel Guitar website | Wiz's Security Blog | My Webmaster Services | Wiz's Security Blog |
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Ron Victoria
From:
New Jersey, USA
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Posted 25 Jun 2008 2:20 pm
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| The message says the SP2 cd is needed which I don't have. For now, I can just just end the phantom in the task manager before logging off. |
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