Shut down time too long

My PC has developed a "slow shutdown" problem in the last week and i have no idea how to correct it.
I have already done "WaitToKillServiceTimeout" and it has not altered anything.
Earlier the PC would shut down in under a minute but now it is three or four minutes before it shuts off.
The start up time is still good at under a minute.
When i hit the shutdown button all the icons disappear straight away but it then remains on the "shutdown" screen for ages.
I realize that there is a process running that is taking the time to shut down but i do not know how to find it ??
Any help would be gratefully received.
Bill

Edit
I have run all the malware checks but found nothing.

 

Hi Bill,
Have you recently installed any new programs/software prior to the long shut down?? I know that I have a longer shutdown now due to instlling the new Iobit Malwarefighter, not much like but still noticable(30-40 sec's),Try looking at what is running in taskmanager prior to shutdown, i.e close all open programs wait a couple of minutes then open task manager to see what is still running, that should let you know what the cause of the long shut down.

Iain

 

No new installs.
I did install ACDSee last week but did not like it and decided not to buy, but the problem was happening before that.
In desperation i used an Acronis recovery from before the problem started but it is just the same.
I have tried shutting as many processes as i think it is safe to do but it seems i have not found the culprit.

To be honest i am a bit of a noob when it comes to what processes you should let run.

 

Got something similar here Bill, as Win 7 Ult x64 failed to shut down for the first time ever last night, and although it seems OK otherwise this morning, shutting down took about three minutes - not normal.

 

I am using Win 7 Pro X64, i wonder if this is an update error ???

 

The only update I've had in the last 24 hours was a def update for Windows Defender. I'll keep an eye on it.

 

I am not having this issue so I am wondering I am wondering if this is a 64 bit thing as I have 7 ultimate 32bit.

 

My W7 x64 seems to have got over whatever was holding back the shutdown. Last twice both about 23 sec, so not an update issue. In fact not an issue at all.

 

Found this by googling. The thread is from 2009 but hopefully you'll find something that may be of use to you. http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/26476-desktop-shutdown-tweaks-combined.html Lots of people seem to have the same issue as you do while googling for a solution.

Of course I don't have Win 7 so can't verify it.

 

Take a look at the settings for WaitToKillAppTimeout and HungAppTimeout.

I'm using Win XP and changed HungAppTimeout from default value 5000 to 2000.
WaitToKillAppTimeout also set at 2000.

How to Speed Up Windows 7 Desktop and Shutdown

 

After spending hours trawling the net for a solution it would appear that this is not an uncommon problem without any definitive answer.
Thanks to those of you who gave suggestions and we can just leave it as work in progress.
Bill

 

Update
Having done many hours of research i have finally cured it (with some help from MS)

Firstly back up the registry (just in case:-D)

go to:START,RUN,and type,regedit,and hit enter,the registrybox will open, on the left side at the top of the box clic on FILE,and open the options small box,clic then on EXPORT,and save the registrybackup to documents for example,

After you backed up the reg clic on:HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE then SYSTEM then CURRENTCONTROLSET then CONTROL then SESSIONMANAGER then clic on MEMORYMANAGEMENT and on your right side,you'll see an key called CLEARPAGEFILEATSHUTDOWN,right clic on it and open an small box,clic on CHANGE and you'll see the key value HEXADECIMAL,if there you have 1, just change it to 0 and clic OK,close your registry and restart your pc,that's all.

I am not saying this is the definitive answer but it worked for me.http://bestsmileys.com/happy/1.gif

 

Nice workaround but did you finally get to the nub of the issue Bill? Was your pagefile on a differant partition or HDD?

 

No is the short answer, I stopped all services via msconfig and started them one by one but nothing in there was the culprit, I then went through shutting down MS services but all i got was BSD.
I spent a lot of time trying some of the craziest things but nothing worked and then i got this answer from MS and i am just happy that it works.

PS the pagefile was on the OS partition

 

My question is How did it get turned ON?
AFAIK, the default setting is Off.

I know that you are using Windows 7, but this is an old "myth" that clearing the page file at shutdown will improve performance and/or security.

XP Myths: Paging File - Clearing at Shutdown

Shutdown is very slow - Windows XP

 

Good question, how did it get turned on??
As i said to Augie i have spent many hours trying various so called cures for the problem and nothing worked until this.
Shutdown time is now 20 seconds in place of 4 minutes.

 

Thanks Bill. As you know, I had exactly the same prob with my W7 x64 but a system restore got me out of it. I've c&p'd your post in case it happens again.