How to Troubleshoot Windows 95 Shutdown Problems

MORE INFORMATION

When Windows 95 shuts down it performs many functions, including the transition of all protected-mode drivers back to real mode, the completion of all disk write functions and flushing of the disk cache, and the closing of all currently running programs, which includes running the Close Window code for any applications that are running. When Windows 95 does not shut down properly, it may appear to stop responding (hang) for several minutes, holding at the "Please wait while your computer shuts down" screen.

Shutdown problems in Windows 95 can be caused by an incompatible, damaged, or conflicting device driver, a damaged exit sound file, or incorrectly configured or damaged hardware. To troubleshoot this problem, perform the following steps:

1. Determine if the shutdown problem is caused by a program loading from the Startup folder. To do so, follow these steps:
   
   
   1. Reboot the computer and press the SHIFT key until Windows 95 loads.
   2. Click the Start button, and then click Shut Down.
   3. Click Shut Down The Computer, and then click Yes. Wait three minutes for Windows 95 to shut down.
   If Windows 95 does not hang, a program being loaded in the Startup folder may be causing the problem.
   
   To determine which program is causing the shutdown problem, remove the icons from the Startup folder one at a time. To do so, follow these steps:
   
   
   1. Click the Start button, point to Settings, and then click Taskbar.
   2. Click the Start Menu Programs tab, and then click Advanced.
   3. Double-click the Programs folder, and then double-click the Startup folder.
   4. Drag any icon from the Startup folder to the Programs folder and then restart the computer.
   5. Shut down Windows 95. Wait for Windows 95 to shut down.
   6. Repeat steps A-E until the shutdown problem no longer occurs.
   Once the program causing the shutdown problem has been identified, contact the program's manufacturer for assistance. If removing all the icons from the Startup folder does not resolve the problem, continue with these steps.
2. Determine if the shutdown problem is caused by a command line loading automatically from the Win.ini file. To do so, follow these steps:
   
   
   1. Click the Start button, click Run, type sysedit in the Open box, and then click OK.
   2. Click the Win.ini window.
   3. Locate the "Load=" and "Run=" lines in the Win.ini file. Place a semicolon (;) at the beginning of each line.
   4. Save the changes to the Win.ini file and then quit System Configuration Editor.
   5. Shut down Windows 95. Wait for Windows 95 to shut down.
   If Windows 95 does not hang during shutdown, the problem may be caused by a program being loaded from the "Load=" or "Run=" line in the Win.ini file. To determine which program is causing the problem, follow these steps:
   
   
   1. Click the Start button, click Run, type sysedit in the Open box, and then click OK.
   2. Click the Win.ini window.
   3. Create new "Load=" and "Run=" lines in the Win.ini file. Add one command from the original lines.
   4. Save the file, and then quit System Configuration Editor.
   5. Shut down Windows 95. Wait for Windows 95 to shut down.
   6. Repeat steps A-B, add one more command from the original lines, and then repeat steps D-E. Repeat this process until Windows 95 hangs during the shutdown process.
   7. Repeat steps A-B, remove the program causing the problem from the "Load=" or "Run=" line, and then repeat steps D-E.
   8. After you have identified the program causing the problem, contact the program's manufacturer for assistance. If these steps do not resolve the problem, continue with step 3.
3. Determine if the problem is being caused by a command being loaded in the Autoexec.bat or Config.sys file. To do so, follow these steps:
   
   
   1. Restart Windows 95. When you see the "Starting Windows 95" message, press the F8 key, and then choose Step-By-Step Confirmation from the Startup menu.
   2. Press Y at each of the following prompts. Press N for any other prompts:
      
      
      • Load Doublespace driver
      • Process the system registry
      • DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS
      • DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\IFSHLP.SYS
      • Load the Windows graphical user interface
      • Load all Windows drivers
   3. Shut down Windows 95. Wait for Windows 95 to shut down.
   If Windows 95 shuts down properly, the problem may be caused by a command line in the Autoexec.bat or Config.sys file. To determine which line is causing the problem, follow these steps:
   
   
   1. Restart Windows 95. When you see the "Starting Windows 95" message, press the F8 key, and then choose Step-By-Step Confirmation from the Startup menu.
   2. Press Y for each of the following prompts, plus one additional command. Press N for all other prompts:
      
      
      • Load Doublespace driver
      • Process the system registry
      • DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\HIMEM.SYS
      • DEVICE=C:\WINDOWS\IFSHLP.SYS
      • Load the Windows graphical user interface
      • Load all Windows drivers
   3. Shut down Windows 95. Wait for Windows 95 to shut down.
   4. Repeat steps A-C until the problem occurs.
   When the problem occurs, you have identified the command causing the problem. Edit the file containing the command and disable the command. If these steps do not resolve the problem, continue with step 4.
4. Determine if the problem is being caused by a memory conflict that still exists when Emm386.exe is not loaded from the Config.sys file. To do so, follow these steps:
   
   
   1. Click the Start button, click Run, type sysedit in the Open box, and then click OK.
   2. Click the Config.sys window.
   3. In the Config.sys file, make sure the following lines exist in this order:

                device=c:\windows\himem.sys
                device=c:\windows\emm386.exe noems x=a000-f7ff
      								

   4. Save the Config.sys file, and then quit System Configuration Editor.
   5. Restart the computer.
   6. Shut down Windows 95. Wait for Windows 95 to shut down.
   If Windows 95 shuts down properly, the problem may be caused by a memory conflict that still exists when Emm386.exe is not loaded from the Config.sys file. For information about determining the exact location of the memory conflict, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 112816 Locating and Excluding RAM/ROM Addresses in the UMA If these steps do not resolve the problem, continue with step 5.
5. Determine if the problem is being caused by a virtual device driver being loaded from the System.ini file. To do so, follow these steps:
   
   
   1. Click the Start button, click Run, type sysedit in the Open box, and then click OK. Click the System.ini window.
   2. Locate the [386Enh] section of the file.
   3. In the [386Enh] section, place a semicolon (;) at the beginning of each line that begins with "Device=" and ends with ".386".
   4. Save the System.ini file, and then quit System Configuration Editor.
   5. Restart Windows 95.
   6. Shut down Windows 95. Wait for Windows 95 to shut down.
   If Windows 95 does not hang during the shutdown process, the problem may be caused by a virtual device driver being loaded in the System.ini file. To determine which driver is causing the problem, follow these steps:
   
   
   1. Click the Start button, click Run, type sysedit in the Open box, and then click OK. Click the System.ini window.
   2. Locate the [386Enh] section of the file.
   3. Remove one of the semicolons that you added in step C above.
   4. Save the System.ini file, and then quit System Configuration Editor.
   5. Restart Windows 95.
   6. Shut down Windows 95. Wait for Windows 95 to shut down.
   7. Repeat steps A-F until the problem reoccurs.
   When the problem reoccurs, you have identified the virtual device driver causing the problem. Contact the driver's manufacturer for assistance. If these steps do not resolve the problem, continue with step 6.
6. Determine if the shutdown problem is being caused by a damaged exit sound file. To do so, follow these steps:
   
   
   1. In Control Panel, double-click Sounds.
   2. In the Events box, click Exit Windows.
   3. In the Name box, click None.
   4. Click OK.
   5. Shut down Windows 95. Wait for Windows 95 to shut down.
   If Windows 95 does not hang during the shut down process, the problem may be caused by a damaged exit sound file. Restore the sound file from a backup, or reinstall the program that provided the sound file. If these steps do not resolve the problem, continue with step 7.
7. Determine if Advanced Power Management (APM) is causing the shutdown problem. To do so, disable it by following these steps.
   
   NOTE: Not all computers have APM features. If your computer does not have APM features, skip to step 8.
   
   
   1. In Control Panel, double-click System, and then click the Device Manager tab.
   2. Double-click the System Devices branch to expand it.
   3. Double-click Advanced Power Management in the device list, click the Settings tab, and then click the Enable Power Management check box to clear it.
   4. Click OK until you return to Control Panel.
   5. Restart Windows 95.
   6. Shut down Windows 95. Wait for Windows 95 to shut down.
   If Windows 95 shuts down properly, the problem may be caused by APM. Contact the computer's manufacturer for assistance. If these steps do not resolve the problem, continue with step 8.
   
   For additional information about shutdown problems with APM enabled, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: 136651 Shutdown Hangs After "Please Wait While..." Screen
8. Determine if the shutdown problem is caused by the Windows 95 file system settings. To do so, follow these steps:
   
   
   1. In Control Panel, double-click System, and then click the Performance tab.
   2. Click File System, and then click the Troubleshooting tab.
   3. Click all the check boxes to select them.
   4. Click OK, click Close, and then click Yes.
   5. Restart Windows 95.
   6. Shut down Windows 95. Wait for Windows 95 to shut down.
   If Windows 95 shuts down properly, the problem is related to the File System settings. If these steps do not resolve the problem, continue with step 9.
9. Determine if a Windows 95 device driver is causing the shutdown problem, or if a device installed in your computer is configured incorrectly or is not functioning properly. To do so, follow these steps:
   
   
   1. In Control Panel, double-click System, and then click the Hardware Profiles tab.
   2. Click the hardware profile that you are currently using, and then click Copy.
   3. Type "Test Configuration" in the To box, and then click OK.
   4. Click the Device Manager tab.
   5. Double-click any device, and then click the Test Configuration check box to clear it. Repeat this step until you have disabled all devices. Do not disable any system devices.
   6. When you are prompted to restart Windows 95, click No.
      
      NOTE: If you disable a PCI hard disk controller, choose Yes to restart Windows 95. PCI hard disk controllers cannot be unloaded dynamically.
   7. Restart Windows 95. When Windows 95 restarts, you receive the following message:

                Windows cannot determine what configuration your computer is in.
                Select one of the following:
      								

      Choose Test Configuration from the list of configurations. As Windows 95 starts, you receive the following error message:

                Your Display Adapter is disabled. To correct the problem, click
                OK to open Device Manager.
      								

      Click Cancel. When the Display Properties dialog box opens, click Cancel.
   8. Shut down Windows 95. Wait for Windows 95 to shut down.
   If Windows 95 shuts down properly, the problem may be caused by a Windows 95 device driver or a device installed in your computer that is configured incorrectly or is not functioning properly. To determine which device driver or device is causing the problem, follow these steps:
   
   
   1. In Control Panel, double-click System, and then click the Device Manager tab.
   2. Double-click a device that you disabled in step E above, and then click the Test Configuration check box to select it.
   3. When you are prompted to restart Windows 95, click Yes.
   4. Shut down Windows 95. Wait for Windows 95 to shut down.
   5. Repeat steps A-D until the problem reoccurs. When the problem reoccurs, you have identified the device or device driver causing the problem.
   NOTE: If the shutdown problem is being caused by a Plug and Play device that is configured incorrectly or is not functioning properly, removing the device from the current hardware profile will correct the problem. After you remove the device from the current hardware profile and restart Windows 95, the drivers associated with the device are removed from memory and the shutdown problem does not occur. However, as Windows 95 starts, the Plug and Play device will be detected automatically and installed in the current hardware profile. When you restart Windows 95 a second time, the drivers associated with the device are again loaded in memory and the shutdown problem returns.
   
   If Windows 95 continues to hang on shutdown after you complete steps A-H, reinstall Windows 95 to a different folder to rule out the possibility of damaged files. For example, if Windows 95 is currently installed in the Windows folder, install it to a Win95 folder. If your computer has a Plug and Play BIOS, reinstall Windows 95 using the "setup /P I" command to rule out a defective Plug and Play BIOS.
   
   If Windows 95 still hangs during the shutdown process after you reinstall it, your computer may have faulty hardware or faulty system components including RAM, the CPU, the motherboard, or an internal or external cache. Contact your computer's manufacturer for assistance.
10. View the Bootlog.txt file to pinpoint the problem.
    
    If Windows 95 still hangs during the shutdown process, examine the Bootlog.txt file for "Terminate=" entries. These entries are located at the end of the file and may provide clues as to the cause of the problem.
    
    Each "Terminate=" entry should have a matching "EndTerminate=" entry on a successful shutdown. If the last line in the Bootlog.txt file is "EndTerminate=KERNEL," Windows 95 shut down successfully. If the last line in the Bootlog.txt file is one of the following entries, check the listed possible cause:

           Last line                  Possible cause
           -------------------------------------------------------------------
           Terminate=Query Drivers    Possible QEMM or other memory manager
                                      issue.
    
           Terminate=Unload Network   Possible conflict with real-mode network
                                      driver in the Config.sys file.
    
           Terminate=Reset Display    Disable video shadowing. You may also
                                      need an updated video driver.
    
           Terminate=RIT              Possible timer-related problems with the
                                      sound card or an old mouse driver.
    
           Terminate=Win32            Problem with a 32-bit program blocking
                                      a thread. Possibly Microsoft Visual C
                                      for Windows.
    						

11. If the previous steps in this article do not resolve the problem, try resetting the computer's CMOS settings back to the factory defaults. For information about changing CMOS settings in your computer, please consult the computer's documentation or manufacturer.
    
    WARNING: Before you reset the computer's CMOS settings back to the factory defaults, make sure to write down the CMOS settings.

NOTE: The PC Speaker driver (Speaker.drv) can cause Windows 95 to stop responding at shutdown or startup. To disable the PC Speaker driver, disable the "wave=speaker.drv" line in the System.ini file. To disable this line, place a semicolon (;) at the beginning of the line. After you make this change, restart your computer.

Internet Explorer 4.01 with Windows Update

If you are having shutdown problems on a computer with Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.01 with the Windows Desktop Update component installed, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

Clean Boot Your Computer

Clean-boot troubleshooting refers to methods of reducing problems that may occur because of your computer's environment. Many problems occur because of conflicting drivers, terminate-and-stay-resident programs (TSRs), and other settings that are loaded when your computer starts. For additional information about how to clean-boot your computer, click the article numbers below to view the articles in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: