shutdown blues

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I need some help with the ubiquitous Windows shutdown problem. I’m using Win98 4.10.1998 on a Gateway Solo 3150 notebook. The computer hangs at the “Windows is shutting down” screen. I’ve become good friends with the Windows Shutdown Troubleshooter, which kindly suggested that I check the Bootlog.txt file. Ah ha! The final line is not EndTerminate=KERNEL, rather it is Terminate=Win32. The Troubleshooter tells me that this means “Problem with a 32-bit program blocking a thread” My problem is, what is the best way to work out *which* program is causing the problem?

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Just adding to the dilemma. I used Msconfig and removed all items from startup, then systematically replaced them, one by one. Seems to me as though systray.exe is to blame. I have started the computer without it, and it shuts down fine. So, is it corrupt? Can I replace it with a ‘clean’ version? Do I need to bother?

Windows seems to be coping without it…

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I have the same problem on several machines (all laptops) with Win98FE (4.10.1998). One of them refuses to log off the network and consequently the user has to start the machine, log off the network and log on again every time he starts the thing. I’m pretty sure it’s not the hardware.

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If you feel that systray.exe is corrupt, try replacing it from the CD.. (you may have to use Winzip or another extractor to view the .CAB’s on the win98 CD to find the file…)

When you put in the CD, there *May* be an option to repair the installation of Windows 98… I don’t recall one, but it may be worth looking out for.. (Lord know’s i’ve melted my machine and re-installed it PLENTY of times, but that’s ALWAYS a last resort if you can’t fix the problem.)

Hope that helps!

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No, I’m afraid changing systray.exe doesn’t do the trick but just in case it works for someone else or if you need it to replace another file I will describe the procedure:

Windows 98 has a nice little feature called System File Checker (c:windowssystemsfc.exe). It can also be located by the following: Start|Programs|Accessories|
System Tools|System Information|Tools|System File Checker.
Well that wasn’t hard to find was it? I recommend typing sfc at the run command. Anyway this little gem will check your system files and replace them if it thinks they have thrown in the towel. The point is that you can use it to replace a single file if you want. Just tell it which file you would like to replace ie where it can be found, where the original will come from (c:windowsoptionscabs), and where you want to put the old file as a backup (I recommend c:windowsoptionsbackup). You don’t need the cd unless the cabs were removed from the hard disk to save space.

Back to the topic – I have also tried stopping my antivirus program from scanning the floppy at shutdown. I had a friend who stopped all scanning of the floppy at shutdown and the machine shutdown perfectly. Anyway even after stopping my antivirus program from scanning the floppy, something else is scanning it and it goes on forever. I can’t find any settings in the bios (or hardware settings as it is a Toshiba). More ideas???

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There are two patches for Second Edition, the later of which refers to a problem when there are “many” mapped drives. Of course you cannot apply those patches to First Edition. You could create a little batch file to disconnect all the mapped drives and see if that helps:

net use * /DELETE

(Works fine from Start|Run…)

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Thanks. I will try it on one of the machines but in the case of my machine I don’t have any mapped drives. I still suspect the scanning of the floppy is what’s stopping it from shutting down properly.

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