Win7 error: “You don’t have permission to shut down this computer

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I’m seeing lots and lots of Win7 customers complaining that they can’t shut down their computers. When they try to turn their machines off through any
[See the full post at: Win7 error: “You don’t have permission to shut down this computer]

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deuce120, Morty, Moonbear, Average-Jane, GreatAndPowerfulTech, Myst, jburk07, Microfix

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The timing on this problem is, umm, “interesting”.

If you pull out the PC’s electrical cord from the wall, then when you reboot will Windows pout and not let you back at all into the system?

 

Keep Running Windows 7 Safely for Years to Come  
Make Windows 10 look and work like Windows 7

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New to me. I have not heard from any W7 users on this.

Red Ruffnsore

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I found a quick work around for this issue.  Use the Log Off option first.  Then use the Red Shutdown button in the lower right-hand corner from outside of the OS.  This has worked for two of my users this afternoon.

Not sure if the problem will remain on Monday afternoon but hope this helps in the short term.

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MrJimPhelps, Morty, Moonbear, jburk07

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What anti-virus do you use? Must be a common denominator somewhere for those affected.

Red Ruffnsore

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Morty

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Trend Micro’s Apex One as a Service for Enterprise.  Both of the clients were 64bit.

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Mr. Natural

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If users are not connected to internet, does the same problem exist?

On permanent hiatus {with backup and coffee}
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I have Win 7 Pro on my PC at home. Saw this article and did a complete shut down and then started up again. Did not encounter this problem.

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p.s. – My system has all the updates through last month. Group B.

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Charlie

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The “don’t have permission to …” problem just appeared on my Win 7 Pro desktop with all the latest MS Win updates.  When I tried to create a restore point (which I normally do each Friday) the this permission problem appeared.  I attempted a “System Restore” and got the same error.  When attempting to shut down or reboot the same error popped up.  In addition this message was added “Not all privileges or groups referenced are assigned to the caller”.  Any ideas?  A bit reluctant to try some of the work around ideas until a bit more is known.

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jburk07

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A quick net search yielded this information on group policy:
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_7-performance/unable-to-use-windows-restore/3348f68a-5473-4d4e-8218-5a312b1a58c2

On permanent hiatus {with backup and coffee}
offline▸ Win10Pro 2004.19041.572 x64 i3-3220 RAM8GB HDD Firefox83.0b3 WindowsDefender
offline▸ Acer TravelMate P215-52 RAM8GB Win11Pro 22H2.22621.1265 x64 i5-10210U SSD Firefox106.0 MicrosoftDefender
online▸ Win11Pro 22H2.22621.1992 x64 i5-9400 RAM16GB HDD Firefox116.0b3 MicrosoftDefender

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I have run into this with several users today.
Happening on fully patched systems and on systems without full patching
Got to the point where I would pick up the helpdesk phone line and just say “Hold the power button down until it shuts off”

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abbodi86, jburk07

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[Mr. Natural]

Someone mentioned internet connectivity.

I’ll mention something I came across recently but it had to do with logons. AD would not validate the user login therefore the dang pc wouldn’t boot. We had to disconnect network connectivity entirely so that the pc would at least boot. We then connected the network again and no problems after that. Never had time to troubleshoot but it had something to do with AD credential validation.

Another thing to ask would be your geographical locations. We know how things tend to trickle out with Microsoft.

Red Ruffnsore

• This reply was modified 5 years, 2 months ago by Mr. Natural.
• This reply was modified 5 years, 2 months ago by Mr. Natural.

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Thanks for the heads-up on this. I haven’t encountered it yet despite turning off my main machine twice today. I am not complacent, however!

It seems to me to be important to find the common denominator in the systems encountering this. If it did end up being something MS have done then I’d like to know how they introduced it, but I guess it could be some sort of broken certification issue or else have been introduced by an AV or other update. Barring viruses, computers shouldn’t suddenly develop a mass problem just because they’re connected to the internet!

I shall hold my breath when switching off again later this evening, and will follow this thread’s overnight discussion with interest when I switch back on in the morning!

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OK forget everything I said.  LOL

It’s normal quitting time at work so I sent an email to co-workers and now I can confirm the issue has happened with us as well. D’OH!

This smells of more behind the scenes stuff. Patches have not been installed within the past few days.

Red Ruffnsore

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rontpxz81

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Perhaps a stealth patch tailored for Windows 7 operating systems?

On permanent hiatus {with backup and coffee}
offline▸ Win10Pro 2004.19041.572 x64 i3-3220 RAM8GB HDD Firefox83.0b3 WindowsDefender
offline▸ Acer TravelMate P215-52 RAM8GB Win11Pro 22H2.22621.1265 x64 i5-10210U SSD Firefox106.0 MicrosoftDefender
online▸ Win11Pro 22H2.22621.1992 x64 i5-9400 RAM16GB HDD Firefox116.0b3 MicrosoftDefender

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I just spotted two references to possible causes on the MS Community forum:-

“There appear to be recent updates related to the crypt32.dll vulnerability that are impacting Win7 machines. I don’t have the KB numbers on-hand but there are three recent ones that appear to be on all of our affected machines.”

“In our case, it is definitely being caused by the “Adobe Genuine Monitor Service” that is part Adobe’s Creative Cloud. The exe that the service runs was is dated 2/3/20, so this is from a very recent update.”

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/windows-7-problem-not-shutdown/4664c0c9-e93d-4612-b863-caebb89b6d35

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We did a shut down from the command line on one of our affected machines and that worked like a charm.

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So it’s caused by Windows? or interaction with some 3rd party softwares?

i don’t have here

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[Moonbear]

Going off of the quotes in @Seff’s post above (#2136708) a few questions spring to mind.

If a crypt32.dll patch is indeed causing this, what kept this error from effecting systems right away?

Would a patch like this be able to be installed silently? Shouldn’t it require a restart?

Secondly, Why would an Adobe monitoring service be deep enough in the system to do this?

• This reply was modified 5 years, 2 months ago by Moonbear.

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(Edit post window closed, replying to add this.)

When would these crypt32 patches have even been released since support ended January 14th?

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Fixes posted in the BleepingComputer article on the subject –
https://www.bleepingcomputer.com/news/microsoft/windows-7-users-suddenly-cant-shut-down-their-pcs-how-to-fix/

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Seff wrote:

I just spotted two references to possible causes on the MS Community forum:-

“There appear to be recent updates related to the crypt32.dll vulnerability that are impacting Win7 machines. I don’t have the KB numbers on-hand but there are three recent ones that appear to be on all of our affected machines.”

“In our case, it is definitely being caused by the “Adobe Genuine Monitor Service” that is part Adobe’s Creative Cloud. The exe that the service runs was is dated 2/3/20, so this is from a very recent update.”

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/windows-7-problem-not-shutdown/4664c0c9-e93d-4612-b863-caebb89b6d35

I guess we can strike out the crypt32.dll thing, because the spoofing vulnerability patch has been released for Windows 10 (not for Windows 7, as far as I know).

https://msrc-blog.microsoft.com/2020/01/14/january-2020-security-updates-cve-2020-0601/

Therefore I blame the Adobe Service within my German blog post Windows 7 verhindert Herunterfahren/Neustart (Feb. 2020) – English post will follow

 

Ex Microsoft Windows (Insider) MVP, Microsoft Answers Community Moderator, Blogger, Book author

https://www.borncity.com/win/

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English here:

https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=https://www.borncity.com/blog/2020/02/08/windows7-verhindert-das-herunterfahren-den-neustart-feb-2020-shutdown/&prev=search

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georgea wrote:

English here:

https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=https://www.borncity.com/blog/2020/02/08/windows7-verhindert-das-herunterfahren-den-neustart-feb-2020-shutdown/&prev=search

Thx – I just published the English blog post:

Windows 7 prevents shutdown / restart (Feb. 2020)

It’s mostly more than a simple translation – I adopt the German articles (if possible) for my English language readers.

Ex Microsoft Windows (Insider) MVP, Microsoft Answers Community Moderator, Blogger, Book author

https://www.borncity.com/win/

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From the post by @gborn on his website;

I have read several times (here and here), that Adobe uses a service ‘Adobe Genuine Monitor Service’ (part of the Adobe Creative Cloud) and that there was an update on February 3, 2020. A user disabled the service, rebooted and the problem was fixed. He can now shut down again via the Start menu.

So it looks like Microsoft wasn’t to blame this time after all. Instead, users can thank this “cloud” c*** that’s being pushed on us from every direction.

 

Keep Running Windows 7 Safely for Years to Come  
Make Windows 10 look and work like Windows 7

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Doesn’t this just add to the potential chaos since its not Microsoft’s fault?

What possible reason could any program from Adobe have to monitor a system so deeply as to stop a shutdown?

 

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Cybertooth wrote:

From the post by @gborn on his website;

I have read several times (here and here), that Adobe uses a service ‘Adobe Genuine Monitor Service’ (part of the Adobe Creative Cloud) and that there was an update on February 3, 2020. A user disabled the service, rebooted and the problem was fixed. He can now shut down again via the Start menu.

So it looks like Microsoft wasn’t to blame this time after all. Instead, users can thank this “cloud” c*** that’s being pushed on us from every direction.

 

I didn’t blame Microsoft – I just noticed that there is an issue. But now I got more and more proof, that the Adobe Service from the Creative Cloud is causing the issue I’ve added an Addenum to my English article with a link, where a guy found this issue on several win 7 pcs on his company.

Ex Microsoft Windows (Insider) MVP, Microsoft Answers Community Moderator, Blogger, Book author

https://www.borncity.com/win/

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That’s right, you did not blame Microsoft. Actually, nobody in this thread has laid the blame on Microsoft. However, suspicions about Microsoft were expressed earlier in the thread (here, here, and here), and I certainly had my eye on them as the leading suspect. 

 

Keep Running Windows 7 Safely for Years to Come  
Make Windows 10 look and work like Windows 7

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I’ve been reading about this for the last few hours. If the Adobe is checking for software piracy and making sure what you have on your laptop or PC is real software, perhaps they installed the bug. I’ve read that if you go to services, stop all three Adobe services, set them to disable, apply, close everything, log off, shutdown with the red square, the restart, it should be ok.

I have not shutdown, just logged off for a few days, so not sure if I have the issue.

Now I’m wondering if the January Rollup might also be part of the issue. Holding on for a few days to see what issues might be resolved.

I’ve also read it’s happening with Windows 10.

Win 10 Home 22H2

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Just an addendum. At Bleeping Computer a user postet a comment that blames Bitdefender Total Security 2020.

It may be that the January 14, 2020 security update for Windows 7 SP1 has changed something, that causes now conflicts with other software updates – but I’m not sure.

Ex Microsoft Windows (Insider) MVP, Microsoft Answers Community Moderator, Blogger, Book author

https://www.borncity.com/win/

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Myst, Cybertooth

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@PKCano –

Given @gborn ‘s post above (#2137515), and the post referred to on Bleeping Computer’s site, have you experienced any issues in the last few days with your Win7 installations, since you do use BitDefender?

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I’m not using Bitdefender Total Security 2020.
I have Bitdefender Free, but haven’t seen the problem.

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My husband and I each have a Win 7 Pro at home.  He started getting the error and I did not.  So I wondered what was different.  Using the article at Bleeping Computer, I noted that my computer was running two Adobe services: Adobe Update Services (automatic), and Adobe Flash Update (manual).  I checked his and found Adobe Genuine Monitor Service and Adobe Genuine Software Integrity Service.  The only Adobe product installed on his laptop is Reader, so I disabled those two “extra” services.

I then shut down his laptop (using the log-off > red shut down button), rebooted, then tried to shut down again.  NO ERROR.

At least on his laptop, it’s the Adobe Monitor and Software Integrity Services that produced the error.

Go figure.

Kim

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Had 1 user complain about this last Friday. I used the shutdown from a cmd prompt to get it to shutdown.

This morning, same issue. He was also having a problem with his Outlook cached profile, so I removed the cache mode, tried to restart, same thing (No permission). Shutdown from cmd line again. Came back up, and shutdown from start menu worked again. Not sure what combination fixed it.

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I restarted my Win 7 laptop to see if I had the issue.
The laptop shut down without an issue.
Restarted twice just to see if it was any issue developing.
Also checked WIN 10 1909 and the laptop shut down without issue.
So curious minds want to know what the issue really is?
Is it Microsoft, Adobe, or an antivirus issue?
I have Adobe Reader DC, Flash and Photoshop Elements 10 on my laptop.

Win 10 Home 22H2

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Win7and10 wrote:

I restarted my Win 7 laptop to see if I had the issue.
The laptop shut down without an issue.
Restarted twice just to see if it was any issue developing.
Also checked WIN 10 1909 and the laptop shut down without issue.
So curious minds want to know what the issue really is?
Is it Microsoft, Adobe, or an antivirus issue?
I have Adobe Reader DC, Flash and Photoshop Elements 10 on my laptop.

read kdock’s comments above

type services.msc in the Run dialog box and check whether “Adobe Genuine Monitor Service” and “Adobe Genuine Software Integrity Service” are there. if they’re there, disable them. if they are not there, you’re safe from the shutdown problems

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jabeattyauditor

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In tandem with this issue, I am also unable to drag a URL from a web-brower to the desktop to create a shortcut.  It works for awhile, but after an hour or two, the drag-n-drop stops working for URL’s,  AND the machine won’t shutdown and throws the dialog error msg.  OS version is: Windows 7 Pro.   I have another machine with Windows 7 Ultimate, works fine.

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We are only seeing this issue on machines where we have Acrobat Standard installed.  Not seeing it on PCs with Acrobat Reader.  Those are the only 2 Adobe products we are using.
Mainly happening on Win7, but I did see it happen on a new, shiny, fully patched Win 10 PC.

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This helps

https://winaero.com/blog/fix-you-dont-have-permission-to-shutdown-this-computer-in-windows-7/

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Adobe just dropped “Security updates” for the affected products – maybe the fix for the shutdown issues is embedded within. We’ll check it out here; we’ve had a couple of old Windows 7 systems with Adobe Standard 2017 displaying these symptoms.

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Win7and10, b

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Let us know if there is an issue and if the issue is resolved with the security updates.
Sounds like there was an issue with the current Adobe systems updates.

Win 10 Home 22H2

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woody

the “shutdown permission” problem is no longer a Win7-only problem. apparently it seems to occur under Windows 10 as well as Guenter Born has recently blogged here:

https://borncity.com/win/2020/02/17/shutdown-blockade-also-affects-windows-10/

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Re the WIN 7 Error — “you don’t have permission to shut down this computer”

Only one of our computers is exhibiting the above fault from time to time. The regular user just does a “forced shutdown” to solve the problem.

The computer is a Win 7  64bit with all updates applied up to December 2017, when we stopped updating due to the large number of problems with the MS updates.

This is the only computer that has Adobe Indesign version 6 installed on it. All computers have Avast Free Antivirus installed on them.

I am posting this information here in the hope that it may be of help in finding and fixing the problem.

 

mbhelwig

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Paul T

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