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Author Topic: PC not shutting down-cured  (Read 5181 times)

tuftedduck

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PC not shutting down-cured
« on: April 09, 2009, 08:55:49 AM »

As some of the Kitizens may recall, TD has had a problem over a long period of time with regard to his PC not shutting down when requested.
It would get to the "Windows is shutting down" stage and then wouldn't.
This problem was seemingly erratic, and did not always occur........but did so more often than not.

Over the months, TD has done malware scans, registry cleans, uninstalling programs, drivers etc and reinstalling same, checking all hardware, unplugging usb devices, putting them back in etc etc etc.
On occasions the problem seemed to be cured and then it would reassert itself.
TD was going to throw PC in skip, buy new PC, built new PC, throw himself over bridge, go into a monastery...

But........at last, the misbehaving program has been identified..........and it is the very program than was being used ( in part ) in the efforts to cure things... >:(

I talk of ccleaner.

This is normally a very well behaved program, and very effective, but there was obviously some sort of corruption in there and every time TD invoked it to do a clean up...the PC would not shut down.
I feel a fool having taken so long to realise what was wrong.

However to the curious incident of the reappearing preferences.
TD unnstalled ccleaner, then did a search for any orphaned files under both ccleaner and it's author, Piriform. Found a few and sent them to the ether........did a registry search for the same names...........found the relevant keys and consigned them to history.
Rebooted and did these searches for the second time.........nothing found. Good.
Downloaded and installed a fresh ccleaner.

The installation went fine........except..........when I opened the program, there were my own preferences already in place, and my preferences are not the default ones.

Having cleaned out all ( I thought ) references to the old install, how could a new, fresh install remember my preferences ?
Also, having opened that new install.........the old problem reoccured.... :(

So, out it went again and the above clean up repeated.

Ccleaner is now no longer on the machine and the machine is shutting down perfectly..............but how could my previous preferences be remembered after all traces of the program had been removed.

Now to the question..........at last, I hear you all cry.

Last night, in pondering this problem and having a wee look round I came upon a cookie from the Piriform site.
Could a cookie retain such data as preferences.............have binned said cookie but am reluctant to reinstall ccleaner in case problem arises again.

Any advice gratefully received.... ;D 
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oldfogy

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Re: PC not shutting down-cured
« Reply #1 on: April 09, 2009, 03:22:26 PM »

I would not have thought a cookie would be the file that is retaining the info.

In the past I have also had more-or-less the same problem with different programs after un-installing followed by a good clean to rid myself of a program so that I could reinstall it to with it's own given defaults only to find my previous preferences were still in existence.
So I don't know what to advise you with.

However.
How did you un-install it originally, did you use "Add or Remove programs" and do you think it would be worth trying a independent un-installer program to see if that makes a difference.
If you do try this, I would recommend the independent program is installed before reinstalling (in this case) Crap Cleaner, hopefully that way it may be able to log and remove all of the bits and pieces.

Good luck.
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tuftedduck

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Re: PC not shutting down-cured
« Reply #2 on: April 09, 2009, 03:55:11 PM »

Hello OF, and thank you for your post.

Like yourself, I cannot see that a cookie would retain a user's preferences............there must be a preferences folder tucked away somewhere and as a new install of the program causes the shutdown problem again, I am assuming that it is that folder which is corrupt.

I searched for the file after having opened the "show hidden files and folders" option using titles ccleaner, Ccleaner, CCleaner, Crap Cleaner, Crapcleaner, Piriform but nothing found.............the misbehaving folder/file must have another designation but what that may be and where it is I know not, and have found no assistance in that on the Piriform forums

I did simply uninstall via add/remove programs...........will reinstall thenl have a go uninstalling with Revo uninstaller.

It is not a major problem...........ccleaner is a good little program and I have used it for a long time, but I can live without it if that is what it will take...........having the PC shutting down properly is more important,,  :)
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oldfogy

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Re: PC not shutting down-cured
« Reply #3 on: April 09, 2009, 04:24:06 PM »

>> ..having the PC shutting down properly is more important,,

Yes, nothing more infuriating than a PC that will not shut-down.

The only other thing I can think of is that it may well be in the "Registry"

The only problem with this is that some entries are also shared entries, so by removing one file can effect a different program.
So, do you feel brave enough?

If you can create a Image (Ghost( of your HDD, then at least there is nothing to lose if it all goes pear shaped.
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jeffbb

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Re: PC not shutting down-cured
« Reply #4 on: April 09, 2009, 07:07:42 PM »

HI
I had almost the same Identical shut down problem +slow start up . I nailed it to "spyware doctor" . I got in touch with their help people . They advised a fresh install of latest software . worked for a few days then problems started again.So ditched it for Spybot. No problems since . Now it  may be that there was a program conflict with other software . Getting rid of one sorts problem out. That would explain why many people use these programs with no problems .
Regards Jeff
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tickmike

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Re: PC not shutting down-cured
« Reply #5 on: April 10, 2009, 12:47:58 AM »

I was thinking on the lines it could be a registry entry (as OF ) or it could be an 'Hidden' file !, can you show hidden files ?.
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tuftedduck

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Re: PC not shutting down-cured
« Reply #6 on: April 10, 2009, 07:18:55 AM »

@ OF..............yes, will do.
I have Acronis True Image.
Over the last few months trying to solve this problem, I have uninstalled/reinstalled so many programs and created so many images/incremental images that my poor wee slave drive is stuffed full of them and I have totally lost track of which is which.... :lol:
Now that the situation is resolved, they all will go the way of all things and a new one created.

@ tickmike..........yes, am set to show "hidden files" and cannot find the culprit, so I too suspect a resgistry entry somewhere.

@ jeffbb........yes, it's odd how well behaved programs can cause mayhem on some systems........just depends on what else you have installed, I suppose.
I have used ccleaner for years without problem, and now suddenly it is misbehaving.........or, as you suggest, something else is causing it to misbehave.
Any, it is gone now and the situation is resolved........I can live without it.

Thank you all for your interest and comments... :)
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BritBrat

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Re: PC not shutting down-cured
« Reply #7 on: April 10, 2009, 09:13:33 AM »

How did you search the Registry?

I can recommend this app Registry Crawler

Quote
Product Overview
 Registry Crawler enables system administrators, developers and other power users to quickly find and configure Registry settings. The software provides a powerful search engine that allows you to find Registry information based on a search criterion. 
Results are displayed in a list allowing you to access any key found with a single mouse click. Registry Crawler has built in support for 'bookmarks'. You can bookmark any key in the Registry and then access it directly from the system tray. This powerful feature allows you to create a set of Registry keys that you access frequently, eliminating the need to manually open REGEDIT. Registry Crawler uses the REGEDIT tool so you don’t need to learn how to edit, delete or rename registry keys. It also has built in support for Registry editing, multiple key deletions.

Using Registry Crawler you can search multiple machines on your network and view search results in a single list. An advanced search & replace feature, enables you to quickly change Registry settings on your local PC or any other PC in your LAN.
 

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oldfogy

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Re: PC not shutting down-cured
« Reply #8 on: April 10, 2009, 03:49:37 PM »


I have uninstalled/reinstalled so many programs and created so many images/incremental images that my poor wee slave drive is stuffed full of them and I have totally lost track of which is which.... :lol:

Yes I seem to remember that scenario from way back with my own backups so I started to name them myself sooner than rely (in my case) Ghost to select the default name.
The only difference with my named file/s is the that they start with a number, ie, "01 new backup"
I can't remember exactly why I used the name "new back" but it was something to do with the default name size and it made it easier on the eye instead of just lots of numbers and also helped to keep them in numerical order.

The only other thing I also do is that I have a text file in the backup folder which corresponds with each backup showing what if anything had been installed or changed, it may seem a lot of trouble to begin with but you soon get used to it.

03   01.04.2009 (SP3)   Free space 9.05GB,   Malwarebytes,   Ccleaner Upgraded2.188, SpywareBlaster Upgraded4.1, WinRAR,   (Removed = 7-Zip)

With including the HDD free space it allows me to also keep track of which programs were installed that are "space hoggers" should I ever need to re-gain some space.
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kitz

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Re: PC not shutting down-cured
« Reply #9 on: April 16, 2009, 12:18:56 AM »

So glad you found the cause of the problem TD...  although Ive no idea why ccleaner should do this I'm afraid. 
The info wouldnt be stored in a cookie, but I should imagine a hidden folder or registry key.
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tuftedduck

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Re: PC not shutting down-cured
« Reply #10 on: April 16, 2009, 08:32:21 AM »

>>> So glad you found the cause of the problem <<<

Me too.... ;D
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