Jump to content

Windows XP doesn't want to shut down


Sophy

Recommended Posts


Windows XP doesn't include a recovery partition like Windows Vista by default, they have the more primitive Recovery Console instead. Of course the manufacturer of any OEM version can include more things.
Not from a Retail, no... But I assure you, the OEM when you buy e.g. Dell, HP, eMachine, etc., and "plug it in" you get the SysPrep stuff AND in the documentation IF it has a Recovery Partition (and most usually do) you WILL be warned to "Create Repair CD's/DVD's" and SOMETIMES you get a "Recovery CD's/DVD".

I've argued this before so don't go there... I have a Dell E521 sitting here with Restore DVD's (NOT Recovery DVD's) -AND- it has a Recovery Partition.

1st came PowerQuest Images, then came Ghost images, then came SoftThink images, then came WinRE (also used on XP - see below) WIM images. The latter two appear to be widely used by OEM's for Vista/Win7.

http://www.goodells.net/dellrestore/

AND an Acer that I recently "de-trojan'ed" that actually had XP-Home-SP3 WITH a Recovery Partition that had... WIM's! And HP (Win7) uses it too - ALSO gave up on De-Trojan and did... RESTORE from Recovery (complete replacement of running OS).

-PRESS A SPECIAL KEY-SEQUENCE AND BOOT TO RECOVERY PARTITION (F11, F10, Alt+F10, etc) - it's either in the MBR and/or in the BIOS.

You are TOTALLY misunderstanding... It's an OEM-thing, ok? P.S. Recovery Console not installed on the bad-boy's... a different "beast".

PLEASE don't confuse the OP - they ARE NOT "computer literate". ;)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

UPDATE: The outfit that is working with my daughter through a remote session has been on the job since 8:30 this morning and they are still working with her (it is 11:30 now). They did get the computer to shut down a few times but now it's back to not wanting to. The guy told her he's never seen anything quite like this. He thinks it might be something in the Master Boot Record; said something about thinking it might be set to 2 instead of one. He told her to see if she could get it to boot in safe mode like she did before while he does more research.

By the way, she did find the Windows CD that came with her computer, but guess that doesn't even want to work. Will let you know how things go. If anyone has suggesions about this seemingly strange problem based on what I've written, please post and I can let her know.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

He thinks it might be something in the Master Boot Record; said something about thinking it might be set to 2 instead of one.
?

Does this guy know what he's doing? If it has a "special OEM MBR" -AND- has that "special Recovery Partition" -AND- the Tech changes it - YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO USE IT!!!!

BIOS Selected Boot Device ->

Boot Device Boot Record (for HDD=MBR) ->

PBR (Partition Boot Record) ->

Booted OS

How does it have ANYTHING to do with "shutdown"?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I think the part about the MBR has to do with the fact that he has been unable to get the Recovery CD (or whatever you call it) to run.

Please understand that my daughter is trying to tell me things she can remember of what he said. I am no computer tech and she is even less so. Perhaps I should not even be trying to document what is going on here. But to answer your question, YES, he does know what is going on. I can say without any hesitation that this is fact. He is still trying to research what is going on because, as he told her againr, in all his years of working on computers, he has never seen anything quite like this. He is trying to help her to reinstall her OS through the Recovery CD. Since I posted here last it seems it finally started to run and even as my daughter was calling me to report this good news, the screen went black so she was going to call him again. If something doesn't sound right, put the blame on me and/or my daughter because if anyone can get a computer running right -- find the problems and fix them -- it is this guy -- and also the woman who works with him.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Exactly what i though when i saw your post: the only way the MBR might block a shutdown (from the OS) would be it contain a virus that would be loaded each boot (and the virus would block the shutdown).

I heavily recommend that you make a backup (at the very least) of the MBR (with mbr wizard for example). An a full backup of all the drive should also be recommended (with something like clonezilla or the evalation version of Acronis true image) if your daughter has another drive to store the backup.

Edit: it seems i was too late for the backup recommendations.

Edited by allen2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

My daughter has decided to get a new laptop. Her computer is 5 years old and she doesn't want to start putting a bunch of money into it for parts, etc. Would you mind telling me what you think of this computer at Walmart. Especially want to know if this AMD processor is any good.

Acer 17.3" Aspire AS7250-0209 Laptop PC with AMD E-450 Dual-Core Processor and Windows 7 Home Premium with Windows 8 Pro Upgrade Option

The link is: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Acer-17.3-Aspire-AS7250-0209-Laptop-PC-with-AMD-E-450-Dual-Core-Processor-and-Windows-7-Home-Premium-with-Windows-8-Pro-Upgrade-Option/19977357

Maybe this is asking a lot but I would really appreciate it. The guy directed her to an Acer at Walmart that is on sale, but it has only a 14" screen and I don't know if she would be satisfied with such a small screen.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

My daughter has decided to get a new laptop. Her computer is 5 years old and she doesn't want to start putting a bunch of money into it for parts, etc. Would you mind telling me what you think of this computer at Walmart. Especially want to know if this AMD processor is any good.

Acer 17.3" Aspire AS7250-0209 Laptop PC with AMD E-450 Dual-Core Processor and Windows 7 Home Premium with Windows 8 Pro Upgrade Option

The link is: http://www.walmart.com/ip/Acer-17.3-Aspire-AS7250-0209-Laptop-PC-with-AMD-E-450-Dual-Core-Processor-and-Windows-7-Home-Premium-with-Windows-8-Pro-Upgrade-Option/19977357

Maybe this is asking a lot but I would really appreciate it. The guy directed her to an Acer at Walmart that is on sale, but it has only a 14" screen and I don't know if she would be satisfied with such a small screen.

If this is to be a keeper for more than a couple of years and not a throwaway wasted on facebook and angry birds or to be lost at school, well, then I'd pass on that one. Two reasons ...

- Unless you want an AMD for a specific reason ( uh oh, flamewar incoming ) I would go with Intel, nothing less than an i3 ( and the step from there to i5 is chump change even for 3rd generation ). i3 or i5.

- Acer is probably the least loved of the majors, personally I would go with Dell, Asus, Gateway first. Not that they are terrible, but they get very little respect from the many laptop users I am familiar with. YMMV.

Probably the only thing that makes that a reasonable price is the 17" screen. In the 15" range there are lots of similarly priced laptops but again, using much better processors.

Most of the other specs there are irrelevant ( HDD size, DDR3 is dirt cheap, etc ) and shouldn't be used to decide anything. Not to mention the fact that some of those things *can* be added or swapped later. However, the CPU cannot, she must live with the one that arrives with the computer. Forever. The horsepower from a good CPU will be apparent for years to come, every single time you turn it on.

Just my humble opinion.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you so very much. This would definitely be a keeper. And she and the oldest son (6 yrs.) do light gaming; games found on Shockwave as she has a paid membership. I really appreciate this input.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'd just add :

- you should also get an extended support when you'll buy the new laptop if it is not sold with a 3 years old warranty/support.

- As for the make of the laptop i'd add to major makes you might want to consider HP and Lenovo.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Most of the other specs there are irrelevant ( HDD size, DDR3 is dirt cheap, etc ) and shouldn't be used to decide anything.
Beware that! the RAM upgrades are just fine. IF you change a HDD, THEN you will have to FULLY CLONE the old HDD to the New, expanding the Running OS Partition. THEORETICALLY this should cause no problem with Vista/7/8 since as a "norm" WIMS are used for the Recovery Partition (remember those?). SOME manufacturers (cough - DELL) screwed folks up by "hiding" a special "item" in a "secret place" thus disallowing cloning between HDD's.

So if you go that route (changing smaller->bigger HDD) come back here FIRST before proceeding. ;)

However, normally newer PC's have more than enough HDD space for their needs. Video/Audio editing is a different story...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...