WinXP shutdown problem

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judyj

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Hello! I was referred here by someone from a non-tech board, so here I am with a question/problem.

I have a new HP computer running WinXP SP2. Spent some time "uninstalling" all the junk that's pre-installed and it's working great except for one little thing!

I am using Outlook 2002 (installed from purchased OfficeXP Standard CD), and when I use and exit Outlook, it continues to run in the background. When I try to shutdown the computer, it goes through several messages that "WMS ST Notif xxxxxx" is shutting down, or "MCI Command Handling Window" is shutting down. When they finally finish, there is a message that says the program is not responding, and I click End Task to stop the program. After it goes through 2-4 of these processes, the computer finally is able to shutdown.

I've done some looking around on the internet and it looks like the WMS ST Notif Window is related to Outlook. No clue what the MCI Command Handling Window is/does. My old computer was running Win98SE and I didn't have this particular shutdown problem...only problem IT had was the BSOD when I tried to shutdown!

Do any of you know what might be causing this and how I fix it? HP tech support is suggesting I do a non-destructive recovery which reinstalls the OS but supposedly leaves all my files intact, although I will have to reinstall any software I have installed. That seems a rather extreme process for a new computer, but they are saying some of the files are corrupted and this is what must be done to fix it. (It's a new computer, although it was a "display" model, so is it possible some files actually might be corrupt? Still seems extreme to have to do that.)

Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks
judyj
 
Defence, thanks for the links! I have printed them and just briefly looking over them, there's some good info there.

This is one of those difficult problems that could be caused by numerous different things, but I am just about to determine it's an Outlook problem, so am going to try some Outlook "fixes" before doing a complete system recovery.

Will let you know how it turns out!
 
Check your Add-in manager and COM manager in outlook and see if you see anything in there that resembles that MCI stuff.

2. Open outlook in safe mode by: *from run line* outlook.exe /s
3. From the run line : outlook.exe /a ( or ) /o
see what happens.
4. Create a new outlook profile.
5. Detect and Repair in outlook ( help menu )
 
Tnanks, brandybnmci. I've checked Add-in Manager and Com Manager, and there's nothing suspicious in either. I've run Outlook in safe mode and after exiting Outlook, it does not remain open in running processes and the computer shuts down properly. That's how I've determined it's most likely an outlook problem.

Not familiar with "outlook.exe /a or /o. What are they? I've tried Detect & Repair in Outlook, but I have not tried a new profile. Will try that.

Thanks!
 
brandybnmci, tried from the run line: outlook.exe /a and everything is fine except it still doesn't close. Tried /o and I get the message: "Cannot start Microsoft Outlook. The command line argument is not valid. Verify the switch you are using."

What does that mean?

Created a new profile...no change...Outlook is still running after I exit the program.
 
Well, I've deleted and created a new profile in Outlook, and I've uninstalled/reinstalled OfficeXP...and STILL Outlook.exe does not shutdown when I exit the program.

So, I think the only option left is to run the non-destructive system recovery that HP suggested. Still seems like an overkill, but that may be the only option.

Of course, the OTHER option is just to close Outlook.exe from running processes. If I do that, the computer shuts down properly. That's a relatively easy process considering the alternative fix, but it's a new computer and I'd like everything to run RIGHT! Having to manually end a process before shutdown isn't right, in my personal opinion!
 
Don't want to speak too soon, but I THINK this problem may have been resolved...thanks fo the suggestion by Warez Monster! He/she said there might be another program using Outlook and wanted to know what kind of programs I have running. My first thought was "there's too many to list", but that got me to thinking, so I did an internet search for programs using Outlook.

I found a website that listed lots of programs and F-Secure was one of the programs listed. I use F-Secure Firewall/A-V with email scanning. After checking and testing several different settings with F-Secure, and more internet searches with no luck, I finally uninstalled F-Secure and loaded another Firewall/A-V program and it seems to be working!

I have tested Outlook several times, both sending and receiving email, closed the program, checked running processes and it's not there! I have also used Outlook, exited it, restarted and shutdown the computer several times with no problems!

I will continue to use Outlook and will continue to check it, but so far, all is well! Yea!

Thanks for all the replies and suggestions! I've learned a lot during this process!
 
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