PC takes ages just to shutdown

[westy159]

I gave my old PC to my parents (which is much faster than the one they had). I plugged in their harddrive with the existing one hoping it would keep all their files. I was forced to 'repair' windows but it worked. Everything was there, even their accounts.

But when you click Start > Turn Off Computer, it takes a long time for the Standby, Turn Off, Restart menu to pop up in the middle. And even longer to shutdown once you've clicked Turn Off.

Everything else fast and reactive. What could be the problem? Thanks.

 

[KSoD]

Windows Shutdown Troubleshooter
Windows XP Shutdown Troubleshooter

Check thru the Shutdown troubleshooter. Should be of some assistance.

 

[alexsabree]

Yeah.. this happens to me a lot too when using windows.

Sometimes it takes for..ever to shut down. I think its 'cause its saving alot of settings and stuff. Sometimes I will leave the computer thinking that It is shutting down, just to come back with it on and asking if a program can be ended (which is a little ironic, seeing that I'm trying to END the dang computer)

I remember a program I used that really helped speed up the startup and shutdown times of my vista installation (its called vista tools or something, was really handy at the time)

 

[Sevvie]

Have you tried defragging the old hard drive? Try this one. It's free.
Also it's possible that there are registry errors and/or lots of junk files.