Shutting down your computer should be a simple process, instead it is more complex than you might think. Shutting down a computer is not only a power outage, but a process of gradual shutdown of running processes and programs that before terminating must save usage data and remove information that is no longer needed from memory.
Also for this reason, as seen, turning off the computer is the primary solution to any PC problem.
Usually, however, Windows takes little time to shut down, just a few seconds of loading, unless there is some impediment or error.
Let's see how to solve the problem if Windows should take too long to shut down or if even the PC does not stop due to some program that blocks the shutdown process.
READ ALSO: Quick keys to shut down Windows 8, restart the PC and disconnect
1) Software problems
Running programs are the most common cause of computer shutdown problems.
In this case the PC, when the stop button is pressed, remains stuck on a screen with the writing: " a program has yet to be closed " and two buttons to stop or wait anyway.
If you shut down your PC anyway, you will lose the bailouts for that program which, in most cases, is a process that doesn't need to save anything.
To solve the problem and avoid the hassle of pressing the stop confirmation each time, you need to locate that program and update it or uninstall and reinstall it if you really need it.
Sometimes the block depends on the .Net Framework platform which, in this case, must be reinstalled (see how to uninstall and install the .Net Framework).
Other times from the "Task Host" service which refers to an internal service.
In these cases the solution can come from the SFC Scannow command to restore corrupt Windows files.
READ ALSO: You can turn off the PC with the power / power button without problems
2) Process problems
Windows closes all system processes when it shuts down.
If a process crashes during shutdown, the computer may take much longer to shutdown without saying anything about the problem.
However, you can make sure that when you turn off the PC, the list of processes that are going to stop appears.
Open the Registry Editor (search and run from the Start regedit menu) and navigate to this path: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \ SOFTWARE \ Microsoft \ Windows \ CurrentVersion \ Policies \ System
In the right pane of the window, look for the verbosestatus key, press on it with the right mouse button and modify it giving it a value of 1.
If the key does not exist, create it new by right clicking on the white key, then going to New -> DWORD value (32-bit) with name verbosestatus and value 1.
In this way, if Windows takes too long to shut down, it will be easier to understand which process is responsible for this delay.
READ ALSO: You can turn off the PC with the power / power button without problems
3) Driver
A possible cause of error in Windows can be related to hardware drivers.
This article explains how to update the drivers.
If the drivers were updated to the latest version and there was still a problem, try turning off the computer after disconnecting some external device such as the printer.
4) Windows Update
In several cases, Windows shutdown is slow because it needs to install updates.
This happens once a week and cannot be avoided.
However, if there is an update that tries to install itself every day, then there is a problem that must be solved in some way, by searching on Google or removing this update.
To do this, open Windows Update from the Start menu and remove the check from the update that refuses to install itself, at least now.
5) Hard Disk
If the computer turns off slowly there may be a problem with the disk that is damaged.
You can then check the integrity of the hard disk, using the scandisk that checks the errors on the disk.
To use the scandisk, go to My Computer, right click on the disk C and go to the Tools tab.
If the disk is damaged or very old and full of errors, it is certainly advisable to replace it with a new one because it is not repairable and you would risk that after a short time it will no longer work and you will end up losing all the data.
If you wanted more, in another article we saw the tricks to speed up the shutdown of Windows
