My computer won't shut down!
Please note: Ask the Geek is now located at http://askthegeek.us.
This article has been superceded by "Computer Won't Shut Down? Try This." Before you post a question telling me you don't have nVidia Driver Helper service, please read the above article. Thanks! The Geek
Brook says: "My computer won't shut down; I
have to use the power button. I'm running Windows XP. Please help!"
The Geek replies: Brook, there are many possible
causes for your problem, but the most common one I see on computers
like yours is a thing called the “nVidia Driver
Helper” service. Neither I, nor my fellow Geeks, know exactly
what it is supposed to do, but it sure can cause shutdown problems. And
turning it off doesn't appear to hurt anything. Here's how to disable
it:
Go to Start > Run and type services.msc. Locate the nVidia Driver Helper item and right click it. Select Properties. Set the startup value of the service to “Manual” or “Disabled”.
Your computer should shut down normally now.
posted by Kenny Hart at
3:43 PM 
23 Comments:
Hello; my computer was starting up (no welcome screen and automatic logon) and shutting down fine until I ran System Mechanic and TuneUp Utilities.
Now it goes thru the welcome blue screens (which I used TweakUI to remove already) and when powering down it does everything very fast up to "Windows is shutting down...", the HD spin and then quiet down,,, and everything is fine, BUT it doesn't power down anymore. It just leaves a blank blue screen. When I manually shut it down and start back up, everything is fine. Any ideas?
please email me too your suggestion at mgunn@hotmail.com
I have what sounds like the exact same problem as Brooke, the only problem is that in my services I dont have “nVidia Driver Helper” - I do on the other hand have "NVIDIA Display Driver Service". This sounds as if it's probably critical to the running of my graphics card. Is this the same thing? If not then any other ideas how I can fix the problem?
Thanks
Dunc
Suggestions for both of you:
http://www.lockergnome.com/nexus/gnomewriter/2007/04/16/when-xp-acts-up-do-this-first
The Nvidia Display Driver Service can be safely disabled; it isn't an essential service.
hello my problem is different because whats keppes on happeninig is an automatic shut down and its pissing me off! how do i fix this!?
Hi I have this problem in windows Vista..how do I get to the nvidia drivers help properties?
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1: Click - Start - Control Panel - Performance and Maintenance - Power Options
Tab
2: Then click APM - Enable Advanced Power Management Support
I'm sorry about posting in an old thread, but i'm having the same exact problem..My computer wont shutdown..if i try it just restarts. I'm currently running Vista, and I'm running an GeForce6100SM-M for my motherboard so ya i'm as well running nVidia drivers, but i tried ever suggestion that was posted and none of them works. Please Help.
Hi,my pc(vista) wouldnt shutdown properly or restart,i found i didnt have the hibernate/hybrid sleep buttons in the power options. so i looked on microsofts website for "hibernate" and after going to 'cmd'in search box, then entered 'powercfg /hibernate on' i was able to see the buttons again in the power options. i turned hibernate on and my pc shutsdown and restarts normally now.hope that helps someone
well my computer has the same problem as brook. except i did the run services.msc and i dont seem to have anything called nVidia or w.e..its just tht when i press the "shutdown" button, my computer just LLAAGGGGSSSS completly and like after 5mins the "shutdown" or "restart" options come. but i have to wait FOREVER. so i end up just shutting it down by holding the button. i really don't like the button approach so i'm trying to find out how i can fix my problem. any help is much a appreciated! thnx so much!
My computer wouldn't shut down, well it would but then it would just restart instead of staying off. Funnily enough I often received a box that stated something about my nvidia display card. I also had problems with outlook freezing.
I disabled the display driver thing as suggested and now everything works great.
Thanks!
Hello. I currently have a PC with an EMachines box, and Windows Vista.
Recently, when I shut down my computer, it began to turn off, and the monitor turned off, but everything else, the box, the speakers, was still on!!
This still happens... and it effects my restart too!
I really want to fix this problem, and a quick response would be nice!
If you need to, E-Mail me at leetlink@yahoo.com
I also have a problem with my PC (Windows XP) no shutting down. I click - Start, Shutdown and then click shutdown. After doing so, my PC starts the shutdown process but then just stops. It does shutdown my Norton Internet Security but that's it. If I click Start and shutdown again, it finishes with the shutdown. Does anyone know what the heck is going on here?? Thanks. You can email me any answers at ps.crutchfield@sbcglobal.net
Thanks
i installed windows xp home edition to my acer 4720z laptop vista type but after i installed it, it doesn't shutdown now and it won't restart too...what driver should i use..or could anybody help me with this please..?please send your help to leeacab@yahoo.com
Thank you for your help. I googled this exact problem and came upon your site. Your advice fixed my problem immediately!
YAY!
The above didn't work for me. I disabled the nVidia file as above, and it did nothing to help out.
My problem is slightly different...I have a Sony Vaio that refuses to restart. It SHUTS DOWN and I can reboot just great...when I use restart, or any application install wants to use restart, it gets to that final Windows is Shutting Down... screen, then the screen goes black and that's it...fans are still running, pc is still on, but it refuses to go anywhere from there. Have to do a hard reboot...hold button in til it shuts down then restart with the button...works fine that way but it's a real pain.
Matt (and others),
Try this: http://askthegeek.kennyhart.com/Content/shutdown.pdf
I don't know if it works for you but i was using firefox and i installed a preloader then it start giving my those same problems but what i did to fix it is to uninstall that and then i went to start>Standby>recover from standby> then turn off computer
then i restart my computer and everything works
My problem is similar to the first one how i normally would go start - turn off computer,
it says shutting down and everything but then i notice that it doesnt actually turn off and i have to press the power button to turn it off.
(also, i have this message that syas your copy of windows is not genuine blahblah)
and this could be causing it to not shut down properly.
PLEASE HELP !
I fixed the xp shutdown problem by reinstalling the video driver.
Here are the clicks:
control panel
system
hardware
device manager
click the + by display adapter
double click name of driver
driver
update driver
(I chose "no, not this time" from among the choices)
next
Had the same problem with a Dell Latitude D630 running XP SP3 - laptop would go past the "Shutting Down" screen and then hang on the blue screen (but not really hang because the mouse was moveable). The Dell does not have Nvidia Graphics either. But i did install the latest Intel graphics drivers and it was able to shut down normally.
For those of us it applies to, make sure your computer isn't just installing updates--which symptoms can reappear if the aren't successful. Worth a shot.
Thanks this really helped =D
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