Experiencing Shutdown Freeze

Hi, ive upgraded to Windows 8 Pro and it worked well for a while. But recently, i cant seem to shut my laptop down. After clicking on the shut down button, all it does is load the "shutting down" screen and it stays there forever.

Ive tried checking the other threads for solutions but none are working. (ive turned off that fast boot thing, uninstalled antivirus and spyware detector, disabled all startup tasks, and tried downloading the drivers i need)

just a note: i was having BSOD problems with Smb_driver.sys before and uninstalled it for the meantime. (IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL (Smb_driver.sys)) <--in case this helps.

WOuld love to be able to shut this thing down without manually holding the power button till it does.

well, for those who are having the same problem, i found a way to work around the whole thing. watch the video on the link it helped me.

Windows 8 Shutdown Issue Solved - YouTube

i guess since the initial problem isnt solved yet, i shouldnt mark this as solved... or should i?

songjunkee1018 said:

well, for those who are having the same problem, i found a way to work around the whole thing. watch the video on the link it helped me.

Windows 8 Shutdown Issue Solved - YouTube

i guess since the initial problem isnt solved yet, i shouldnt mark this as solved... or should i?

Click to expand...

This still doesn't work for me. When its shutting down, it just gets stuck on the shutting down screen so I still have to do a hard shutdown.

Do hard shutdowns cause harm?

Remove the battery, disconnect the cables, disconnect the mains, press Power button, let the laptop rest for 10mins, replace the battery, connect the mains and reboot.
If that doesn't fix, do a refresh with this Tutorial.
http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/2293-refresh-windows-8-a.html