Windows 8.1 computer takes 4 minutes to shut down

Lakerfanalways

New Member
Messages
21
Hi everyone I am new to the forum and hope that someone can assist me with this very strange issue.
I have a Dell XPS 8700 Desktop, has 8GB of RAM and a 1TB hard drive, running Windows 8.1 which I had installed the day it came out..the PC I purchased in September 2013..for the past few weeks I have noticed how when I shut down the pc that it can take up to 4 minutes to shut down, the monitor will go black but the power button the tower will remain white til it turns off, it used to turn off in a matter of seconds, now its minutes..same issue for restart, takes about 3 minutes to restart and no one from Dell can figure out what the problem is..all I had installed in December were updates from microsoft thats it, other than that nothing new has been installed. Yesterday I got a notification from Dell on my PC notifying me that I should update my BIOS which was A4 to A6 which I did and still the same issue..talked to five technicians and no one can figure it out, been told maybe its software related and I need to reformat the hard drive, I feel that would be a waste of time, if there was an actual cause I would do it, but to format my hard drive with no known cause of this problem would be stupid, it would just happen again. So if anyone out there knows what could be causing this and what I have to do to fix it please let me know
Thank you and I hope this is the correct forum thread to ask questions like this :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    Memory
    8GB
    Antivirus
    McAfee
If there is a lot of disk activity while on shut down, maybe windows is clearing the pagefile, load regedit and search for this value "ClearPageFileAtShutdown" and make sure its on "0", if it is on 1, change to 0 and restart your computer.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-3570 @ 3.4GHZ
    Motherboard
    Lenovo Mahobay
    Memory
    16.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon HD 7850 2GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG L192WS
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900@60Hz
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 Pro
    Seagate ST31000524AS
    PSU
    Corsair HX620
    Case
    Thermaltake V4
    Cooling
    CoolerMaster Hyper212+
    Keyboard
    Dell SK-8115
    Mouse
    Razer Copperhead
    Internet Speed
    100Mbit up/dn
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    MSE (Built-In Windows 8)
I went to the file and I see 0x0000000(0) next to it so I guess that means its already on 0 so I dont have to change anything? I didnt click modify or anything I just went to the file and I saw that..Microsoft went through my PC yesterday and searched around trying to find issues but they could find nothing..its just weird the whole thing, do you think it might be the motherboard? Otherwise its a mystery
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    Memory
    8GB
    Antivirus
    McAfee
Yeah, if its already on 0 then its ok, one more thing, did you scan for malware with superantispyware or malwarebytes antimalware?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-3570 @ 3.4GHZ
    Motherboard
    Lenovo Mahobay
    Memory
    16.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon HD 7850 2GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG L192WS
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900@60Hz
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 Pro
    Seagate ST31000524AS
    PSU
    Corsair HX620
    Case
    Thermaltake V4
    Cooling
    CoolerMaster Hyper212+
    Keyboard
    Dell SK-8115
    Mouse
    Razer Copperhead
    Internet Speed
    100Mbit up/dn
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    MSE (Built-In Windows 8)
Yeah I scan the PC everyday but I am scanning it again just to be sure but I dont believe that is the problem because I have had PC's in the past who have had viruses and they shut down and restarted just fine..this is just weird..never experienced something like this before, would a faulty motherboard cause a problem like this? Someone suggested to me that I defragment the hard drive do you think doing that might solve this?
A technician from Dell is coming this week to replace the motherboard I hope that it does solve it
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    Memory
    8GB
    Antivirus
    McAfee
nah, the defrag wont help at all i bet, perpahs try this command from a command prompt with admin rights:

Code:
[B]dism.exe /online /cleanup-image /restore health[/B]
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-3570 @ 3.4GHZ
    Motherboard
    Lenovo Mahobay
    Memory
    16.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon HD 7850 2GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG L192WS
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900@60Hz
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 Pro
    Seagate ST31000524AS
    PSU
    Corsair HX620
    Case
    Thermaltake V4
    Cooling
    CoolerMaster Hyper212+
    Keyboard
    Dell SK-8115
    Mouse
    Razer Copperhead
    Internet Speed
    100Mbit up/dn
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    MSE (Built-In Windows 8)
I think Dell tried that with me a few days ago and nothing happened..they found no errors, it looks familiar. A Technician is coming here on Wednesday with the motherboard replacement(Another issue is that the USB port in the front of my PC when I connect an external drive to it doesnt give me the option to eject but the other ports do) I think this has to be a hardware problem, everything came out of the blue otherwise the PC is fine, boots up quick, no error messages, just the shut down and restart takes a few minutes, strangest thing ever
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    Memory
    8GB
    Antivirus
    McAfee
I think a good old format/reinstall is on the horizon, but good luck!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro 64-bit
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    CPU
    Intel Core i5-3570 @ 3.4GHZ
    Motherboard
    Lenovo Mahobay
    Memory
    16.0GB Dual-Channel DDR3
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon HD 7850 2GB
    Monitor(s) Displays
    LG L192WS
    Screen Resolution
    1440x900@60Hz
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 840 Pro
    Seagate ST31000524AS
    PSU
    Corsair HX620
    Case
    Thermaltake V4
    Cooling
    CoolerMaster Hyper212+
    Keyboard
    Dell SK-8115
    Mouse
    Razer Copperhead
    Internet Speed
    100Mbit up/dn
    Browser
    Chrome
    Antivirus
    MSE (Built-In Windows 8)
I wouldnt mind reinstalling and formatting if I knew what the cause was..I would reformat right now but the problem is whose to guarentee it wont happen again..without an actual cause all I would be doing is putting back in what caused the problem to begin with and it will happen all over again..besides, Ive never heard of any piece of software that would ever cause a computer to do this, maybe a slow boot time or some kind of error message, but actually causing it to shut down/restart slow, never heard of it and Ive had some pretty whacky things happen to my old PCs
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    Memory
    8GB
    Antivirus
    McAfee
This happen to me and I spent hours on the phone with dell and they eventually had me do a refresh. My screen would shut of but the tower took several minutes to shut off or restart. After I did it everything shutdown normally. Once I reinstalled windows 8.1 the graphics were having issues so I downloaded the AMD drivers and this is where I assume it happen again. Anyway Dell is sending me recovery cds and I will try it but I don't expect it to work. Do you have AMD graphics? Hopefully someone figures it out for us!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell xps 8700
    CPU
    i5 3.0ghz
    Memory
    12GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon 7500
    Antivirus
    Norton
My PC is the XPS 8700 with 1TB hard drive and 8TB of RAM Intel Core i7 processor..Dell had be reinstall the drivers too and same issue. My PC didnt come with the recovery discs but they said that all I would have to do is click on something on the PC and I could easily restore it, but I dont want to unless it for sure will solve the problem. What is weird about Windows 8.1 is that I installed 8.1 back when it came out and I didnt have this issue til now. I have had old PCs that had viruses in them that would shut down quick LOL. My Sony laptop is older than my PC(Got that one in June 2013) and everything that I have installed on this PC I have installed on my laptop and it shuts down and restarts normally..I have never in all my years of computing had any issues like this before that is why I was leaning towards some kind of hardware issue which is why they are sending a tech here on Wednesday to replace the motherboard
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    Memory
    8GB
    Antivirus
    McAfee
Hey there, you know what, that is what I have been thinking for a while, and I dont even use bluetooth on my PC, I use my ethernet cable to go online so how do I get rid of that or fix that, that could very well be the issue
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    Memory
    8GB
    Antivirus
    McAfee
I installed this via windows update on December 11th
Qualcomm Atheros Communications - Bluetooth Controller - Dell Wireless 1703
Could THAT be the problem..I want to do this the right way and that might have been when the problem started so I can just uninstall it, I want to do this the right way so please let me know

I installed that update, On December 11th, the thing is when I go to updates and I go to view update history its NOT there, yet it shows that I DID install it so how the heck do I remove it, you know what, I wouldnt be surprised if this is the problem
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    Memory
    8GB
    Antivirus
    McAfee
To do this with no problems first thing you must do go to device manager disable the Wi-Fi and Bluetooth adapters and then uninstall them each on device manager, go to programs and uninstall the Dell WLAN program. Restart your computer and window should install the generic ones. Check on Windows update if you have it set as automatic to hide that particular update. After spending two hours tonight on the phone with Dell I'm sure They will have a fix for it soon
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell xps 8700
    CPU
    i5 3.0ghz
    Memory
    12GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon 7500
    Antivirus
    Norton
Yep I had Dell do that and it WORKED..and he removed that update from Windows Update so I NEVER have to see that update ever again, THAT was the problem THANK U THANK U THANK U..now no need for a motherboard..now on to a less of an issue..for some reason(Since we have the same PC you might be able to figure this out) the front USB port, the right one I use for my wireless mouse and I always use the other to connect my external drive..the drive shows up right away, but for some reason I cannot eject it..it doesnt give me the "Safely remove hardware" icon, but the rest of the USB ports on the top and in the back show that option so what do you think is going on?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    Memory
    8GB
    Antivirus
    McAfee
To be honest I just pull it out, I never eject anything and never had a problem except my IPod 10 years ago. If the mouse is working the hell with it. I recommend getting an SSD to supercharge your PC. Specifically the Samsung 840 evo.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell xps 8700
    CPU
    i5 3.0ghz
    Memory
    12GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon 7500
    Antivirus
    Norton
Yeah its just weird cause it always used to have that icon but it just disappeared on the front USB ports, but on the ports on the top of the PC and on the back it works just fine(Even the front one works it shows the drive fine just doesnt have the eject feature) but the top ones and back ones give me the option to eject. I always thought it was best to press eject so that no files get corrupted.
I have about 100 bucks in egift cards from Dell's site to use so getting that drive might be an option for me since I have nothing else to spend the money on..you say the Samsung 840 I wonder if they have that on their site?
Is it hard to install because I am not good at opening up the PC I always have to get someone to do that for me
And again, I appreciate you helping me SO much, you were the only one that found the cause for this, 7 technicians from Dell and NO ONE could figure it out

Apparently Dell has many Samsung 840s dont know which one is the right one
Solid State Disk (SSD) : Storage: Hard Drives & Storage Media | Dell
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    Memory
    8GB
    Antivirus
    McAfee
It is a piece of cake if you get the desktop kit. It has the data migration software that is simple as 1 plug and a few clicks. Look on YouTube at videos. You only need a small one (about $100) and use your current drive for files.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Win 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell xps 8700
    CPU
    i5 3.0ghz
    Memory
    12GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    AMD Radeon 7500
    Antivirus
    Norton
yeah its just I dont know which one to buy from Dell's site since I have money to use there..they have many 840 EVOS so not sure exactly which one is the good one..not sure if it comes with the desktop kit but either way the actual hard drive would have to be put inside the PC in order for it to work right
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    Memory
    8GB
    Antivirus
    McAfee
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