Knowledge Base

Service Still Runs Although Windows NT Prompts to Turn Off Computer

Article ID: 184124

Article Last Modified on 10/31/2006

Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0 Standard Edition
Microsoft Windows NT Workstation 4.0 Developer Edition

This article was previously published under Q184124

SYMPTOMS

Disk activity remains constant even though Windows NT Server or Workstation displays the following message:

It is now safe to turn off your computer.

CAUSE

This behavior can be caused by a service not properly notifying the Windows NT Service Control Manager (SCM) that it is still running. It is the service's responsibility to let the SCM know that it is still active. If the SCM is aware that a service is still pending shut down, it, by default, will wait 20 seconds before killing the service. If the service has incorrectly notified the SCM, the SCM may assume that the service has shut down.

This behavior has been seen with virus-scanning software

RESOLUTION

As a workaround, verify that a scheduled scan is not due to run before you start the Shut Down procedure.

MORE INFORMATION

For other services experiencing the problem, the amount of time that Windows NT waits for services to shut down can be increased using the WaitToKillServiceTimeout value name in the registry.

For additional information on increasing the wait time, please see the following article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

ARTICLE-ID: 146092
TITLE : How to Increase Shutdown Time For Services To Close Properly

Additional query words: HD light flash flashes blink blinking blinks disk drive restart kbDSupport

Keywords: kbprb KB184124