shut down dialog box takes long time to appear.

[sr_nirma]

 I run windows XP(sp2). I have got 40GB HDD, of which about 14-15 GB is free. i have got 512 MB RAM, and no external graphics card. i have got AVG 8.0 anti virus. my problem is that when i press the shut down button, the dialog box takes about 2-3 minutes to show up. even after i press on 'Shut Down' it again takes 2-3 minutes to completely shut down. i have checked the task manager for any running applications, but it doesn't show any running applications. i have got AMD Athlon XP 1900+. if i dont use the computer for more than 10-15 minutes,and dont run any games in that duration ,then this problem does not arise.

[Sid]

You can do it via command line to prevent having to wait for the dialog box

Check out: http://www.mydigitallife.info/2006/11/01/restart-or-shutdown-windows-xp-2000-and-vista-from-command-line-or-one-click-shortcut/

As to why it's taking ages...when was the last time you cleaned your machine, as in uninstalled old stuff and such?

Sid

[sr_nirma]

i run the disk clean up about 2 times a week. defragmented it about a month back. but i have been getting this problem since a long time back, must be about 1 year. and this problem occurs even when i try the log off button.

[Spoiler]

Normally the reason for this is your machine is still running a program in the background. It doesn't want to shut down and the system waits for it. Sometimes it can be malware. I would open your task manager and than click on the processes tab and see what is using up your CPU.

If nothing looks like it is using up your CPU than I would check your system by running and posting a log from Hijackthis....found here.
http://www.trendsecure.com/portal/en-US/_download/HJTInstall.exe

Post it for one of the Malware people to look over.

[Broni]

It may also help to see, if shutdown is faster in Safe Mode.

[Fed]

http://www.microsoft.com/DOWNLOADS/details.aspx?familyid=1B286E6D-8912-4E18-B570-42470E2F3582&displaylang=en