Windows 7 Won't Shut Down

Hello,
I recently upgraded from Windows Vista x64 to Windows 7 x64, and ever since the upgrade my laptop has not been able to shut down, go to sleep, or restart. It freezes at the "Shutting Down..." or "Logging off..." screen. I believe this is due to a process hanging. The computer shuts down fine in Safe Mode.

I've tried disabling all non-Microsoft processes, but that did not help. I've tried running the computer with Aero disabled, but that did not help. I've updated all drivers, and reinstalled my BIOS. I've run Event Logs, and nothing related to shutdown problems comes up, I think because I have to manually shut it down every time it freezes.

Also, Explorer.exe freezes constantly, every time I right click, and randomly at other times. Windows Installer seems to be having many problems as well.

I don't have the install disks for Vista, and I only have the upgrade disk for 7. I did not make a backup before installing it.

As you can see, my brand new laptop has become pretty much useless to me. Please help!!

Here is a link to the problem I posted at the Windows Help forums, but I have not made much progress there.
Windows 7 won't shut down. URGENT.

This is the unmistakable result of upgrade installations......There are probably so many errors, its impossible to diagnose them all.
my suggestion: custom install windows 7
NEVER EVER UPGRADE INSTALL EVER
good night!:)

I would do that, but the disk I have only allows for upgrading. And I don't really have $120 lying around. I think all the stuff I've done would have narrowed it down a bunch... it's something to do with a Windows process hanging at shutdown. I'm just not sure which one.

All upgrade install dvds are also custom install dvds. Simply boot from them
Now, if you want to fix your existing installation, perhaps, you should go to the reliability monitor. Enter the start menu, type in reliability history. Hit enter and it will show you a graph of the stability of your system. In this graph, you WILL SEE A LOTA X's lol. They might or might not specify the problem. You can post a screenshot of that here.
In addition, you can try this. Start menu, tyep in windows experience index. hit enter. You will see your wei scores. now, hit advanced tools, located to the far left. The top will show you the performance problems on your pc. That page will also provide you with many diagnostic tools for your installation. I guess, try the diagnostic tools and see if they can tell you the explicit problem. My guess is that it is more than just one problem.....
Good luck!!

Just tried the reliability monitor, it shows that "Windows was not properly shut down", but doesn't say why. I've also looked at the performance logs before, but nothing related to shutdown delays comes up.
How do you boot from a disk? I might have to try this.

JMassmann said:

I would do that, but the disk I have only allows for upgrading. And I don't really have $120 lying around. I think all the stuff I've done would have narrowed it down a bunch... it's something to do with a Windows process hanging at shutdown. I'm just not sure which one.

Try this tutorial Clean install with upgrade disc,
Doing a Clean Install with a Upgrade Windows 7 Version

enter your bios, make sure your dvd drive is the first to boot up in the sequence.
put in dvd
follow instructions for an absolute clean install.
Activate windows
Thats it!!!

Alternatively, try this. Go to cmd as an administrator (right click, run as admin). type in sfc /scannow. It will scan the integrity of all your windows files. In addition, go to your start menu and expand maintenance. Click on create windows 7 repair disc. Create the disk, boot from the repair disk (using instructions above) and use the repair disk to resolve problems on your os.

Good luck~!

thanks a ton.
will using a System Repair Disk wipe my drive?

JMassmann said:

thanks a ton.
will using a System Repair Disk wipe my drive?

Nope.

But system repair disc could fix some problems, relating to windows corruption.
For absolutely no corruption, the fastest way would still be clean install, sorry....