Computer froze, force restarted, now message saying "cleaning up"
I woke up this morning to find my computer was frozen. So I forced it to restart by holding down the power button. Once it was booting back up I walked away from my pc for an hour and when I came back it just has a message saying "Cleaning up... Do not turn off your computer." It has been like this for over 4 hours.
What causes my pc to go through this cleaning up phase and how long does it take?
Also is it safe to restart my pc at any point if this takes way to long?
Thanks.
My Computer
At a glance
Windows 7 Ultimate x64Intel Core 2 Duo E84004GB DDR2GTX265
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Me
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate x64
CPU
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400
Motherboard
ASUS P5QL-Pro
Memory
4GB DDR2
Graphics Card(s)
GTX265
Sound Card
On-board
Monitor(s) Displays
1 x Chimei 22" Widescreen CMV 221D & 1 x ASUS something...
From the way you phrase the question, I assume this freeze did NOT happen when you started--your PC was already running and it froze when you woke it out of a sleep state?
It may be running Windows Updates or a checkdisk or ?
I'd leave it overnight at least if I could stand it
My Computer
At a glance
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1, 64-bitIntel Skylake i5-6600K, not overclocked8 GB HyperX DDR4-2666 (2 x 4 GB)none; graphics are integrated on CPU
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Ignatz Special; 4 speed manual gearbox; factory air conditioning; one of one
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium SP1, 64-bit
CPU
Intel Skylake i5-6600K, not overclocked
Motherboard
AsRock Z170M Extreme 4, micro ATX
Memory
8 GB HyperX DDR4-2666 (2 x 4 GB)
Graphics Card(s)
none; graphics are integrated on CPU
Sound Card
onboard: Realtek ALC1150; external: USB Behringer UF0-202
Monitor(s) Displays
Dell S2340M 23 inch IPS
Screen Resolution
1600 x 900
Hard Drives
System: Crucial MX100 series SSD, 128 GB;
Data: Samsung Spinpoint 103SJ, 1 TB;
Backup: WD Caviar Green WD30EZRX-00D8PB0, 3 TB
Microsoft Security Essentials and Malwarebytes Premium
Browser
Pale Moon
Other Info
All fans PWM; speeds at idle: CPU circa 500 rpm; intake circa 600 rpm; exhaust circa 600 rpm; CPU temps 27 idle and 47 C load in a warm room (27 C/81 F) when running Intel Extreme Tuning Utility stress test.
do you have win 7 sp1 installed? if not windows update may have installed it and is doing it's cleanup after.
or i guess it could be other windows updates.
scrooge
My Computer
At a glance
win 7 ( 64 bit)Intel Core i7-870 Lynnfield 2.93GHz 8MB L3 Ca...G.SKILL Sniper Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) 240-Pin ...ATI Radeon HD6800 Series
Sorry I should have phrased it better. My pc was left running over night and when I went to use it, it was frozen at the desktop. After restarting it the pc it is at the "update looking" screen with that messag displayed in the center of the screen.
*edit*
Yes I already have sp1 installed.
My Computer
At a glance
Windows 7 Ultimate x64Intel Core 2 Duo E84004GB DDR2GTX265
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
Me
OS
Windows 7 Ultimate x64
CPU
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400
Motherboard
ASUS P5QL-Pro
Memory
4GB DDR2
Graphics Card(s)
GTX265
Sound Card
On-board
Monitor(s) Displays
1 x Chimei 22" Widescreen CMV 221D & 1 x ASUS something...
Microsoft Security Essentials and Malwarebytes Premium
Browser
Pale Moon
Other Info
All fans PWM; speeds at idle: CPU circa 500 rpm; intake circa 600 rpm; exhaust circa 600 rpm; CPU temps 27 idle and 47 C load in a warm room (27 C/81 F) when running Intel Extreme Tuning Utility stress test.
Is there any activity (e.g. flashing HDD light or sounds)?
Do you have the Windows 7 install/repair disc?
You could use it to apply your last "System Restore Point".
Legitimate updates normally create a "System Restore Point".
My Computer
At a glance
W7 Ultimate SP1, LM19.2 MATE, W10 Home 1703, ...AMD Phenom II x6 1100T, 3.3 GHz12GB DDR3 1333 G-Skill (4GB x 2), G-Skill (2G...NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660
Computer type
PC/Desktop
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
n/a
OS
W7 Ultimate SP1, LM19.2 MATE, W10 Home 1703, W10 Pro 1703 VM, #All 64 bit
CPU
AMD Phenom II x6 1100T, 3.3 GHz
Motherboard
ASUS M4A88T-M/USB3 (AM3)
Memory
12GB DDR3 1333 G-Skill (4GB x 2), G-Skill (2GB x 2)
Graphics Card(s)
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660
Sound Card
Realtek?
Monitor(s) Displays
Samsung S23B350
Screen Resolution
1920x1080
Hard Drives
WD Green 2TB (SATA), WD Green 3TB (SATA), WD Blue 4TB (SATA), WD Blue 6TB (SATA)
I've had issues with this before. I was able to resolve it by unplugging any USB (non keyboard or mouse) devices that were attached. More often than not, the culprit is a USB Label printer.
imho this is a classic symptom of the flame attack.
i only noticed it because i always have updates set to manual.
"cleaning up" is never said by m$.
sometimes they say "removing temporary files".
i have been hit by this virus many times.
the only reliable fix is to re-install.
i have yet to find a scanner to spot and isolate this bug.
i may start restricting my web travels to known safe sites.
good luck all.
Using disk cleanup and choosing to do windows update cleanup will restart with this message on restart during the shutdown and startup process.
My Computer
At a glance
Windows 10 ProAMD Ryzen 5 2400G Processor with Radeon RX Ve...G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-P...2047MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB (EVGA)
. Thanks for the advise/help tho 
.
