Windows 10 takes an exaggerated long time to restart and shutdown

Question

Hello.

I have a 6th Generation Intel Core i5 CPU, a GeForce RTX 20 Series GPU and 16 GB RAM on a 64-bit operating system, x64-based processor.

OS: Windows 10 Pro; Version: 20H2; OS build: 19042.685

And I have the following issues:

1. Windows restart time takes approx. 3:25 minutes;
2. Windows shut down time takes approx. 3:15 minutes.

Windows boot time is usually less than 20 seconds, though, which is good - it's approximately the same since the last Windows reinstall from scratch. The operating system runs on a SSD, which has only 1 partition (if this is somehow relevant). 

These 2 issues started to occur somewhen since 15th of December. Before that, Windows restart/shut down times took approx. 20-40 seconds.

I check for Windows, drivers, antivirus and programs updates at least once per day and update them whenever updates are available.

I tried to figure out what service/startup item may cause these issues and I performed a clean boot as stated in the following article:

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/929135/how-to-perform-a-clean-boot-in-windows

Even with a clean boot, Windows restart/shutdown times take approx. 3:25/3:15 minutes. So I guess that no service or startup item is causing these extremely long times.

Since then, I installed:

• a game from a game platform, but they are installed on a HDD, which I only unlock when I use games and programs from that HDD (they aren't startup items and their services don't run in background);
• SSD's manufacturer's official tool for optimization & diagnostics (not a startup item, its service doesn't run in background).

Could someone please give me some advices/tips to help me fix these 2 issues?

Thank you.

Answer 1

I tried all 3 methods and none of them worked.

Later, I ran the FlashPlayer uninstaller (downloaded from helpx.adobe.com); when the uninstaller asked to restart the PC, I logged out and restarted it from Windows login screen (it took less than 15 seconds). Then I turned off the PC from Windows login screen and it took less than 20 seconds.

After these, I restarted/turned off the PC while being logged in in Windows and the times were normal (less than 30 seconds). I assume that maybe the FlashPlayer had something to do with these times; however, the issues disappeared.

Anyway, thanks for your time.

Answer 2

Hi A__Person -

I'm Jerico T., one of the Independent Advisor and a fellow Windows 10 user like you. I understand that you're having some issues right now, let us sort things out.

Let's try the troubleshooting methods below and check if any of the resolves fixes the issue.

Method 1: Perform SFC Scan and Repair Windows Image

-This process will perform scan for any corrupted system files or integrity violation and will attempt to repair it along with the Windows Image.

1. Open command prompt with administrator access
2. Type each command below and wait until scan is completed.

* sfc /scannow

* DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth

* DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth

* DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

Quick note: While the command is running, it's expected to see the process stuck at 20 or 40 percent. After a few minutes, the process will complete successfully.

Once you complete the steps, the Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool will connect to the Windows Update servers to download and replace any damaged files in the local image for Windows 10 as necessary.

3. Close the command prompt.

Method 2: Perform Clean Boot

• This process will eliminate 3rd party application running in the background of your computer along with services that are not needed to run windows. If there's any conflicting 3rd party application that causes the issue on your computer, this process will stop it.

1. Open the run box by pressing the Windows Key + R and type msconfig
2. System Configuration Utility box will open and by default you are on general tab.
3. On the General tab, click the selective startup and make sure that load system service and load startup items both have checked mark.
4. Click on services tab
5. Put a check mark on Hide All Microsoft Services > This is a very important part as if you miss to click on this, computer might not boot properly or permanently and will end up on clean installation.
6. Once Hide all Microsoft Services have checked mark on it, click on Disable All
7. Click on the Startup Tab and click open task manager. This will open another window which contains all your startup applications on the administrator account.
8. Disable all application that you're not using. You can simply just click on them and select disable.
9. Click OK , Apply and close the configuration utility.

Method 3: Create a new user profile

• We will try to create new user profile to check if the issue happens on all windows users on your computer or just isolated on the current profile that you're using.

1. Open the command prompt with elevated access (Administrator Access)
2. Type the below command and hit enter every after command.

net user "account name" /add

(change the "account name" to any name that you preferred)

net localgroup administrators "account name" /add

(change the "account name" with the name that you put in the first command)

3. Close the command prompt and switch to the new user.

Check if the same issue occurs on the new user profile.

Feel free to reach us back if you need further assistance.

Hope this help. Have a good day and advance Happy New Year!

Thank you.

Jerico T.

Independent Advisor

Answer 3

Hi,

You might try unhooking the HDD temporarily and see if that helps.. There can be corruption issues with a HDD that will causes problems as you describe..

The delays are due to the machine having trouble reading the HDD for startup and shutdown purposes..

If you boot from a shutdown with Fast Startup enabled, the contents (directory) of the HDD would be saved and would not need to reload..

Answer 4

Hi,

Glad to hear your problem is resolved.. What ever works is my motto..

Answer 5

Didn't work.

It seems that the issues disappeared after uninstalling FlashPlayer and restarting the PC from Windows login screen.