Member Avatar for Buffeljagter

As with all the "Windows XP Hangs on Shutdown" I have the same problem but none of the sulution I found helps.
I am working on a Acre notebook with XP PRo SP2. The trouble started when we installed SP3.

I have tested from safe mode and that works!
I have installed The hotfix from the article in .
I have installed Hive Cleanup.
The Pc is Virus free.

Just before I reload is there anything that I'm missing?

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A short, practical troubleshooting plan based on 's notes and 's SP3 suggestion.

When Safe Mode shuts down cleanly but normal mode hangs, the usual suspect is a third‑party service or driver rather than core XP. A methodical clean‑boot and service isolation will find that culprit faster than a full reload.

  • Clean‑boot isolation: run msconfig. On General choose Selective startup and clear Load startup items. On Services check Hide all Microsoft services and Disable all. Reboot and test shutdown. If shutdown succeeds, re-enable disabled items in batches (binary‑search style: half, then half of the failing half) until the offending service/driver is found. The Startup tab or Sysinternals Autoruns will help spot non‑Microsoft entries that msconfig misses.

  • Look for common culprits: OEM power utilities, audio or video drivers, wireless/Bluetooth stacks, backup or sync tools, and security software. On notebooks that shipped with Vista, vendor management apps (Acer ePower/EQ tools) often cause power/ACPI problems after an XP install.

  • Inspect logs: after a failed shutdown, open Event Viewer -> System and search timestamps around shutdown for Service Control Manager errors or driver timeouts. The event text usually names the service or driver that failed to stop and speeds up diagnosis.

  • Drivers and BIOS: update chipset, ACPI/power, and video drivers from the Acer support page for that exact model. Flashing the BIOS should only be done if Acer explicitly lists an XP shutdown fix for that firmware; flashing is a separate, risky step and is not performed by installing an OS.

Other lower‑effort checks: disconnect USB devices and mapped network drives before shutdown, test with a new user profile, or perform an in‑place repair install if isolation fails. Given that Safe Mode works, isolating the bad service/driver first is the most time‑effective route before a full reload.

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Member Avatar for starfireone

Have you tried uninstalling sp3 and keep with sp2 for now?

Member Avatar for Buffeljagter

Yes we did. the only sulution for this i think is to reload! the other thing I'm wondering this notebook was a Vista, and i'm not sure if the Bios was downgraded when they loaded XP.

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