The Forever Wait To Close Windows

Larry Magid Laments The Minutes He's Lost Waiting For His Windows PCs To Simply Turn Off

(CBS)  Back in the old days, when TVs and radios had tubes, it took a couple minutes for a set to warm up before you could watch or listen. But even then, you could turn it off instantly.

That's not true with Windows PCs. Not only does it sometimes take seemingly forever for them to boot, but it can take several minutes for one to shut down. Even worse, if a program stops responding you may or may not be able to shut it down. And even if it does terminate, it may take a while.

I'm not just talking about Windows XP and Vista. I'm having the same problem with Windows 7, though, to be fair, the new operating system is still in beta so it's possible that Microsoft could amaze and delight me by fixing this in the final version.

I can understand why it takes at least some time for a PC to boot from a power-off situation, because the operating system and some software and drivers have to be copied from storage into memory. But I can't understand why it takes more than a few seconds for the computer or one of its applications to shut down.

I realize that sometimes there is a bit of housekeeping to do in the form of closing files - but give me a break, should that really have to take up to five minutes? And there have been countless times, in my experience, when it simply never shuts down, forcing me to hold the power button for several seconds. I've even had laptops that were so stubborn that I had to remove the battery to turn them off.

I'm particularly annoyed at how Windows often fails to terminate programs that have crashed. In theory, pressing Ctrl, Alt and Delete to bring up the Task Manager followed by clicking End Task should simply stop the program and return you to the operating system. But that doesn't always work.

Sometimes the program just hangs there forever. Sometimes it quits after a random period of time and sometimes the entire computer just crashes. Imagine if you had a lamp in your house that was malfunctioning and the only way to turn it off was to turn off all the power to your house from the main breaker.

I haven't raised this particular issue with people at Microsoft, but a couple years ago when I was researching a story for The New York Times on technology energy hogs, the standard response from folks in Redmond was to blame third party applications and drivers for the fact that Windows machines often fail to properly go to or wake up from sleep mode.

Third party applications may very well be to blame, but it's no excuse. One of Windows strongest selling points is its ability to work with software and hardware from thousands of sources, so it seems to me that a company with the resources and experience of Microsoft should have figured out by now how to handle errant programs and drivers.

I do like many of the improvements in Windows 7, and I appreciate that it boots a little faster and - at least on my machine - seems better at going to sleep and waking up. Now all I want is the ability to turn off the darn machine and terminate a misbehaving program without having to dedicate my entire afternoon to the task.

[mypatch]

To many cooks in the kitchen. spoils the soup. That's microsoft. Too many people working on new software at the same time not bothering to improve the last failure. My next computer will be a Mac.

[tritoneking]

I used Windows PCs for over 20 years, and used to scoff at people using Macs. A little over 2 years ago my wife had to get a Mac for a film music class (she had to use Logic, a music application) and I have completely converted ever since. Booting up the computer takes usually 40 seconds and shutting down takes a measly 2-20 seconds -- very often I'll just press the power button and the Mac shuts down perfectly without any problems in 2 seconds. On any Windows PC I've ever used it's always been 4-5minutes to boot up, and shutting down takes anywhere from a couple of minutes to forever -- sometimes it refuses to shut down.

Macs just have fewer problems in general: they never crash, virtually never freeze up, don't have viruses, malware, worms, etc., and the user interface is infinitely simpler and easier to use.

More and more people are realizing that Microsoft simply creates sub-par products, but many others still think it must be better since 88% of people use it. But it's definitely not. Mac (or Linux, actually!) is so much better that I can't think of any reason why anyone should still use Windows. Besides, you can run Windows on any Mac thanks to Bootcamp, so there is truly no reason not to get a Mac... or Linux, which is also much better than Windows, but Macs are still more user friendly than either one. Forget Windows, get a Mac. You won't regret it.

[j_mcdonald-2009]

Correction: it's been up for 9 months -- we turned it off when we left for vacation last summer.

[j_mcdonald-2009]

Zowwyy: "I can take my pc to any repair place and have it serviced in no time."

?? I've NEVER had to take my linux box in for anything in the past 8 years. Granted it has gone down occasionally when the power went out and once when i upgraded to a new version, but I think it's been up for 11 months now, just chugging along. It's about 1 tenth the memory and processor speed of a new PC we got for the kids, but everyone prefers it because it runs everything we care about noticeably faster.

And then, in spite of running virus and spyware scans on the PC for 4 hours every night, and getting a clean bill of health from those security programs, I need to put up with the Geek Squad explaining to me that it's normal behavior for Vista to occasionally freeze for up to 5 or 10 minutes, and when the screen goes black for more that 10 minutes as we try to change users we should just power down and power up, even though that loses all the data from all the other users. (Funniest comment: "Why do you have so many accounts on the machine?", as if 10 separate accounts is abusive use of the machine.)

A pox on Vista.

[Scimajor]

"Try Mac OS X. It may not be perfect, but these problems are minimized with this OS"

Very true but that's deceptive as Mac has it easy. Mac's OS needs to run on only a handful of hardware configuarations whereas Windows needs to run on an almost infinite number of hardware configuarations.

Don't call me a Mac hater. If I could I would buy a Mac for my video work in a heart beat but then I'd have to repurchase all my video software (e.g. After Effects, Premiere, Max, etc.). Maybe some day.

[Scimajor]

Waaaa. Come on. You sound like my 80 year old mum who doesn't know a DVD from a CD.

Look, if you want Windows to shut down without cleaning up the mess that someone else's software made then simply press the power button on your power bar. Really it's that easy. If, however, you want Windows to do it's best to leave your computer nice and tidy and ready for tomorrow then close your apps and then and only then press "Shut Down". If you close your apps first you will not have these issues. Really, close your apps FRIST then press Shut Down. Simple and easy and won't leave your computer a mess for tomorrow. Oh and then if the computer takes 10 minutes to shut down who cares as you can tell your wife you're multitasking (e.g. Having a pint and shuting down Windows at the same time).

[bobnjersey]

[I'm not just talking about Windows XP and Vista. I'm having the same problem with Windows 7, though, to be fair, the new operating system is still in beta so it's possible that Microsoft could amaze and delight me by fixing this in the final version. ]

don't hold your breath. they know that everyone is conditioned to waiting ... and users still buy the next version that hasn't fixed all the issues they had w/ the last one ... and they've added a bunch of stuff ot the new one that you don't need.

why do they still have the ridiculous dialog come up after all this that says that the application is not responding ... or it terminated unexpectedly ... would you like to look for the solution or contact microsoft? has anyone actually gotten any resolution from doing this?

if the program doesn't repond ... it's likely poorly written ... and the system should cut it off at the knees immediately ... returning control to you.

with license agreements that don't absolve everyone of any issue under the sun ... users might actually have some recourse from producers of junk that doesn't behave the way it was presented.

[Zowwyy]

I've been reading all the complaining and laughing. I will take a pc over an mac anyday. I can take my pc to any repair place and have it serviced in no time. AND I CAN SPEAK TO SOMEONE IN ENGLISH. I've had it with telephone tech support. They have such horrible acents that you can barely understand what they are saying. Maybe because they are outsourced to India.

[Chris_Butler]

For you who might be interested Microsoft does not have a dominant position based on quality software even thou some parts have merit. Microsoft has a dominant position based on subsidies, tax breaks etc, from weak governments worldwide.

If Linux or Mac ever gets the same funding worldwide you will see a different PC World.

[fbrodya]

My PC had slowed to a C-R-A-W-L when I brought it to our local computer guys. One of the most important thing to get rid of, they said, was the Google desktop search feature. Now everything flies much faster.

Still takes forever to shut down, though. Sigh.

[woo37830]

Try Mac OS X. It may not be perfect, but these problems are minimized with this OS. I use VMWare Fusion when I need windooze, so then at least I can make it quit if Windooze itself won't.
Crashes, nada. Hangs, very rarely, and my worse complaint is that the hang seems to be associated with a MicrosoftSync agent that is used to check on Microsoft software and synching!
I don't think MS really has ever understood priority based interrupt systems. There is a timer event that is scheduled about every 16.7 micro seconds ( it used to be that, anyway ), and the system gets control. Other tasks can be serviced, including the shutdown or kill task! Part of the underlying Mach kernel and Unix core of the OS X.

[gymnp]

Any microsoft product, past - current - and future, was, is and will be a piece of junk.
I had hoped that with Bill Gates gone the company would improve but no such luck.

[braniff77]

It usually takes about 10 minutes for my home PC with XP to boot up to the point when I can actually use the thing. I place some of the blame on my anti-spyware programs, but still... There's some way to turn off some programs that start up as the machine boots up, but the list is just a bunch of codes with no explanation as to what they actually do. To a novice like me, I'm afraid to turn any of them off for fear of messing up the machine.
And when shutting down, even if all my files are closed, it still takes 5-10 minutes to finish. Then there are the times when everything is just frozen as it's shutting down, and my only option (as a last resort) is to pull the plug.

[johndevinejr]

When I am waiting for my computer to shut down, I do not let the time waste away. I say prayers.
Posted by Harry_Snapperorgans at 6:46 AM : Mar 30, 2009

Why don't you pray for it to shut down quickly? I'm sure that would work.

[Slrman]

As far as I can tell, Micro$oft is the most arrogant, uncaring company in the world. I had to tolerate that for 6 years here in Brazil, but now I have a new iMac. It runs every program I want, NeoOffice is free and it does all MS Office files. All of my videos, (even .wmv files) music and photos work perfectly. My games (yes, Windows games) run better than on a PC and I, at last, have a Microsoft-free zone. I will NEVER have another PC or any MS product. Oh yes, my iMac starts up and shuts down very quickly with never a problem.

[antoniof123]

For you Microsoft bashers I am sorry but after having lived through the nasty 80's and 90's with all kinds of operating systems and so many differences in programs I welcome consistancy.

Yes, Microsoft could do better so could all the other companies but they can't fix every thing for every one. And I like having windows over dos over all the other systems and the cost is less. Sorry but Microsoft will be around for a long time and if you want Apple go to them that is your choice. But remember when you need a driver and have to look for it for days I can remember that one or when you have to pay for it.

So go a head and switch operating systmems you might be one of the trend setters that makes a change in history.

[rational_1]

The previous posters are right on the mark in their complaints about Microsoft products. Endless doodads and annoying supposedly helpful timesavers (you know, that irritating litlle paperclip that pops up until you finally banish it) - but then something basic doesn't work. Ever tried adding images to Word files? I've had images literally disappear in Word documents, but somehow WordPerfect, a much superior word processor IMHO, found them. What also ticks me off is that in every incarnation of Windows they move stuff around so networking and other functions are no longer where they used to be. It seems that when they finally get an operating to be stable (eg. XP Pro which I actually like, understand and which usually isn't problematic or me) they then turn around and inflict a new, buggy OS (yes, I'm looking at you Vista) on us. Hard to believe sometimes that this is the predominant software company in the world.

[hy75230]

If only Microsoft would focus and fix these very problems as well as you have verbalized them. These are everday, problems vexing all users. Enough time is spent of the
rare applications, it is time to pay attention to this singlar problem which we face
ALL the time, everytime each day. You have struck a wonderful idea...... leave the fruitty
Microsoft engineers and go directly to the orchard for APPLES... anyone ?

[casionova]

Well said Skeezix, everytime you know a program the next version comes out and everything has been shifted somewhere else!

[skeezix06]

Don't hold your breath waiting for them to listen to you. You're only the customer so you don't count. Most of the stuff on Office isn't anything that the average PC user will ever use but they keep adding more junk and changing their icons so that you can't find what you did use.