PC gets stuck during "Logging off" & "Shutting down".

[NYKrumrie]

I have Acer laptop Win7 Pro x64 SP1. When I try to shut down or restart my system it gets stuck at either "logging off" stage or sometimes it gets past that but hangs up on "shutting down". I've let them run for over an hour & nothing happens. I have to hold down the Power button to turn off machine. Upon reboot the system say there was a problem during shut down do you want to "restart normally" "safe mode" etc.. Now when I go into safe mode I can close down no problem. I have tried "boot to last known good config" doesn't help. I don't think there was a "restore point" made to go back to. Why is this happening & how can I fix it.
Thanks!

[AnnMarie]

Hi NYKrumrie. Try clean booting your system (see here, Step 1: Perform a clean boot). Make sure you dont download anything or surf to dodgy sites while you are running in this state because your antivirus will be disabled. Did you notice any difference?

If so, that suggests one of your third party startups is causing the problem. Try the troubleshooting steps now to find out which one it is. It is a bit tedious but quite effective in isolating the troublesome software. Once you find which program is responsible, uninstall it and reboot. You will need to contact their support if reinstalling the software doesnt resolve the issue.

[NYKrumrie]

Ok that clean boot seemed to fix the Logging off error. I did notice that it stayed at "shutting down" for quite a long time. It did eventually close cleanly. Now I'll try the "select half the services" steps & see what happens. I'll keep you posted. Thanks!

[AnnMarie]

Ok. I would be interested to know which program is causing the problem.