My Dell system with WinMe does not shutdown completely. I press the reset button and scan disk runs. I try shutdown again and it works. I have to go thru this routine each time I want to shut the system down.

got this from another post: There is an update for this at the Windows update page called "Windows IDE Hard Drive Cache Package". This update introduces a two second delay in the shutdown process, which allows the hard drive's cache to write any data to the hard drive. If that doesn't work, take a look here Johan

Here is a file on WinMe shutdown hope it helps. WINDOWS MILLENNIUM EDITION SCENARIOS: Microsoft has formally acknowledged that there is a shutdown and restart problem in Windows Millennium. Reportedly, they are working on the problem. In email correspondence, Microsoft particularly sited an inability for Win ME to force all running programs to shut down in preparation for a system restart or shutdown. While awaiting a possible repair of this issue from Microsoft, I am gathering information from the user community, and collating it here, as in the past. Here are the most promising approaches according our present understanding: UPDATE YOUR DEVICE DRIVERS Many hardware manufacturers did not provide new drivers in time for inclusion, by Microsoft, in WinME. You will want the improved drivers anyway; and there are many instances where improved drivers have resolved shutdown problems that resulted from hardware hangs. In fact, this is probably the single most common solution to the Win ME shutdown problem. Examples where this has been found true by some users include: Creative Labs SBLive and Banshee cards (but not the other SB lines). A solution for many is to remove the DOS-based SB16 emulation. Creative has now released new SB Live software. Network adapters. Updating these has been one of the very most successful solutions for Win ME shutdown problems. Various video cards (see examples below). Mouse or touchpad (see details below). Kodak DC 290 (thanks to Paul D. Good, Jr. for this one). Hauppauge WinTV card New drivers are out. A former working link to these now leads to a nonexistent page, and I have no updated link. Iomega Zip250 USB (correspondent Tony Marston says there are no ME drivers for it yet). In theory, almost any hardware could fall in this category -- so check your drivers if a hardware hang is suspected. DSL & OTHER NETWORKING ISSUES Networking issues have emerged as a cause of a larger percentage of shutdown problems for ME than for any earlier version of Windows. This is showing in the normal kind of networking issues mentioned earlier on this page (problems with particular cards, network resources not releasing, etc.), but especially with DSL connections. One correspondent, Richard Smith, solved his problem by disabling NDIS.VXD (in MSCONFIG, "Static VxDs" tab) -- but it cost him his Internet connectivity. NDIS.VXD is part of Windows' NetBEUI, IPX/SPX, and TCP/IP support. Bill Halvorsen has documented active or waiting network connections post-DSL usage (through his NIC) that produce BSODs ("Blue Screens Of Death") during shutdown, unless he waits for them to time out first. Some have found that, as they only need the TCP/IP protocol for their DSL, removing other existing network protocols has provided a satisfactory solution. For example, newsgroup correspondent Tel found that simply disabling NetBEUI resolved this problem on two machines. Other correspondents are getting at least partial resolution by downloading and installing new network adapter drivers. Others have found the best approach is to disable all network protocols except for TCP/IP. I believe we will be seeing more DSL issues and other networking issues connected with ME Shutdown as time passes. IOSUBSYS PROBLEMS Open and examine the C:\Windows\System\IOSUBSYS folder. Remove (to a new folder -- do not delete them!) all files that are not dated the same as the operating system files (the date you install Windows ME). Test Windows shutdown. If no resolution, move the files back. WARNING: Be sure you have a startup diskette at hand. Moving these files may make your system unbootable. In that case, use the startup disk to restart the computer, and move the temporarily moved files back to the IOSUBSYS folder. ShutMeDown REGISTRY PATCH Download the"ShutMeDown" Registry patch. Please follow sensible Registry editing protocol. Backup your Registry before the change (or run System Restore to create a restore point). This is not the appropriate fix for most machines, but does help a significant number. After installing, test Windows shutdown. If the fix does not work for you, remove it by restoring the Registry to its prior state. For those who want a little more background information, the fix provided by this patch is based on a Microsoft Knowledge Base article Q155117 for Windows NT 4.0. FastReboot REGISTRY PATCH Back up your Registry. Download the FastReboot Registry Patch. Test Windows shutdown. If no resolution, restore the prior Registry. THIRD PARTY DOWNLOAD PROGRAMS If you are using a third party download program (e.g., Getright), select the options "Turn off computer when done" and "Hang-up when done," or the equivalent. (Microsoft recommended this. However, I have yet to have even one correspondent say this did them any good. Feedback, anyone?) FOLLOW THE YELLOW BRICK ROAD . . . Go back up to the top of this page and follow the 15 Steps one at a time, until you find the solution. The basic items that worked for Win95/98 are among those that are causing problems in Windows ME. Microsoft has also published a Knowledge Base article on How to Troubleshoot Windows ME Shutdown Problems. Additional Observations & ME Shutdown Newsflashes: «» Using AOL, Compuserve, or Gateway.net. Gateway has issued a technical bulletin advising of a known issue where a Windows ME computer will stop responding during shut down if the computer has been connected to the Internet using Gateway.net 5.0, America Online, or Compuserve. The solution they advise is to turn off the computer using the power button. According to Gateway, this state will not cause any data loss, and ScanDisk should not run upon startup. Some users report that the power button seems not to work any longer after logging off of AOL. In this case, try holding it down longer -- this form of the powerdown problem often just requires that you press and hold the power button for up to 15 seconds. Microsoft also acknowledges this problem with AOL 5.0 and Win ME, and echoes AOL's recommended solution, to upgrade to AOL 6.0 (since the problem is apparently a bug in the 5.0 code). However, a more straightforward solution seems quite obvious: Get rid of AOL altogether, and get a real ISP! «» So far, all reports I have seen indicate that if a Win ME shutdown problem emerged after an upgrade, and the person went back and did a clean install, the shutdown problem went away. Please note that this may not be true in all cases and, if it is, still my not be worth doing the clean install if you have more to lose that way. Draw your own conclusions! «» Among video cards implicated in the shutdown issue, the name that is floating to the top most often is Nvidia. On the video issue, Bill Halvorsen documented that the latest "Detonator" drivers for his GEforce video card caused a shutdown problem -- solved by returning to an earlier driver version. He advises staying completely away from the "plain vanilla" drivers on Nvidia's site. In general the Nvidia 6.x drivers are getting negative comments from many experienced and technically minded users online. «» A few users have reported that the following trick, also related to video cards and drivers, restored their shutdown ability when a driver update would not: In MSCONFIG, click Advanced, then check the box marked VGA 640 x 480 x 16. Click OK twice, and let the computer reboot. When it reboots (in standard VGA mode), return to MSCONFIG, and uncheck the box. Again, reboot. «» One group of users has reported shutdown "fixes" involving a mouse and/or touchpad. There is not much similarity in their reports except that they involves a pointing device, and that their solution is to uninstall it completely, then reinstall it -- after which things work as they should. One possible explanation for this may be the discovery, by an anonymous user, that during an upgrade to ME his old mouse driver was left in place. He let Windows search for a new mouse driver, and this fixed his shutdown problem. «» ScanDisk may run even if Windows ME appears to shut down correctly. In most cases, if ScanDisk runs at restart of the computer, it means that Windows did not shut down correctly. It may have appeared to shut down correctly but, in fact, does not finish all of its internal shutdown processes. It is important to know whether or not this final shutdown actually occurred. The best method is probably the boot log method. Many such cases, resistent to other resolution, turn out to be hardware problems: This happens with some IDE hard drives when, during the shutdown process, when virtual cache contents are written to the hard drive's onboard cache, but not to the drive itself. This data is lost from the cache when the computer powers down, and the computer correctly interprets this as a failed shutdown and runs ScanDisk on the next startup. Microsoft advises that you contact your computer or hard drive manufacturer for a fix. Microsoft also has an interim supported workaround. AND SOMETHING LIKE NO OTHER. Just to show how little we know, I want to reproduce this email from correspondent Andre Downey almost verbatim. It provides information that is new and different from anything else that has been mentioned thus far: Step 1: Install WinME over Win98SE. Result: Hang at User Log Off, a few other glitches -- not happy. Step 2: Reformat and reinstall WinME. Result: Much better, User Log-Off OK, but hang on Shutdown (BSOD, ScanDisk runs after reset). Step 3: Went to the newsgroups and found your page, good info -- got me looking around. FIX: Enable DMA for Hard Drives in Device Manager. Good Shutdown every time, now :) Return to the TOP of the Page. thebest2u Don

Same problem. ME hangs when trying to shut down. Turned off the Microsoft tool bar at start up helped. Several conversations with Micorsoft tier 2. The driver S3ViRGE is too old for ME. It worked with 98 and 95 versions. Currently there is not an updated version. Would like recommendations for an updated vxd adapter driver that is compatible with ME. Thanks.

I had shut down problem with Win Me or AOL. Turned OFF HIBERNATION MODE and have no more problems.