"Working in Background"

I have set up my mouse pointer so that an hourglass is next to the pointer
when "Working in Background." The condition rather frequently occurs, or is
present, at the end of a long session and I'm ready to turn power off. I
don't know what's working; Process Explorer (the very latest release) shows
nothing but itself (usually about 3-4%) and Idle 96 or 97%. Nothing else
registers at all. I suppose if something is running in the background and
is only taking a small fraction of one percent Process Explorer wouldn't
report it, but I don't know.

What happens is, if I go through the Start Shut Down Shut Down sequence
the computer usually, but not always, fails to shut down properly, requiring
a Power Off at the tower and Scan Disk when I power up next time. I can
sometimes get rid of the arrow-hourglass by forcing the screen saver for a
few seconds and then returning. Sometimes I can eliminate the
arrow-hourglass by Active Desktop Show Web Content, but I do not normally
want to show web content and the hourglass returns when I cancel this
procedure.

In short, it appears that something has not finished running which
interferes with Shut Down and I don't know how to find it. The condition is
more annoying than critical, but I'd appreciate any thoughts you might have.

Ken Bland

--
"No man's life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in
session." -- Mark Twain

Ken,
Just for grins..........disable your screensaver and then attempt the
shut down. Let me know what happens.
Heirloom, old and still
loves the Me NG
P.S. Don't forget the excellent shut down trouble shooter at
http://aumha.org/win4/a/shutdown.htm

"Justin Thyme" wrote in message
...
I have set up my mouse pointer so that an hourglass is next to the pointer
when "Working in Background." The condition rather frequently occurs, or
is
present, at the end of a long session and I'm ready to turn power off. I
don't know what's working; Process Explorer (the very latest release)
shows
nothing but itself (usually about 3-4%) and Idle 96 or 97%. Nothing else
registers at all. I suppose if something is running in the background and
is only taking a small fraction of one percent Process Explorer wouldn't
report it, but I don't know.

What happens is, if I go through the Start Shut Down Shut Down
sequence
the computer usually, but not always, fails to shut down properly,
requiring
a Power Off at the tower and Scan Disk when I power up next time. I can
sometimes get rid of the arrow-hourglass by forcing the screen saver for a
few seconds and then returning. Sometimes I can eliminate the
arrow-hourglass by Active Desktop Show Web Content, but I do not
normally
want to show web content and the hourglass returns when I cancel this
procedure.

In short, it appears that something has not finished running which
interferes with Shut Down and I don't know how to find it. The condition
is
more annoying than critical, but I'd appreciate any thoughts you might
have.

Ken Bland

--
"No man's life, liberty, or property are safe while the legislature is in
session." -- Mark Twain

"Heirloom" wrote in message
...
Ken,
Just for grins..........disable your screensaver and then attempt the
shut down. Let me know what happens.
Heirloom, old and
still
loves the Me NG
P.S. Don't forget the excellent shut down trouble shooter at
http://aumha.org/win4/a/shutdown.htm


Thanks Heirloom. I have disabled the screen saver but it may take me some
time, maybe a day or two, before I can be sure that it was at fault.

I'll check the aumha link now.

Ken Bland

"Heirloom" wrote in message
...
Ken,
Just for grins..........disable your screensaver and then attempt the
shut down. Let me know what happens.
Heirloom, old and
still
loves the Me NG
P.S. Don't forget the excellent shut down trouble shooter at
http://aumha.org/win4/a/shutdown.htm

Among other things, one thing possible for shut down problems is a large
Temp file. I know I've heard this before and surely "Temp" is meant to
indicate "temporary," but is it? My Temp file contains many things that
don't look temporary at all, including two .exe files, one .dll, and six
folders, one of which contains a 3MB VPU file and a 1.6MB setup file.

I suppose I can save these in the waste basket and then find out if they
are, indeed necessary?

Ken Bland

Let's put it this way, Ken....

Anything in the |Temp folder is *supposed* to be temporary - if it's not,
and it's in use by the OS at any given time after a reboot, then the
chances are that it's malware.

--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2005, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.btinternet.com/~winnoel/millsrpch.htm

http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's

"Justin Thyme" wrote in message
...

"Heirloom" wrote in message
...
Ken,
Just for grins..........disable your screensaver and then attempt the
shut down. Let me know what happens.
Heirloom, old and
still
loves the Me NG
P.S. Don't forget the excellent shut down trouble shooter at
http://aumha.org/win4/a/shutdown.htm

Among other things, one thing possible for shut down problems is a large
Temp file. I know I've heard this before and surely "Temp" is meant to
indicate "temporary," but is it? My Temp file contains many things that
don't look temporary at all, including two .exe files, one .dll, and six
folders, one of which contains a 3MB VPU file and a 1.6MB setup file.

I suppose I can save these in the waste basket and then find out if they
are, indeed necessary?

Ken Bland

"Heirloom" wrote in message
...
Ken,
Just for grins..........disable your screensaver and then attempt the
shut down. Let me know what happens.
Heirloom, old and
still
loves the Me NG
P.S. Don't forget the excellent shut down trouble shooter at
http://aumha.org/win4/a/shutdown.htm


Okay. I can confirm now that disabling the screen saver does not prevent
the mouse pointer occasionally being associated with an hourglass, which in
my computer, means "Working in Background." It seems strange to me that I
can do anything else all day long and never notice any problems, only when I
want to shut down in preparation for turning power off. It sure looks to me
as if something really is running the background that doesn't like being
interrupted by Shut Down.

Ken Bland

Justin Thyme wrote:
"Heirloom" wrote in message
...

Ken,
Just for grins..........disable your screensaver and then attempt the
shut down. Let me know what happens.
Heirloom, old and

still

loves the Me NG
P.S. Don't forget the excellent shut down trouble shooter at
http://aumha.org/win4/a/shutdown.htm
snip
It sure looks to me
as if something really is running the background that doesn't like being
interrupted by Shut Down.

Maybe there is; before you shutdown check TaskManager Ctrl-Alt-Delete
for a list of (some) running tasks.


Rick

"Rick T" wrote in message
...

Maybe there is; before you shutdown check TaskManager Ctrl-Alt-Delete
for a list of (some) running tasks.


Rick

I appreciate your response Rick, but I have so pared down my Startup list
that the only things showing (except when I have invoked Adobe Reader --
which seems not to completely deactivate itself when done) are Explorer,
Systray, and two components of my Antivirus program, avast!. If I
deliberately shut down avast! only Explorer and Systray show up.

The Process Explorer by Sysinternals shows many processes but only Idle and
Process Explorer itself indicate any measurable numbers. It may well be
that there is something going on, but below the threshold of Process
Explorer's ability to measure it, like 0.5%.

The "Working in Background" allows Hibernate to function correctly and is
shown again when I "wake the system up." I believe, but cannot be certain,
that I have seen the hourglass disappear, after once being on, when I have
the computer turned on for a rather long time, say two hours or so doing
things like letter-writing off-line. As I say, I am by no means certain of
this.

Ken Bland

"Justin Thyme" wrote in message
...


The Process Explorer by Sysinternals shows many processes but only Idle
and
Process Explorer itself indicate any measurable numbers. It may well be
that there is something going on, but below the threshold of Process
Explorer's ability to measure it, like 0.5%.

It may in poor taste to reply to one's own post but I have something that
news to me and maybe to someone else he

Sysinternals's Process Explorer, which has been updated almost daily
recently and now at release 9.25, is capable of displaying CPU run times
fractionally to two decimal places. (Maybe it's been there all along and I
have neglected it!)

I still haven't used the new-to-me feature but I may be able to use it to
see just what is running in the background, even at very low levels.

Ken Bland

Keep us posted...........I am curious.
Heirloom, old and off to the telly


"Justin Thyme" wrote in message
...

"Justin Thyme" wrote in message
...


The Process Explorer by Sysinternals shows many processes but only Idle
and
Process Explorer itself indicate any measurable numbers. It may well be
that there is something going on, but below the threshold of Process
Explorer's ability to measure it, like 0.5%.

It may in poor taste to reply to one's own post but I have something that
news to me and maybe to someone else he

Sysinternals's Process Explorer, which has been updated almost daily
recently and now at release 9.25, is capable of displaying CPU run times
fractionally to two decimal places. (Maybe it's been there all along and
I
have neglected it!)

I still haven't used the new-to-me feature but I may be able to use it to
see just what is running in the background, even at very low levels.

Ken Bland