XP takes foreever to log out

HI,

a while back a neighbour asked me to get his one-year old laptop with XP
connected to the internet, so that he could send pictures taken with a
digital camera to some other person (this is related to some new work he
started not long ago).

I set up the internet service, following the instructions he had
received from the service provider that he signed up with, and I also
uninstalled MSIE and MSOE and put Firefox and Thunderbird on the machine
before setting up his mail account. Everything is working as it should,
but since he is not (yet) comfortable using his computer, he has been
asking me a few times since to come over to help him send away some new
pictures and to check his mail.

So far, so good. But we have been experiencing an odd problem: when I
tell the machine to shut down, it instead starts some frantic internet
activity (the data flow LED on the ADSL adapter flashes almost
continuously, the HD indicator also flashes a lot, and one can hear the
HD in action). Initially there is a pop-up window from the net software
that (not surprisingly) tells us that it can't disconnect yet because
the internet connection is busy, but after that there is no further
indication that the machine is busy - no other pop-up window, no
flashing icon, and the cursor is just the regular arrow, not the
hourglass.

I have not yet found out how long this internet activity might continue
- the longest time I have waited so far is 5 minutes without an end in
sight - but I always force a shutdown by disconnecting the LAN cable,
which makes the machine shut down within about 30 seconds.

Any ideas what might be happening? Thanks for advice!

Larry

"Larry Timms" wrote in
<news:1ihn91h.1efqajq1mh67sN%roadrunner9119@yahoo. junktrap.com>:

> I also
> uninstalled MSIE and MSOE and put Firefox and Thunderbird on the machine

Which means the owner of that host probably will have problems using the
Windows Update site.

> when I
> tell the machine to shut down, it instead starts some frantic internet
> activity (the data flow LED on the ADSL adapter flashes almost
> continuously, the HD indicator also flashes a lot, and one can hear the
> HD in action).

Hmm, spyware phoning home maybe.

> Initially there is a pop-up window from the net software

The "net software". Uh huh. What might THAT be? What does the popup
SAY?

> that (not surprisingly) tells us that it can't disconnect yet because
> the internet connection is busy, but after that there is no further
> indication that the machine is busy - no other pop-up window, no
> flashing icon, and the cursor is just the regular arrow, not the
> hourglass.
>
> I have not yet found out how long this internet activity might continue
> - the longest time I have waited so far is 5 minutes without an end in
> sight - but I always force a shutdown by disconnecting the LAN cable,
> which makes the machine shut down within about 30 seconds.

A good firewall that shows current connections would tell you what is
connecting to where. You could also use TCP View from SysInternals.

"VanguardLH" <V@nguard.LH> wrote in message
news:Z_OdnSSfrqK6UKHVnZ2dnUVZ_q3inZ2d@comcast.com. ..
> "Larry Timms" wrote in
> <news:1ihn91h.1efqajq1mh67sN%roadrunner9119@yahoo. junktrap.com>:
>
>> I also
>> uninstalled MSIE and MSOE and put Firefox and Thunderbird on the machine
>
> Which means the owner of that host probably will have problems using the
> Windows Update site.
>
>> when I
>> tell the machine to shut down, it instead starts some frantic internet
>> activity (the data flow LED on the ADSL adapter flashes almost
>> continuously, the HD indicator also flashes a lot, and one can hear the
>> HD in action).
>
> Hmm, spyware phoning home maybe.
>
[snip] It sounds as though system could do with a cleanout, have you done
virus and mailware checks ?
Load this free program,it will clear rubbish and there is also reg checker.
http://www.ccleaner.com/

Roger

Roger <Monkey@Zoo.fsnet.co.uk> wrote:
> Load this free program,it will clear rubbish and there is also reg checker.
> http://www.ccleaner.com/

Thanks guys, i'll use your info to check out a few things...!

Larry