Unnamed app preventing shudown after installing Windows 10 Fall Creatros update

[johnx125]

So a few days ago I installed the Fall Creators update on my system and everything works fine except when I shutdown my PC. Most of the times I'll get a message saying "This app is preventing shutdown". It eventually shuts down after 15" but it takes much longer than normal because of this. Also the app has no name, all I see is the default .exe icon. The first time this problem occured was exactly one day after the update. However the first time, it was "Task Host window" that was preventing shutdown but now it's just this random unnamed app. Does anyone know how to fix this? Do I have to do a system restore? Please let me know.

 

[Colif]

Try doing a clean boot and see if still happens on shutdown - https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/help/929135/how-to-perform-a-clean-boot-in-windows

this might seem backwards but with the way Fast startup works it means it is possibly a Startup app stopping PC from shutting down. Fast startup saves half your open programs to the hibernate file and other half to ram on shutdown, meaning PC is much faster to restart again.

If it doesn't happen after a clean boot, slowly add programs to find the cause... if program just called program, its going to be hard to re add it again Possibly a good thing?

Have you run AV and malware scans just in case?

 

[johnx125]

Try doing a clean boot and see if still happens on shutdown - https://support.microsoft.com/en-au/help/929135/how-to-perform-a-clean-boot-in-windows

this might seem backwards but with the way Fast startup works it means it is possibly a Startup app stopping PC from shutting down. Fast startup saves half your open programs to the hibernate file and other half to ram on shutdown, meaning PC is much faster to restart again.

P.S. The antivirus I'm using is Avira, what's your opinion about it?

If it doesn't happen after a clean boot, slowly add programs to find the cause... if program just called program, its going to be hard to re add it again Possibly a good thing?

Have you run AV and malware scans just in case?

I'll run an antivirus scan just in case and if it doesn't find anything I'll do the clean boot.
Also Fast startup is disabled, so it's not what's causing the problem. Though I've noticed my computer boots faster after the update... Could it possibly be a corrupted power plan?

P.S. The antivirus I'm using is Avira, what's your opinion about it?

 

[Colif]

Not sure if an app would be effected by the power plan.. maybe? You could reset your current one to defaults (settings/system/power - under related settings, click Additional power settings - next to current plan, choose Change plan settings - click Restore default settings for this plan)

clean boot might still uncover cause. tell you if the unnamed program is part of win 10 or not.

 

[johnx125]

Not sure if an app would be effected by the power plan.. maybe? You could reset your current one to defaults (settings/system/power - under related settings, click Additional power settings - next to current plan, choose Change plan settings - click Restore default settings for this plan)

clean boot might still uncover cause. tell you if the unnamed program is part of win 10 or not.

It could be part of Win 10 becasue I didn't install any programs after the update.
Anyway for now I'll run an antivirus scan and do a clean boot.

 

[Colif]

not sure if it would help but could check you have latest motherboard drivers and/or BIOS as it might be an unrecognised program that the update might see.

 

[johnx125]

not sure if it would help but could check you have latest motherboard drivers and/or BIOS as it might be an unrecognised program that the update might see.

I have the latest drivers for my motherboard (Gigabyte 970A-UD3P rev. 2)
Yesterday I ran an AV scan and found no viruses. I also reseted the settings for the power plan I use. When I shutted down the system I didn't see any app preventing shutdown... but like I said it doesn't always happen, it happens let's say... 6 out of 10 times.

 

[Colif]

this might help, it lets you see shutdown events and since its so random, it may give you a clue as to cause - you might need to look at a few to find a pattern:
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/78335-read-shutdown-logs-event-viewer-windows.html

It may not be a startup program, it might be something else you start that just doesn't want to close.

check on windows store downloads and updates page and see if there is anything, it might just be a faulty app that could be fixed through the store - I noticed the windows module installer running on my PC earlier and store shows about 8 things that got updated.

 

[johnx125]

this might help, it lets you see shutdown events and since its so random, it may give you a clue as to cause - you might need to look at a few to find a pattern:
https://www.tenforums.com/tutorials/78335-read-shutdown-logs-event-viewer-windows.html

It may not be a startup program, it might be something else you start that just doesn't want to close.

check on windows store downloads and updates page and see if there is anything, it might just be a faulty app that could be fixed through the store - I noticed the windows module installer running on my PC earlier and store shows about 8 things that got updated.

Ok I'll give it a try. And I'll check the store too. And also about Modules Installer, I've noticed it running and using more than 10% CPU several times. It could be just a faulty app.

 

[Colif]

might as well try this as well:

right click start button
choose powershell (admin)
type SFC /scannow and press enter
once its completed, copy/paste this command into same window:
Repair-WindowsImage -Online -RestoreHealth and press enter
SFC fixes system files, DISM cleans image files, re run SFC if it failed to fix all files and restart PC

that will just make sure win 10 is okay... I should have thought of it before.

 

[johnx125]

might as well try this as well:

right click start button
choose powershell (admin)
type SFC /scannow and press enter
once its completed, copy/paste this command into same window:
Repair-WindowsImage -Online -RestoreHealth and press enter
SFC fixes system files, DISM cleans image files, re run SFC if it failed to fix all files and restart PC

that will just make sure win 10 is okay... I should have thought of it before.

I already did that two days ago and everything is ok it didn't find any problems.
Also I just checked Event Viewer and Windows Store and didn't find anything unexpected.
I don't know... maybe it's just a glitch or something.

 

[Colif]

have you run the power troubleshooter?

Method 1: I suggest you to run power troubleshooter and check if it helps. Please follow these steps:
a. Type troubleshooting in the search box on taskbar and click on it in results.
b. Click View all and then click Power.
c. Click Next and follow on-screen instructions.

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-power-winpc/app-with-no-name-preventing-shutdown/7f286f3b-1d1a-4575-b389-f49a871df264?auth=1

 

[johnx125]

have you run the power troubleshooter?

Method 1: I suggest you to run power troubleshooter and check if it helps. Please follow these steps:
a. Type troubleshooting in the search box on taskbar and click on it in results.
b. Click View all and then click Power.
c. Click Next and follow on-screen instructions.

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-power-winpc/app-with-no-name-preventing-shutdown/7f286f3b-1d1a-4575-b389-f49a871df264?auth=1

I just ran it and honestly all it did was reducing the time needed before my screen automatically turns off :lol:

 

[Colif]

One lot of advice is to download process explorer and see if you can identify any unknown apps before you shut PC down. You can right click the header and add columns where necessary. It has way more information than task manager.

Download Process explorer and run it as admin (it comes from Microsoft so its safe)

the default view is tree structure meaning like your task manager screen, it will show what processes are under each service, but unlike task manager, it shows a lot more information about what is running. I normally suggest it for Memory problems but it might help here.

This page shows what all the colours and headings mean, link at bottom of it shows how to use it to find problems. You can right click headers and run an av scan from within the program.

Not knowing the name or path of application makes it difficult.

 

[johnx125]

One lot of advice is to download process explorer and see if you can identify any unknown apps before you shut PC down. You can right click the header and add columns where necessary. It has way more information than task manager.

Download Process explorer and run it as admin (it comes from Microsoft so its safe)

the default view is tree structure meaning like your task manager screen, it will show what processes are under each service, but unlike task manager, it shows a lot more information about what is running. I normally suggest it for Memory problems but it might help here.

This page shows what all the colours and headings mean, link at bottom of it shows how to use it to find problems. You can right click headers and run an av scan from within the program.

Not knowing the name or path of application makes it difficult.

So with this software I'll be able to possibly find the unnamed app and disable it from running?

 

[Colif]

Yes. I am not sure if its set as default but you can right click the heading of the columns and add extra columns (choice is large). I don't know if its default but I would add Command line (its on the Process image tab) as that will show where the file is located on hdd and might give a clue as to what it is.

Its a more complete version of Task manager.

 

[johnx125]

Yes. I am not sure if its set as default but you can right click the heading of the columns and add extra columns (choice is large). I don't know if its default but I would add Command line (its on the Process image tab) as that will show where the file is located on hdd and might give a clue as to what it is.

Its a more complete version of Task manager.

Ok I'll do that and I hope I find out what causes the problem. However, I think it was temporary, because the last time a shutdown was prevented, was the day I started this thread, it hasn't happened again since then... So maybe it was just Modules Installer failing or something, I don't know. Anyway thank you for helping me out!

 

[kongpham]

Yes. I am not sure if its set as default but you can right click the heading of the columns and add extra columns (choice is large). I don't know if its default but I would add Command line (its on the Process image tab) as that will show where the file is located on hdd and might give a clue as to what it is.

Its a more complete version of Task manager.

Ok I'll do that and I hope I find out what causes the problem. However, I think it was temporary, because the last time a shutdown was prevented, was the day I started this thread, it hasn't happened again since then... So maybe it was just Modules Installer failing or something, I don't know. Anyway thank you for helping me out!

Have you fixed it permanently? I still get that issue. It's just annoying

 

[johnx125]

Have you fixed it permanently? I still get that issue. It's just annoying

Actually I didn't have to do anything, it simply stopped and the strange unknown program never prevented shutdown again.
Try running sfc /scannow in PowerShell (Admin), it will search for corrupted programs and possibly repair them.

 

[kongpham]

Have you fixed it permanently? I still get that issue. It's just annoying

Actually I didn't have to do anything, it simply stopped and the strange unknown program never prevented shutdown again.
Try running sfc /scannow in PowerShell (Admin), it will search for corrupted programs and possibly repair them.

I've already done that but nothing changed. Thanks anyway.

 

[johnx125]

I've already done that but nothing changed. Thanks anyway.

Well then I don't know what else you can do in this case :/

 

[Colif]

Did you start your own question about it?

This isn't exactly related but since the fall creators edition, win 10 is now able to remember what programs were open at shutdown and reopen them again

Here's a silly workaround for the similarly silly new feature.

Some background first: Windows seems to shutdown as if %WINDIR%\system32\shutdown.exe was invoked with the /sg /hybrid /t 0 parameters. The magic is in the /sg parameter which tells it to "restart any registered applications" on the next boot. The "old" /s parameter still exists and shutdown can be invoked with it manually.

To quickly call shutdown.exe like that, create a shortcut either in your apps list (%PROGRAMDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs for all users, %APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs for the current user), or somewhere else and then pin it to start.

The important shortcut properties are the following:

Name: Shutdown
Target: %WINDIR%\system32\shutdown.exe /s /hybrid /t 0
Start in: %WINDIR%\system32
Optional:

Name: Add a non-breakable space (Alt+Num255) in front of it to appear at the top of the All Apps list. You can try other fancy Unicode characters if you like.
Run: Minimized to prevent the ugly command prompt from popping up shortly.
Icon: Change to something nice (there's an XP-style shutdown icon available in the default shell32.dll, or some close / critical icons in imageres.dll).
Comment: Leave a rant here about the dumb new feature.

https://superuser.com/questions/1261910/after-windows-10-fall-creators-update-recent-used-app-will-launch-on-startup

try creating that shortcut as suggested and see if PC will actually shutdown now.

 

[raymulder]

I experienced the exact same thing and eventually solved it by uninstalling Free Download Manager. Every time it loads at startup or if I start it up myself and do not close it before shutdown...this happens. I have used this program for years so I am not happy to stop using it, so will only start it up when I need it and close it down before shutdown.

 

[kongpham]

I found the program that caused the problem actually. It's Lingoes 64 bit. After I switched to Lingoes 32 bit, everything is fine. At first, I thought a system program causes the problem because the program is unknown with the general icon, but it turns out that was Lingoes - a user program (Are 'system program' and 'user program' right terms?). And a lot of people have experienced this with different programs but they are all user programs. So if you run into this problem, check the user programs running in your computer.

 

[kongpham]

I experienced the exact same thing and eventually solved it by uninstalling Free Download Manager. Every time it loads at startup or if I start it up myself and do not close it before shutdown...this happens. I have used this program for years so I am not happy to stop using it, so will only start it up when I need it and close it down before shutdown.

Have you tried switch from 64 bit version to 32 bit version? It worked for me with Lingoes.