program running in background and force shutdown

[Molly506]

I have a Pavillion s5220f desktop. I quite frequently get the message that there is a program running in the background and do I want to force a shut down. I have always chosen to force the shutdown. How can I find the program that is running in the background? Also, could this background program cause a more than five minute startup?

[Mister_Do]

Hi Molly506,

Does the message ever say what the application is? Is there a "more info" type of link on the error that gives more details about it?  If you know what it is, there are ways to keep it from running.

[Molly506]

I am never told what the programm or application is.

[Mister_Do]

Does it happen consistently when you do something or open a specific software application?

[Molly506]

No it doesn't happen consistly, unfortunately.

[Mister_Do]

Next time it happens take note of what you are doing and what programs are open.

One thing you could do, which will also speed up your start time is to keep non-essential programs from loading when Windows first starts up. Using the Microsoft Configuration Utility, you can selct what programs and processes load at startup.

I don't know which operating system you are using, but here is an HP Support document on using MSCONFIG in Windows 7, the steps are similar for other versions of Windows:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01853706&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en

Also, here is an HP video that gives an overview of MSCONFIG:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zz30zAnRx8A