A driver update cures slow Windows 7 shutdowns
Display driver refresh does the trickThe forum posts indicated that some people solved the slow-shutdown problem by updating the PC's display driver. Since Windows 7 had warned me that my PC's ATI driver was old, I ran Device Manager's updater: Device Manager's Update Driver function will search for a more recent version of your system's device drivers.screenshot by Dennis O'Reilly/CNETClick the Start buttonType "device manager" in the search boxSelect Device ManagerRight-click the device's entry under "Display adapters"Choose Update Driver SoftwareClick "Search automatically for updated driver software" In my case, Windows found and installed a more recent version of the display driver. After restarting the PC, shutdowns took only a few seconds. Note that you may need to manually find and download the driver update, and then choose "Browse my computer for driver software" and navigate to the downloaded file.Updating the display software was much simpler than the solutions recommended on the Microsoft Answers site, which entailed a clean boot and selective disabling of processes and services in Task Manager. The driver update was also safer than editing the Registry, as other comments in that post suggested. Even though I appreciate being able to breathe new life into a well-worn PC, it's time for a truly new version of Windows. The operating system is overdue for a total revamp, similar to Apple's approach with Mac OS X. Truly successful software is invisible and effortless. Traditional operating systems are becoming less important. To stay relevant, Microsoft has to come up with a system that automates updates (and rollbacks, if necessary) and generally makes fewer demands on users.
