Windows 7 Task Manager can't end processes

task manager cannot end processes

If you have the machine throttle key in your registry editor Link Removed due to 404 Error you may HELP the issue by following the registry hack listed. If it isnt there, I can offer nothing but hope that microsoft realizes this is a bug and solves it before release. I too have the issue, and it is really bad to have this issue. and its also not new to windows 7 (although it does seem to be more frequently an issue in win7).
 
Improvement

The problem seems to happen less after the most recent update. I also notice that if I just wait a couple of mintutes, it may finish shutting down the program.

It helps to have two other computers at the office.
 
what most recent update? and from what ive noticed, you can wait hours and itll never complete killing some processes. both explorer.exe and other third party processes.
 
same here but this may have helped.

I had this problem and it frustrated the hell out of me. the program would hang mostly when trying to save this happened in word 2007 acrobat photshop etc. before reloading everyting including clean install of windows 7 I thought Id try doing an upgrade. basically I did a windows 7 upgrade install from windows 7 the problem of the crashing seems to be solved. ok a few hangs but the application would shutdown when I selected shutdown.

The upgrade process seems to have kept most of the settings etc and no lost drivers either. but took about 4 hours. much longer than the clean install.

.
 
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I am an official beta tester with MS, and have been since vista closed beta.

care to ellaborate? :D
why can't it end the process? what happens? nothing? an error?

sorry about that, Ive just reported it on a bunch of forums, and forgot to be more thorough on this. it just doesnt do anything at all. It seems to end the process (and will, for instance, close the window of the process you are attempting to end, but the process itself remains and cannot be killed). I should add that taskkill /f also reports "success" but does nothing.
 
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that's odd. I assume you also tried to kill as admin?

maybe only the process list isn't updating properly? I'd try a very cpu-intensive process that causes your CPU to go to 100% load (for example video converting). after that, kill the process and see if the cpu load remains high. if it doesn't the process has been killed but just is still listed for some reason. if the cpu load remains high the kill failed.

in any case, if it doesn't hurt you simply reinstall windows7, because there seems to be something really wrong :D
 
I think an indication that the processes aren't quite ended is that whenever I get an app crash, I have to restart the computer and it takes an extra long time to do so. Without the crash it just takes as long a usual. . .

A common cause for crashes is downloading items with Firefox: it crashes just as it's finishing the download and it gets stuck on "just a few seconds remaining." I've tried this with both the regular Download Manager and the Down Them All plugin. This also happened with Safari. Perhaps this can help identify the cause, or at least a cause.

I performed a clean install of Windows 7 and have done all the updates. I don't know at what moment the problem with crashes got better, but it certainly has become better. Sorry I don't have more data on this.
 
I think an indication that the processes aren't quite ended is that whenever I get an app crash, I have to restart the computer and it takes an extra long time to do so. Without the crash it just takes as long a usual. . .

A common cause for crashes is downloading items with Firefox: it crashes just as it's finishing the download and it gets stuck on "just a few seconds remaining." I've tried this with both the regular Download Manager and the Down Them All plugin. This also happened with Safari. Perhaps this can help identify the cause, or at least a cause.

I performed a clean install of Windows 7 and have done all the updates. I don't know at what moment the problem with crashes got better, but it certainly has become better. Sorry I don't have more data on this.
sounds to me like either a permission issue or a hardware issue regarding your hard drive. do you have other operating systems installed on the same drive? if they work fine than maybe try reinstalling or repairing windows 7.
or maybe try the "upgrade" mentioned above where you upgrade from 7 to 7 (which should basically do the same as the repair option I guess)

PS: people why are you feeding stupid trolls like joshg81 ... just ignore him
 
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that's odd. I assume you also tried to kill as admin?

maybe only the process list isn't updating properly? I'd try a very cpu-intensive process that causes your CPU to go to 100% load (for example video converting). after that, kill the process and see if the cpu load remains high. if it doesn't the process has been killed but just is still listed for some reason. if the cpu load remains high the kill failed.

in any case, if it doesn't hurt you simply reinstall windows7, because there seems to be something really wrong :D

the problem is not just that it remains listed, because it prohibits the same task (and depending on the task, sometimes others) from being reloaded. and yes, i tried to kill as admin.
 
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the problem is not just that it remains listed, because it prohibits the same task (and depending on the task, sometimes others) from being reloaded. and yes, i tried to kill as admin.
maybe if you got UAC turned off turn it back on and see if that helps anything. If it doesn't I'm really out of ideas and can only advise to try a repair and/or reinstall of windows. sorry.
 
i will attempt re-enabling UAC, although I have reinstalled the OS three times with varying degrees of success. The first install was the worst, the second was best, and the third is only slightly better than the first install.
 
This is a temporary solution, and not satisfactory - Have you tried select the task manager - processes, and right clicking the process you are trying to shut down? In the drop down menu is an item" End Process Tree". Not the root of your problem but a way to get rid of the offending program.

Joshg81. It seems your main aim is to make trouble. If you have nothing constructive to add, I think the posters would be happy without you observations. To stop friction, should you choose to continue in the same vein, your post is likely to be deleted in the interests of the forum generally.
 
evidently i am not being entirely clear. If right clicking the offending process and clicking either end process or end process tree succeeded in killing it, i would have no gripe. I do not mind the hanging programs, etc. This is to be expected, and is likely to be worked out. The larger concern is that the operating system (task manager, taskkill cmd command, etc.) do not seem to have the power to actually end processes. When a process hangs in this fashion, nothing can be done to end it shy of holding down the power button (restart/shutdown also will fail).
 
evidently i am not being entirely clear. If right clicking the offending process and clicking either end process or end process tree succeeded in killing it, i would have no gripe. I do not mind the hanging programs, etc. This is to be expected, and is likely to be worked out. The larger concern is that the operating system (task manager, taskkill cmd command, etc.) do not seem to have the power to actually end processes. When a process hangs in this fashion, nothing can be done to end it shy of holding down the power button (restart/shutdown also will fail).
strange thing is that you say even reinstalling windows didn't solve this. because that would make me believe that it is somehow related to your hardware, probably the processor. what processor are you using on your computer?
 
why would this be related to my processor? numerous people are having the same issue across a range of different machines. it has to do with the admin user having the proper privileges, i would assume. somewhere something is getting messed up either by something to do with UAC or the OS not being able to kill some driver. fwiw though, im using a core 2 duo T9400.
 
doubt it's a rights issue. if so you would get some kind of error message. killing processors is a basic OS ability and that you can shutdown at all proves you ARE able to kill processes one way or another. but granted, it doesn't seem to be a processor thing because you have a very common processor. nonetheless, if the problem persists after numerous reinstallations of windows it has to be somehow linked to your hardware - since that's the only thing that stays the same and windows is normally able to kill processes.
 
vista x64 works fine. it is a win7 issue, and like i said, fairly widely experienced. and note, when this happens, i cannot shutdown except by holding down the power button.
 
I reinstalled Windows, but haven't attempted to download anything large, so I don't know if things are better or not. I'll test it out in more detail tomorrow and report my results.

I have a 1.6 Ghz AMD Turion 64x2 for processors.
 
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