A while ago I had a problem with my computer taking longer then normal on shut down, after shutting down after a contention issue with the scanner.

BigBro fan suggested a course of action, which did not work.

(I am creating a new thread because the old one seems to have disappeared )

Last week I was informed of an update for Zone Alarm (the free version I use) I down loaded it and installed it, which required a re-boot. Since then the shut down process seems to have been fixed.

In light of this, the question is what happened that destabalised my system, and how did this update fix it

I have now set up a restore point, just in case.

This is old history now, especially in light of new developments, see elsewhere, so feel free to lock this thread