How do I show hidden background processes waiting to close?

Question

When I shut down my computer, a few moments later Windows opens a window waiting for a background program that needs to close.

But it doesn't tell me what the background process is, unlike XP. It's just empty, like the picture in the linked question:

How do I force Explorer/Task Host Window to show me what the pending background processes are? Is there a registry key for this option?

Duplicate of: http://superuser.com/questions/912883/how-to-determine-which-program-is-causing-window-to-have-trouble-logging-off-or but perhaps you will get more answers with the bounty. — End Anti-Semitic Hate, Sep 16 '15 at 09:11
I don't know what to do with the bounty... nobody presented a good answer. I'll leave it to expire, then. — oldmud0, Sep 18 '15 at 22:14
I tried the registry "hack" presented in one of the answers... it works well for what it does, but it does not provide the name of the process. Do you happen to have a screen driver/utility from Portrait Displays (I think HP also repackages it as HP My Display) that may be stalling? — End Anti-Semitic Hate, Sep 19 '15 at 00:14

score 2 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 15 '15 at 02:41

2

There is no way to see the background processes. This is just a limitation of Explorer/DWM.

answered Sep 15 '15 at 02:41

oldmud0

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 11 '15 at 03:24

There is a Registry hack to allow the user to see the Verbose Information messages in Windows 7 in Shutdown, etc.

Here is a link with information on how to do this:

The article is pretty long, so I will leave it up the questioner to go to the link and get the information, rather than paste a bunch of things here.

I did this on one of my machines some time back, and it worked well; delivering some useful information.

"...rather than paste...": In this case, the answer remains a link-only answer. You should include the relevant parts in this answer. — Thomas Weller, Sep 17 '15 at 07:58

2 Answers2