iMac will not shut down with apple menu

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Level 1

5 points

iMac will not shut down with apple menu

I can no longer shut down or restart my iMac using the Apple drop down menu, only the power button. I know this is not preferable, I get the message that I "shutdown because of a problem" every time I restart with the open to last known windows option. I'm using El Capitan 10.11.6 on a 2007 iMac w/2.8 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo, 4GB 667 MHz and a 4-month old Crucial 2TB solid state drive. I've read many other threads and found no match to this problem. I don't have anything freezing. I've done a HD check with Disk Utility and no errors were found. I always close open programs before shutting down, and Activity Monitor shows no CPU hogs in action prior to trying to shut down. Other than auto-updates for various programs the only thing I've added in the past couple of weeks when this started is Dropbox and Go To Meeting, both needed for a project. I went back and eliminated those when the job was done, still have the problem. Running the pay version of ClamXav, up to date and last scan revealed no problem files. I would try a restore to a previous setting, but just coincidentally my WD My Book crashed and I had to re-format so have nothing to fall back on.

iMac, OS X El Capitan (10.11.6), 2TB SSD, 4GB 667 MHZ DDR2 SDRAM

Posted on Aug 15, 2016 2:25 PM

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Answer 1

macjack

Level 10

111,242 points

Aug 15, 2016 2:32 PM in response to texaskellys

Hi texaskellys, you can try the steps in Apple Support Topic:

OS X Yosemite: Log out, sleep, restart, and shut down

I wouldn't go too much further without a good backup.

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Answer 2

texaskellys Author

Level 1

5 points

Aug 15, 2016 3:47 PM in response to macjack

Thanks, MackJack, but I know all the options (have El Capitan, BTW). I can't shut down properly because Shut Down in the Apple drop down menu does not work (nor does restart). The task bar just disappears, leaving the dock on the screen until the monitor goes to sleep. I have to push the power button then to shut down and then get the message window upon start up telling me I shut down due to a "problem". No kidding.

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Answer 3

macjack

Level 10

111,242 points

Aug 16, 2016 6:51 AM in response to texaskellys

texaskellys wrote:

I know all the options (have El Capitan, BTW).

Yes, I was going to note that the Apple Topic was for Yosemite but is the same for El Capitan.

Start up in Safe Mode and see if the problem still occurs:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT201262

Restart holding the "shift" key.

(Expect it to take longer to start this way because it runs a directory check first. Also give it a little time after start because it runs some maintenance routines in the beginning.)

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Answer 4

texaskellys Author

Level 1

5 points

Aug 16, 2016 6:51 AM in response to macjack

OK, had tried Apple Recovery (command+r) but not safe mode; so did the safe mode and I could shut down with with the Apple menu while there. However that did not fix the problem, upon restarting normally the problem persisted. So I then I checked logins as your link next suggested. I didn't delete all and add back one at a time as suggested because the first item I didn't recognize (WBE) I couldn't find in Finder so wasn't confident I could add it again. So I started by removing an old Epson (EEventmanager) and ClickFree (CFAgent) entry since I have neither hardware anymore on this computer. Shut down with the power button, restarted and now the Apple drop down menu shut down option works again. So thanks, Mac Jack, you led me to the fix! (Still don't know what the WBE application is, only thing I can find searching online referee to the Womans Business Enterprise, whatever that is).

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Answer 5

macjack

Level 10

111,242 points

Aug 16, 2016 6:59 AM in response to texaskellys

You are welcome. Glad that it is sorted.

Did you ever download this application?

http://www.nwboc.org/Apply/Download_WBE_Application.html

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Answer 6

texaskellys Author

Level 1

5 points

Aug 16, 2016 7:25 AM in response to macjack

No, never seen it before, and like I said I can't find anything in Finder called WBE ... at least the first time I looked. Now I see it's there! Very strange. It's part of my GoDaddy email, the Web Based Email desktop notifier app (and a plug in). Glad I didn't turn that off!

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