Q: Every time I shut down my computer I get an error saying that it can’t close jusched.exe and the system sort of hangs there and won’t shut down! How do I make it stop doing this?

A: jusched.exe is the process that runs as part of the JAVA Update Scheduler. JAVA is a programming framework that allows programs written in the JAVA language to run on any computer operating system (Windows, Unix, Linix, OS X, etc.) that supports JAVA. Most Windows systems have JAVA installed because a lot of Web pages include little programs that are written using this programming language.

Now, people out there who write nasty software like viruses and such are always looking for security holes in software like JAVA that they can exploit to install their garbage on your system without you knowing what they’ve done. It is for this reason that Sun Microsystems, the company that created JAVA, built update facilities into the software so that they can automatically patch security holes in end-user installations as they are discovered. This is a good thing as it makes it that much harder for hackers to infect and take over your system.

Unfortunately, after the JAVA Update Scheduler has found updates, it sometimes won’t close properly until the updates have been applied. My recommendation is to look in the system notification tray area of Windows (it’s where all the little icons live next to the clock at the bottom right of your screen) and look for a small orange icon. Hovering your pointer over it should create a small pop-up that informs you JAVA updates are available. Click OK to install these updates. Once JAVA is up-to-date the update scheduler (jusched.exe) will cease to be a problem when you shut down your computer. Well, at least until the next updates become available.

Alternatively, you can turn the update scheduler off entirely, but if you do this, your JAVA installation won’t automatically have security problems patched and you could easily wind up with a much worse (and more expensive!) problem than a system that has a bit of trouble shutting down gracefully.

Sean McCormick
A+, Network+, Linux+, CTT+, I-Net+
MCSA, MCSE, LPIC1