System not signing out or shutting down properly.

Question

The problem is sometimes (not always) when I shut down my computer (which I recently updated from Windows 8 to 8.1 via Store), or sign out - it hangs. Hangs in the way, that when signing out it keeps showing signing out for 30 minutes, after which I just
force shutdown it. Same is the case with shutting down: after the screen is turned off, I still see the processor light on, even after a lot of time, indicating that it has not actually shut down. This has been the case since a lot of time now.
The biggest problem is, it occurs frequently enough to be an issue, but not everytime. For example, if I turn off/sign out 10 times a week, this problem is present, like only 7 times. So I can't find a definite cause for it. Also, this is primarily an issue
with the sign out: I think the shutdown fails because the sign out fails - so it's about fixing the sign out.
With no sort of visual indications or error messages, the only place I can start troubleshooting is the Event log. Looking at the System logs under Windows, the only error reported around the time of shutdown and (surprisingly) even when the PC is being
used is Event ID 10016 "The machine-default permission settings do not grant Local Activation permission for the COM Server application with CLSID {C2F03A33-21F5-47FA-B4BB-156362A2F239} and APPID..."
Using the registry, I found that this application with the above mentioned CLSID was: Immersive Shell. Looking deeper into the Event Log, I found that this error started occurring only after Windows 8.1 was installed. This confirms that this issue is
caused by some fault during update.
I would like to make it clear that a Refresh or a Reset is my last resort - simply because I do not want to spend hours reconfiguring my system and desktop apps. I want to get to the solution of this issue - not overlook it.
Even more interesting, sometimes the error would end like: " from address LocalHost (Using LRPC) running in the application container Unavailable SID (Unavailable). This security permission can be modified using the Component Services administrative
tool." (the case around the time of shutdown/sign out),
and sometimes like: "to the user PCNAME\USERNAME SID (S-1-5-21-1925085438-1685653947-3436975336-1001) from address LocalHost (Using LRPC) running in the application container Microsoft.BingNews_3.0.1.174_x64__8wekyb3d8bbwe SID (S-1-15-2-508114518-3340871649-811464485-526616082-4258465299-1774086546-1865468257).
This security permission can be modified using the Component Services administrative tool". (during the time the PC is on). And this kind of error occurs with many other Modern apps, so you can replace the part after "running in the application container"
with the details and name of any installed Modern app.
So, what is this error essentially, why does this occur, and most importantly, how do I fix it? Thanks in advance for any solutions/suggestions.

Answer 1

Well, to set settings for Immersive Shell, I followed the steps at
http://blogs.msdn.com/b/emeadaxsupport/archive/2010/01/26/unable-to-edit-the-dcom-settings-for-iis-wamreg-admin-service-on-a-windows-server-2008-r2-when-trying-to-configure-kerberos-authentication-for-role-centers.aspx
(which I got a reference to from a reply at
http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_vista-security/dcom-error-10016-cannot-change-permissions-in/dfdb4fa6-c867-4af1-b650-3a188d26d36b ).
This automatically granted me full control on Administrators for Immersive Shell (did not notice then, but when you asked me to do so, I checked it). But the issue was not resolved. Then, when you mentioned about posting complete event log details,
I thought I had only left out the APPID part (which was irrelevant to solving this issue). But just to be double sure again, I checked (I was right). And this lead me to something interesting, the recent error ended with:
to the user NT AUTHORITY\LOCAL SERVICE SID (S-1-5-19) from address LocalHost (Using LRPC) running in the application container Unavailable SID (Unavailable). This security permission can be modified using the Component Services administrative tool.
So, I just added permissions for LOCAL SERVICE to all 3 parts (Launch and Activation, Access and configuration permissions) - and tested by doing 2 sign-outs and 2 shutdowns.
And surprisingly, it all worked well. So, based on this I can declare: <strike>PROBLEM SOLVED!!!</strike>
<strike>NOW WHAT DO I MARK AS THE ANSWER? This post?</strike>
And, thanks for offering help, v-yozhu.
On the third shutdown, it again stuck. Checked the event log again: this time it's event 10010 (around shutdown, 3 times in a row):
The server {03E64E17-B220-4052-9B9B-155F9CB8E016} did not register with DCOM within the required timeout.
And there's another one (during general PC use):
The server {209500FC-6B45-4693-8871-6296C4843751} did not register with DCOM within the required timeout.
OK, now I am trying to solve this issue.