Computer won't shut off
 

This is a software problem, I can obviously use the power button, but would rather not every single time. When I try to shut off or restart via the start menu, task manager, or other applications that have required a restart (windows update), I see an hour glass for a split second after I choose 'restart' or 'shutdown', and nothing happens. I have tried this multiple times.

It seems your Windows is just fucked. How long do you have it installed? Try to disable a lot of things in msconfig's bootup menu (start -> run -> msconfig) and check step by step if any program might cause the prevention.

Usually I find the problem is caused by a bad windows service. Go to run and open "services.msc" stop everything you can and see if Windows shuts down.

Try this here thingy first, before going crazy on the startup and services disabling --> http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/d...displaylang=en

If you can't download from Microsoft due to non-genuine Windows XP, circumvention details are in this post.