The problem started after I installed an ethernet card. Now windows won't shut it seems like it hangs and I have to turn the power off. The same problem is with the restart option. the hibernate option however doesn't work cause after shutting off it comes back on immediately.

The problem is probably with the ethernet card:) Have you tried using the restore feature in windows ME to see if the problem can be corrected? This will verify your suspicion. I have no idea what it could be at this point....might try checking out the ethernet cards website. this might be a known issue that a patch is available for. Also check out microsoft.com they might have something about this problem. or try www.google.com and put in a few search terms like ... "3COM model#abc123 ethernet card causes windows me to hang" If your unsucessful just reply with the ethernets make and model number along with some system info so the experts here can figure this one out for ya! Good Luck!

A couple of things from the Microsoft KB: This one mainly has to do with an ethernet card causing the system to hang: Hang at Startup or Shutdown with Ndis.vxd Enabled And this one consists of general troubleshooting steps to determine your problem: How to Troubleshoot Windows Me Shutdown Problems

Thanks guys I will certainly try that. I looked at other messages with similar problem and tried the "disable fastboot option" Now I CAN restart but shut down is still hanging the PC. I will check the links that u gave me and will look at them. Again thanks very much. Sabeeh

I looked at the link "hangup or shut down with ndis.vxd enbled" and discovered that if I disabled ndis.vxd my pc would shut down properly but then I am unable to use my ethernet card. The only solution I could think of was to get updated driver for my ethernet card ,which by the way is sohoware SFA110A, but the problem still exists . Ironically I could have bought netgear or linksys which have gotten rid of this problem via updated price and were selling for the same amount $19.99 but sohoware was the only one that had WINDOWS ME driver. Again thanks very much guys.

I would like to thank everyone of u guys for helping me out. the problem resloved itself yesterday. I don't know what happened really as the problem was still there when I updated the drivers but yesterday the problem was gone I think I must have done something but I can't remember exacltly what as I install and uninstall a lot of programs also I normally use selective startup and I disabled a lot of junk that was in my startup. Hope my experience will help somone else. Bye Sabeeh