My system has become unstabled for the last several days. When instructed to shutdown, the system freezes while displaying "Windows is shutting down" but it never powers off. Any suggestions? I hate bugs

Can you successfully deploy system restore & revert back to before the problem started? The internet is a series of tubes!

If not, you can try deselecting applications in the msconfig startup tab. There's a good chance that one of them is hanging up the shutdown process. Look closely at any that were installed lately. Do yourself a favor BACKUP!

Thanks for the responses. I used System Restore to step back to July 21st. I will be shutting down tonight and I will see if the sys hang is gone away. The only program that I recall installing since was MyWiFi, a monitoring program to detect unauthorized access to my home network -using a router with built in firewall. I removed the program and restored to the point prior to its installation. I hate bugs

After Restoring to a previous point, the earliest that the system allows me, the system froze at the same point when shutting down. Again, I had to manually power off. Since I only had one new program installed, and I removed it since, I do not see any specific program other than maybe during its installation it changed some of the Registry entries and removal does not delete them. Any other suggestions? I hate bugs

Do you check for, and remove, Spyware ?? Spyware info.from Microsoft Most Virus and Spyware scans are likely to work better in Windows Safe-Mode. Resources to Help Troubleshoot Shutdown Problems in Windows XP