Dimension 4100 won't shut down properly

I've got an old Dell Dimension 4100 that's been upgraded to Windows XP
Pro. (To clarify, I use it, and am responsible for it, but I don't own
it. It's basically a shared resource in my office.)

The problem I'm having is that it won't reboot or shut down properly.
It gets part-way through the process and then hangs. To finish the
reboot or shutdown process, I have to press the reboot or power button
on the front panel. I _suspect_ it's a Windows driver issue, but that's
just a guess. Nothing obvious, to me at least, shows up in the Windows
Event Viewer.

Doing a System Restore isn't an option - turns out this has been going
on for quite some time - before I started in the office.

This obviously isn't a show-stopper, but it is an annoyance.

Any ideas on how to figure out what the root cause is?

Bob Pownall

"Bob Pownall" <> wrote in message
news:...
> I've got an old Dell Dimension 4100 that's been upgraded to Windows XP
> Pro. (To clarify, I use it, and am responsible for it, but I don't own
> it. It's basically a shared resource in my office.)
>
> The problem I'm having is that it won't reboot or shut down properly. It
> gets part-way through the process and then hangs. To finish the reboot or
> shutdown process, I have to press the reboot or power button on the front
> panel. I _suspect_ it's a Windows driver issue, but that's just a guess.
> Nothing obvious, to me at least, shows up in the Windows Event Viewer.
>
> Doing a System Restore isn't an option - turns out this has been going on
> for quite some time - before I started in the office.
>
> This obviously isn't a show-stopper, but it is an annoyance.
>
> Any ideas on how to figure out what the root cause is?
>
> Bob Pownall
Since this is an old problem this may apply.
http://support.microsoft.com/default...b;en-us;819634

"Bob Pownall" <> wrote in message
news:...
> I've got an old Dell Dimension 4100 that's been upgraded to Windows XP
> Pro. (To clarify, I use it, and am responsible for it, but I don't own
> it. It's basically a shared resource in my office.)
>
> The problem I'm having is that it won't reboot or shut down properly. It
> gets part-way through the process and then hangs. To finish the reboot or
> shutdown process, I have to press the reboot or power button on the front
> panel. I _suspect_ it's a Windows driver issue, but that's just a guess.
> Nothing obvious, to me at least, shows up in the Windows Event Viewer.
>
> Doing a System Restore isn't an option - turns out this has been going on
> for quite some time - before I started in the office.
>
> This obviously isn't a show-stopper, but it is an annoyance.
>
> Any ideas on how to figure out what the root cause is?
>
> Bob Pownall


Some program (firewall/anti-virus) or device (printer/network connection,
etc) is likely trying to write to Windows and hanging it up would be my
initial guess.

Stew