G
GlowingBlueMist
< snip >
Well the good news is now that you find your computer can boot and power
down properly using the small Linux boot CD you have at least eliminated
hardware issues with your current system. The bad is that the problem
is pointing to a misguided program or Windows update of some kind.
I think it's time for you to try and follow "Man-wai Change to The
Door's" advice and check out the link he provided from Microsoft
describing a possible fix. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/810903
Individual programs can interfere with the shutdown procedure by simply
refusing to shutdown properly while they are running, even while hidden
from view as in a firewall or other program.
Doing a control-alt-delete and bringing up the Task Manager you can see
the processes that are running just before you try to shutdown. If one
of them refuse to shutdown properly your system may hang like you have
described.
If you are lucky you can try to shut down non-windows operating
processes in the task manager (one at a time and then shutdown) and see
if the shutdown proceeds properly after that and then deal with the
individual program that was indicated, as in uninstall it or find an
updated version. At the worst you might provide a list of the process
as listed in the task manager so people can advise on which one(s) might
be a good candidate for a manual termination test.
Anyway I think it's time to turn you over to Man-wai and see if his
advice can help you further. His suggestion about the KB810903 at
Microsoft is a good one now that a hardware issue has been ruled out.