BleepingComputer.com: Shut Down fails, just restarts

Windows XP Pro SP3. Older Gateway PC.

Last week an new and interested behavior started to occur. Using the normal shutdown routine."start --- turnoff computer---turn off" the computer doesn't shut down. It simply restarts, just as if I hit restart instead of "turn off". Using the task manager doesn't make a difference. The only way to shut this thing off is to hold down the power button.

I've not added any new hardware or software to the system. Any ideas other than a clean install of XP would be appreciated.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/320299

For more, scroll down to "Restatt Instead of Shutdown" at http://www.theeldergeek.com/shutdown_issues_in_xp.htm .

Louis

Thank you.

As noted in the articles, I have diabled the auto restart in the event of a system problem.

I've also reviewed the event log for errors and find no errors reported in any of the four catagories. System, Aplication, IE, or security.

Just as a troubleshooting step, please boot to safe mode. Now shut down. What happens?

I had actually tried that early in the diagnostic process. The behavior didn't change.

I have however solved the problem. I formated the hardrive and did a clean install of XP up to SP3.

I've checked the shut down process after the install and further after the install of the drivers and application programs. I was hoping to be able to report that a particular driver or application was causing the problem, but so far, everything is working fine.

Thanks for the help.

Thanks for the update and glad you're all set.