neverending shutdown....

[bigstanklo]

I have the same problem and can't figure out what it is. Tried multiple installs of the OS (both XP Home and Pro, legitimate copies) with the same problem. I do have an HP printer but I uninstalled it and used the PC for a while with the same problem. Think it could be a hardware issue? Random....

 

[fixal0t]

could be an update causing this too.
*boot to safemode, or disable automatic update service if you know how
*remove the folder/contents 'c:\windows\softwaredistribution'
*restart service if it was stopped
*reboot
*check MS Update site for new ones

 

[canooten]

think this might be it?
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/821690/en-us

No, the first part is right, but I don't have the browsing issue.

could be an update causing this too.
*boot to safemode, or disable automatic update service if you know how
*remove the folder/contents 'c:\windows\softwaredistribution'
*restart service if it was stopped
*reboot
*check MS Update site for new ones

I'll give this a shot.

The only thing I've installed recently is TurboTax, but it was installed for several days and had been opened a couple of times before this started.