Windows XP Freezes at Shutdown

[Chr1s]

Hello,

I've been having this problem for the past 2 weeks. Whenever I try to shutdown or reset my computer (which is using Windows XP) it freezes at the log out screen with the message: "Preparing to Shutdown" followed by my mouse and keyboard not working.

Could someone help me or tell me what's causing this?

 

[Mage]

I had this problem with xp. what happened on my pc is that xp will try to shut down a program but its not responding. so xp freezes (default action) and won't shut down properly. it could be your anti-virus or spyware or even a trojan. best to run anti-virus and anti-spyware apps and see if that clears it up.

 

[Chr1s]

I'll try that out. Thanks.

 

[Traudong]

I had this problem, too. And i've solved it. I think it's happen because some programs are not compatible with XP.
In my case, after installing "Easy file & folder protector", my computer can't be restarted or shut down (it freezes at the log out screen with the message: "Preparing to Shutdown", too). And when I uninstall it, XP runs normally.
So you should try to uninstall every programs that recently be installed or not necessary.