WinXP Doesn't Shutdown, Just Restarts

[DM]

WinXP Home SP3, Athlon 1.2Ghz, 640MB RAM, 20GB boot partition

I've just reformated the C: drive and reinstalled XP after over 7
years on the original install. Everything was going smoothly until
the last 24 hours when the computer will not complete a shutdown.
Instead, it restarts and I have to use the power button to turn the
machine off in mid-boot.

I've used MSCONFIG to look at the startup commands and there doesn't
seem to be anything unusual, but don't know enough of the rest
(boot.ini, sys.ini, etc.) to determine if there is a problem with some
installation not finishing properly.

Any thoughts about where should I be looking for a solution?

DM

 

[Andrew E.]

99% of the time,when a pc fails to shutdown and restarts itself,its a
hardware conflict....

 

[DM]

I checked every component of the Device Manager and nothing is flagged
as having a problem.

DM

 

[DM]

I checked every component of the Device Manager and nothing is flagged
as having a problem.

DM

It was, in fact, an incorrect driver which I discovered on
reinstalling the OS for a second time. Thanks.