Shutdown Restart not working

[Doug]

System has :
Windows 2000 pro

This has been running without a hitch for 2+ years now.
Problem began after installing the latest windows media
player. (this was installed due to the previous version
not working at all for some reason.)

System starts normal and operates normal.
When the choice of "shutdown" or "restart" is made the
system goes through it's normal motions... saving settings
etc screens..

The displays both dim and windows seems to exit.. but the
computer continues to run. (no this is not only the fans
running...)
In order to start the system I must hit the "reset" button
on the computer itself.
In order to completely power down I must physically kill
the power supply.

Now I have to assume this is the media player which has
caused this.. as nothing else has been altered on the
system.

I did not create a "restore" as was recommended when
installing the media player. (so I am partly to blame
here>)

Any help would be apprecciated.

Thank you.

 

[Guest]

I have a somewhat similar problem with shutdown/restart with Win2000 on a Dell Inspiron 7500. Specifically, whether I choose to Shutdown or Restart the screen goes almost blank, and the system becomes unresponsive. It neither powers down, nor restarts. It takes a hard power off (about 6 seconds holding the power button) to turn off the machine. This problem only started after I installed a number of Microsoft critical and recommended updates in August/September 2003 for Win 2000. Microsoft even acknowledged existence of some such problem by issuing an update KB820888 to solve a problem "Hangs on Restart" which I installed. But the problem continues. I tried JohnJohn's suggestion and looked at PowerdownAfterShutdown in the Registry. It was set at 0. I changed it to 1. The problem continues to exist. From the number of complaints about the shutdown/restart problem on the Community Newsgroup pages, I would guess it is indeed a recent problem caused by Microsoft updates. After all, most of us Win2000 users have been using this OS for over 3 years, and now, suddenly, this problem appears after installing MS updates.
I am stuck, and need help with this problem.

 

[Guest]

I am experienceing the same thing after updates (and media player was one of them). On restart, machine goes through all the shutdown but stops on a black screen and doesn't restart. I have to hold the power button in for six seconds to power down, then press the power button and it boots up normally.