Hello, everybody (again :[ ).

I'm gonna keep things short so that I can get some quick help. My PC won't shutdown through Windows (nor will it 'Restart' through Windows).

I'm suspecting that it's some sort of dll error, but does anyone else have any ideas?

System specs are as follows:
- Windows XP Pro w/ SP2 (all updates)
- Intel Pentium D 925 (shame, I know)
- Gigabyte 965P-DS3
- Crucial Ballistix DDR2-800 RAM
- Western Digital SATAII HDD
- Radeon X1900 XTX

Also, on a totally different subject, what's the difference between running the HDD under IDE and AHCI?

Have you tried formatting the hard drive?

I'd try a Windows Repair booting off the CD

+1

- The drive was formatted a week ago.

- What should I type in the recovery console? I don't know what's causing the problem.

Also, what I mean by "PC not shutting down" is that; after I click on 'Turn Off', the PC logs out properly but then it stops at 'Windows is shutting down' (on the log off screen). It then just stays on the 'Windows is shutting down' screen and fails to turn off.

Any ideas?

not the recovery console, instead the first time you see install or repair choose install the second time you see them choose repair

Ah, I see.

Will that wipe all my data?

no it will reinstall all widows files/reg-keys, but everything will stay the same, all your apps and settings are untouched, you will probably need to reinstall some of your drivers but everything else will be the same.

It didn't fix the problem.

Got any other ideas.

can you msconfig and disable all none ms services and disable all startup apps and then boot and see if this still happens

It's likely you may have to do a clean install of Windows, i.e., a regular format prior to installing, which will wipe everything out so back up your data first. Before that I would try clearing the CMOS, which should also reset your BIOS to their original settings. There are settings in the BIOS which affect shutdown and restart. Granted, this is not likely the problem but it's a lot easier than a clean install and I think would be worth a try.

I'm going to try disabling all non MS services first from msconfig.

Funny story about the CMOS... Few days ago my sister tried installing a mobile phone PC suite on this computer. However, the installation failed and it screwed up everything (that's where all my problems started).
I had to reset the CMOS for the fricken the PC to even boot up and I once got into Windows to find any traces of viruses/left over files, I found nothing.

I ran virus, spyware and even system files checks for this computer but nothing came up. I didn't find any left over files from the failed installation either.

Anyway, if all else fails, I'll have to reinstall windows all over again...