Windows XP Won't Shut Down

If Windows XP locks up when you try to shut down, there are a gazillion reasons why. The best thing to do is go here:

Resources to help troubleshoot shutdown problems in Windows XP

and work through the list of steps suggested by Microsoft.

This article refers to resources that you can use to troubleshoot shutdown problems in Windows XP. After you follow the steps in each article in a section, determine if you have resolved the problem by either shutting down or restarting your computer. If you still cannot shut down or restart your computer, continue to the next section in order. Try to shut down or restart your computer at the end of each section.