Windows Vista Vista Shutdown Issues - a weird problem

When I hit the shutdown command on the start menu the computer display powers down immediately ... and the hard drive continues to spin for a minute then it switches off (and yes the button is correctly set up via 'power options' to shutdown the computer). The normal process is that I see the closedown sequence on my screen.. or the sleep sequence if i choose that. Instead -the screen just goes black. This has never happened in 12 months of using vista (ultimate with service pack 1.. fully updated)

In effect, the result of this is that my pc isnt shutting down at all. It is as if its going to sleep, then cutting the power itself without doing a proper shutdown. Upon powering up again, the system starts up odd, with the exact windows/webpages from the previous session open and displayed as they were .. yet the internet intermittedly won't work and the system is sluggish for a good ten minutes. I can only deduce this is because of a failure of certain commands to open properly as the system wsnt shut down right.

meanwhile, the 'restart' command functions correctly

Ive got no driver conflicts, problems or anything like that. Ive installed no new software or hardware and everything was working fine until this happened out of the blue. Its possible i may have tinkered with something unwittingly with the system settings but It is definitely a problem with the shutdown of vista and I need a little help here. Glary utilities and tuneup dont seem to recognise or repair the problem. Every software scan i do says my system/software is perfect.

any help?

 

I suggest that you don't try installing all sorts of fixing utilities. (What are Glary utilities and tuneup?) The settings may have been "manipulated" and now you are trying to manipulate them back again.

Try going to a System Restore point before the problem started.