You may face several issues and difficulties while using a computer but some of the toughest ones here are shutting down the same. Often, you may have noticed that the system doesn't shut down, but freezes. This problem mainly arises with Windows XP and so users keep cribbing that the 'XP won't shut down.' Instead of cursing your system you should try and find out reasons and solutions for the same.

Some of the shutting down errors that occur frequently with XP:
Shutting down of the system takes a longer time, than required, and so you have to wait for several minutes. Desktop gets locked but XP won't shut down completely, which leaves you in a maze of frozen files. When you shut down Windows, you have to wait and thus keep sitting, gazing at your screen to the message which says 'Windows is shutting down.' But, the window never shuts completely and so you are forced to either restart or take off power plug.
What happens to your PC? The prognosis of the problem reveals some of the major issues, which are concerned with the Windows operation:
Windows registry might have been corrupted with damaged files and errors, which occur while adding or removing new programs in your system. It is essential to keep it clean, lest it tends to slow down the processing of your computer operations. Once, registry is cleansed off, XP will start shutting down faster. Whenever the users shut down their computer, the Windows communicate with the registry to make sure that everything is in proper order. During this communication process, some error may occur, or corrupt entries in it may often lead to hassles, during shutting down. A virus or spyware running on the PC, without the knowledge of user can occur, especially if Internet explorer is installed. This will slow down the process and XP won't shut down. What happens here is that the viruses or spyware programs try to continue running, even when the users are shutting down system, and thus hampers the processed command.
You can get rid of this problem with few simple considerations:
Clean up Windows registry from time to time. This will trash off the errors that find their way into it. Registry cleaning software programs and tools are available in the market or on Internet. You can get them installed and clean up the registry efficiently. Scan your system regularly to ensure protection from external and internal threats to the system. Last but not least, learn to switch off your computer properly.