I am using Windows XP Pro. My computer can't restart from the START>Turn Off Computer. When I clicked on the Restart button, nothing happens. The 'Turn Off Computer' dialogue box disappears but never restarts. Nothing happens. The computer isn't hung up nor is Windows. Everything is still fine...as I can still navigate through Windows and open programs. The damn problem is that I just can't restart from the START menu. The same thing happens when I try to restore my computer to any of the earlier restore points through System Restore and NOTHING happens. And when I go to
the Windows Update site to see if there is any updates for my Windows, as I clicked on the 'Express' button to get high-priority updates, the site returns with a message saying: The website has encountered a problem and cannot display the page you are trying to view.....

Please help me find a solution to this. I have been searching for answers for the past 2 weeks and nothing helps. Please help me.

I am afraid my grandson would disagree - you are not the real Spongebob , but welcome to D-A-L anyway.

Can you shut down from the Task Manager (Ctrl-Alt Del)? How have you been shutting down?

Tell us more about your computer - PC or laptop, make and model. What service pack?

Have you scanned for malware?

What if you select Custom in WU, and pick one or two at a time? It may be only one is messing with all of them.

Generally with shutdown and restart problems, if nothing obvious, I start working my through Windows XP Shutdown Troubleshooter.

hi digerati, thanks for responding to my help. i guess everything is ok now after i finally plucked up courage to press the on/off button on my computer to reboot it. embarrassed to say i have Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and i refused to get myself 'contaminated' by touching the on/off button (ya, i know...laugh at me...but hope u understand...), thus decided to restart through the Start menu. Anyway thks for replying, things r ok now. btw, still don't know what caused the problem in the first place. could it be low in memory that caused Windows to ignore/not responding to my request to restart or restore my system??? u see my hard disk left less than 10% disk space and i heard it should not exceed 70% or 80% used disk space or Winows XP PRO will not work well.....something like that. i m using a dell dimension DIM9100, Pentium D CPU 3GHz and 2.99GHz (dual processors), 1G Ram, Windows XP Pro, Service Pack 3.
There is 1 more thing that puzzles me is that when i use my computer for many hours like more than 10 hours, it becomes slow and opening program or browser window is even slower. it seems to be very busy doing some other things....i guess. most of time i tend to leave my computer on for days and this slowness of my computer which develops through time means that i have to restart my computer time after time when my computer slows down. sometimes i wonder isn't 1G of ram enough to open many browser windows during surfing the Net, then why is there still a slowness happening and worst still, can't open another browser window. Why can't the computer reuse the Ram after i close some other browser windows and running programs, so that the computer can work/run faster thereafter. btw, can a computer be left on/running for days? why does it become slow or retarded when left on/running for hours/days. why do i need to restart my computer now and then just to get it run at its normal speed again.....what's causing this problem?

Anyone can help to enlighten me??? Thanks.

I keep my systems running 24/7 and they only reboot when critical update requires it. Your computer should not slow down over time. If it does, it typically means it is infested with spyware, or too many things have been left running, consuming resources.

1Gb is fine, but you should try to free up some disk space. I recommend purging the hard drives of clutter with Windows (XP or Vista) Disk Cleanup, ATF Cleaner (XP only) or CCleaner. If using CCleaner, uncheck option to install Yahoo toolbar during installation. Before first use, go to Options > Settings > Advanced and ensure Only delete files in Windows Temp folders older than 48 hours is unchecked.

Note: Know your site credentials (user name and password) for sites you frequent before cleaning; you may have to login again at next visit.

Download and install Malwarebytes's Anti-Malware (MBAM) then scan as follows:

Check for updates before scanning,
Select Perform quick scan > Scan,
When complete, click OK, then Show Results,
Ensure all is selected, and click Remove Selected,
When complete, save the log in Notepad to a convenient place for future reference.

Do the same for all computers in your "Trusted Zone" on your network (everything on your side of the Internet "gateway" device - typically a Cable or DSL modem).

Once that is all done, reboot. Note it may take a little longer than normal to come up as disk cleanup for some files is not completed until early in the next boot, before Windows can get hooks in them. But once up and you are fully running with your firewall and your standard anti-malware programs running, enter Task Manager and see how many processes are running. This is how it should remain after you close everything you are doing, leaving only your security programs running. If there are more processes running, it may indicate one of your programs is not exiting completely. This is usually intentional, but I call it lazy programming.

If you do this frequently, you will become familiar with what is in there upon first boot, be able to spot items not normally there. Do not disable anything you are not sure of - enter the image name in Google and see what it is first.

Why can't the computer reuse the Ram after i close some other browser windows and running programs

It should, again, typically this is lazy programming (browsers are not usually the problem - it is other stuff the user runs).