Just yesterday I had the same problem and while disabling fast shutdown was not the problem, I thought I'd share what I found.

First, check out the shut down problem at Microsoft (Q202633):

<support.microsoft.com/support/kb/articles/Q202/6/33.ASP?LN=EN-US&SD=gn&FR=0&qry=shut%20down&rnk=10&src=DHCS_MSPSS_gn_SRCH&SPR=W98SE>

To disable Fast Shutdown:

Go Programs, Accessories, System Tools, System Information, System Configuration Utility, on the General tab, click Advanced, click to select disable Fast Shutdown check box, check OK, and then click OK, click yes to restart your computer.

But, what I found was that one of my programs was actually the culprit, and found that before my IBM ThinkPad 1420 would shutdown, I needed to close the offending program, so I'd suggest closing programs to find the problem if it's a program.  EndItAll2 can also close all programs which is use before running various utilities, and is available from PC Magazine.

Hope this helps,

Ed Nottingham

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