Your computer stops responding when you try to shut down in Windows XP

When you try to shut down your Microsoft Windows XP-based computer, you may experience the following symptoms:

• You may receive the following message:
  It is now safe to turn off your computer.
• Your computer may stop responding (hang).

This issue occurs on a computer that supports Advanced Power Management (APM). By default, this feature is not enabled in Windows XP. If the BIOS on your computer is set for APM, and you upgrade to Windows XP, you receive this message when you shutdown the computer, and then the computer stops responding.

To resolve this issue, follow these steps:

1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2. In Control Panel, click Performance and Maintenance, and then click Power Options.
3. Click the APM tab.
4. Check to select the Enable Advanced Power Management Support check box, and then click OK.

If you use a computer that does not load a HAL that is Advanced Configuration Power Interface-compliant (ACPI-compliant), you receive this message when the shutdown procedure is complete. When you use an ACPI-compliant basic input/output system (BIOS) with the ACPI HAL, the operating system can turn off the power supply. Because the standard computer HAL is loaded on computers that only support APM, the computer does not turn off when you try to shut down.

For more information about troubleshooting shutdown problems, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base: