> I don't know if this will help you, but I had a similar situation with my
> Gateway laptop and this helped:
>
> Control Panel->Power Options->Choose what the Power Button does...
>
> Mine was set to Hibernate for both battery and PS power. I changed the
> settings to Shut Down and the Gateway starting shutting down properly.
>
Thanks for that

)
I changed the setting to give me a shut-down off the button, which is more
convenient than going through the usual routine. Stll hung, but it's
slightly less irritating ;o)
Then downloaded PCTools Registry Mechanic. This found a whole raft of
problems and claimed to fix them.
It now shuts down completely, but it still sits there for about four minutes
after hard disk activity stops - so I guess there's still a glitch
somewhere.
But it's going in the right direction.....
TFYH