[playtom]

Lately my PC has been unable to shutdown on it's own. What it does is that after i confirmed shutdown it will proceed to say "Windows is shutting down" and i can hear some noise coming from my tower suggesting that the process is going as usual. However, after a short while the window is still there and i can only hear the low humming noises that my computer would make during idle periods. Thankfully, i can hold down the start button for a few seconds and it will force a shutdown. I've tried this workaround several times and it doesn't seem to harm my computer a bit, not a single disk checkup or error has promopted itself on me if i recall correctly.

Something tells me that the most likely culprit is my XP operating system, as it is usual with clogging up my system over long periods of usage. Can anyone offer advice besides doing a re-install?