What happens when you choose Restart or Shut down?
   Are there any programs running in the background?  If so, try quitting them all first.

You were right Ray. Shutting down all the running programs did the trick. Thanks!

NEVER turn off the computer by the on/off button on the computer case unless absolutely necessary.  There is a "shut down" process the system needs to use, and you can corrupt Windows if you don't let it follow the normal shut down.  You may SEEM to get away with it for a while, but you never know exactly what got corrupted when you do it.

An alternate method of shutting down the computer if the "Start" method doesn't work is to press [alt][ctrl][del] ONE time and wait for Task Manager to come up.  One of the options that people forget about is "Shut Down."

Ray's right, though most programs SHOULD shut down as part of the shut down routine.  It's always a good idea to close out anything you have running before trying to shut down.

C.R.