Windows XP Pro 64 gets stuck on "Windows is shutting down"

Hey guys,
As I've mentioned earlier, I finally put together my first 64 bit system. For some odd reason i keep on running into little errors and this odd behavior from the os when doing certain things.
Currently my system gets stuck on "Windows is shutting down" whenever i restart the pc or select shut down. In order for me to be able to reset it, I have to manually hold down the power button and wait until it turns off.

I've installed the latest chipset drivers fom my motherboard ( Abit Fatal1ty AN8 SLI ), have done a couple of troubleshooting steps found on support.microsoft.com, I've also ran a windows update hoping that it will help and nothing, Also i manually changed the Ram Memory settings under the bios to match exacly the ram in my pc (not overclocked)

I was hoping that one of you might have a solution in case anyone has ever run into the problem before...

Thanks again,

Ahhhh the famous "windows is shutting down" freeze. That problem should have been gone since the 98 days. I'm guessing you made sure there are no driver conflicts in device manager? After that, it could be a hardware problem.

Try updating your bios. I have an MSI mobo that used to the exact same thing with 32 bit until I updated its bios and from your post it looks like you've only tried the chipset drivers.

Are you running Avast?