XP will not "shut down" or "restart"

[liquidfire]

i run Windows XP Professional and when i click start and try and shutdown or restart, it never works. it's correctly plugged into the motherboard as well. also another wierd thing is that a video game i play Unreal Tournament 2004... which usually requires a cd in the computer durring usage... no longer requires it. just thought i would say something in case there was a link.

 

[Rick]

Shutdown problems are often caused by a misbehaving program or service running in the background or you need updated drivers for your network / modem card(s)

 

[liquidfire]

Network or mIRC

currently i run an mIRC called Excursion which assumes the "remain on top" position... meaning that if i click on any other item on my task bar it will not show above this irc program... but when i minimize it i can switch windows with no problem. it did not always do this before.

I'm just wondering if this is the program that is acting funny that would cause something like this.

Also... I was having some network trouble so i got a repeater for my wireless connection. I updated the drivers though. Anything else i should look for in terms of network errors?

Thank you.