Dell 10V Doesnt Shut down

I have recently purchased a Dell 10V laptop installed with Windows XP on it. The laptop works properly but I cannot shut down the laptop completely. Whenever the I give the shut down command, all the processes are terminated and laptop shows a Blank screen with the mouse pointer which cannot be moved. The laptop gets stuck at this point and only way to shutdown the laptop is to press and hold the power button. Hence I want to know if there is something wrong with the laptop? Should I get the laptop replaced? Please help in solving this issue.

I suspect that this is a Static charge storage issue. Static charge gets stored near the motherboard of the laptop which may create such problems if the threshold voltage is reached. Clear the static charge stored on the laptop and then see if the laptop can be shut down or not. To clear the static charge, remove the battery of the laptop and press the power button. Keep the power button pressed for about 30 seconds. Release the power button and replace the battery. Boot the laptop and see if the problem is solved or not.

The operating system installed on the computer must be creating problems while shutting down the computer. There are lot of files which are associated to the operating system of the computer. If any of the file associated to the operating system is missing or not working properly, such problems will be faced. Insert the installation disk of the operating system and repair the installed operating system. Let the procedure complete. Once the procedure is complete, you will not face the same problem again.

Scan the system with some updated antivirus and check for all the files which are infected. By description of the problem, it looks like a virus infection. Virus's have the tendency of linking to the files of the operating system. If such a situation occurs then the operating system of the computer will not work properly. Scan the system and repair the files which are infected. Once all the files are repaired, see if the laptop is shutting down.