windows 7 will not shut down my laptop

Hi ianrobby,

Welcome to Microsoft Answers Forums.

This may mostly happen if the programs running on the computer do not quit I would prevent the computer to shutdown this may also happen due to any third party software or its services interrupting the shutdown process. I would suggest that you try the clean boot procedure and check if it works.

To help troubleshoot error messages and other issues, you can start Windows Vista by using a minimal set of drivers and startup programs. This kind of startup is known as a "clean boot." A clean boot helps eliminate software conflicts.

Perform clean boot and check if you have the issue.

   1. Click Start, type msconfig in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.
       User Account Control permission
       If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Continue.
   2. On the General tab, click Selective Startup.
   3. Under Selective Startup, click to clear the Load Startup Items check box.
   4. Click the Services tab, click to select the Hide All Microsoft Services check box, and then click Disable All.
   5. Click OK.
   6. When you are prompted, click Restart.
   7. After the computer starts, check whether the problem is resolved.

If the issue is resolved check which third party is causing the problem, referring the link given below:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929135

Reset the computer to start as usual
After you have finished troubleshooting, follow these steps to reset the computer to start as usual:
Click Start, type msconfig.exe in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.

If you are prompted for an administrator password or for confirmation, type your password, or click Continue.
On the General tab, click the Normal Startup option, and then click OK.
When you are prompted to restart the computer, click Restart.

Halima S    - Microsoft Support.
Visit our Microsoft Answers Feedback Forum and let us know what you think.