I cannot shut down or restart my PC using the start menu prompts. The only way to shut her down is a hard shut down (manually turn her off).

Try booting into the Safe Mode and check if the issue persists.
Safe mode is a troubleshooting option for Windows that starts your computer in a limited state. Only the basic files and drivers necessary to run Windows are started. The words Safe Mode appear in the corners of your monitor to identify which Windows mode you're using.
1. Restart your computer. Click the Start button, click the arrow next to the Shut Down button, and then click Restart.
2. Do one of the following:
· If your computer has a single operating system installed, press and hold the F8 key as your computer restarts. You need to press F8 before the Windows logo appears. If the Windows logo appears, you'll need to try again by waiting until the Windows logon prompt appears, and then shutting down and restarting your computer.
· If your computer has more than one operating system, use the arrow keys to highlight the operating system you want to start in safe mode, and then press F8.
3. On the Advanced Boot Options screen, use the arrow keys to highlight the safe mode option you want, and then press Enter.
4. Log on to your computer with a user account that has administrator rights.
When your computer is in safe mode, you'll see the words Safe Mode in the corners of your monitor. To exit safe mode, restart your computer and let Windows start normally.
To know more information on how to boot into Safe mode visit the following link:
Start your computer in safe mode

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Start-your-computer-in-safe-mode

Method 2: Also scan the Computer for error using chkdsk command in the Command Prompt from the System Recovery Options Menu.

To open the System Recovery Options menu on your computer
1.Remove all floppy disks, CDs, and DVDs from your computer, and then restart your computer using the computer's power button.
2.Do one of the following:
•If your computer has a single operating system installed, press and hold the F8 key as your computer restarts. You need to press F8 before the Windows logo appears. If the Windows logo appears, you need to try again by waiting until the Windows logon prompt appears, and then shutting down and restarting your computer.
•If your computer has more than one operating system, use the arrow keys to highlight the operating system you want to repair, and then press and hold F8.
3.On the Advanced Boot Options screen, use the arrow keys to highlight Repair your computer, and then press Enter. (If Repair your computer isn't listed as an option, then your computer doesn't include preinstalled recovery options, or your network administrator has turned them off.)
4.Select a keyboard layout, and then click Next.
5.On the System Recovery Options menu, click a tool(Command Prompt) to open it.

6. At the Command Prompt, type: chkdsk /r . Press Enter.


When you restart your system, your computer will be scanned for errors and attempts will be made to correct them.

Hi,
You can reset and reinstall OS by inserting the Reinstallation disk.

A cyclic redundancy check error on a hard disk means that part of a file read from the hard disk doesn't match the expected value.

A cyclic redundancy check error, in other words, means that files on your hard drive are corrupted.

Repair a cyclic redundancy check error on a hard disk using the Check Disk tool in Windows.

Click "Start" and click "Computer."

Right-click the hard disk with the cyclic redundancy check error under "Hard Disk Drives" and click "Properties."

Click the "Tools" tab at the top of the hard disk "Properties" window.

Click "Check Now" under "Error Checking."

Select "Automatically Fix File System Errors" and "Scan for and Attempt Recovery of Bad Sectors" in the "Check Disk" window by clicking each option if it isn't already selected.

Start a disk check and repair by clicking "Start" in the "Check Disk" window.

Click "Yes" if the "Do you want to schedule the disk check to occur the next time you restart the computer?" prompt appears.

A disk can't be checked if it's in use, so you'll need to restart Windows to check it.

Restart your computer by clicking "Start," clicking the arrow icon to the right of "Shut Down" and clicking "Restart."

Fix a Cycle Redundancy Check Error

The "Cyclic Redundancy Check" error is a Windows error message telling you there's a problem reading data you're trying to access.

The root of this problem could either be a damaged storage device or a corrupt file.

Windows has built-in tools to attempt to fix to this problem, and avoid further errors.

Click on the "Start" menu in the bottom left-hand corner and click "Run."

Type in "cmd" and press "Enter" on your keyboard.

This will open a black command prompt box.

Type in "chkdsk /f" and press "Enter."

If you receive a message saying the disk will be checked the next time the system starts, press "Y" and then "Enter."

Restart your computer by closing the command prompt box and selecting "Shut Down" from the Start menu.

Wait for the disk scan to reach 100 per cent.

This may take awhile.

When it completes, your drive errors may be fixed.

Avoid future problems with this type of error by replacing the file that caused the problem.

For example, if you got the error when using a text document, open the document and copy all the text (press "Ctrl" and "A" at the same time and then "Ctrl" and "C" at the same time).

Create a new text document and paste the text in by pressing "Ctrl" and "V" simultaneously. Save the new file, and delete the old document.

Hope this heps

The Compaq drivelock feature is designed to protect the data on a laptop's hard drive by assigning a password.

This password protects the drive in the event the laptop is lost or stolen, but can be removed when necessary.

Knowing how to remove or change the drivelock feature can make your Compaq more useful and more secure.

Power on your laptop and enter the drivelock password you established when you turned the drive protection feature on.

You will need this password to access the drive and turn off the drivelock feature.

Click the "Disabled" option in the drivelock menu.

This will turn off the drivelock feature on the Compaq laptop.

Do not enter anything in the password blocks.

Log on to the laptop, click the "Start" button and choose "Shut down." Choose "Restart" from the menu to power cycle your laptop and verify the drivelock setting is off.

If the drivelock setting is off you will not be prompted for a password when the laptop starts up.

hope this helps

If you are in safe mode, you should be able to shut down or restart the computer the same way you would in standard mode. Click the start button and select shut down or restart, and let it boot up normally. If you do not have the start button, you can try holding down control-alt-delete and selecting shut down from the menu. If all else fails you can hold down the power button on the computer for about ten seconds and the computer should power off, then you can turn it back on.

Use Dell PC Restore by Symantec only as the last method to restore your operating system. PC Restore restores your hard drive to the operating state it was in when you purchased the computer. Any programs or files added since you received your computer—including data files—are permanently deleted from the hard drive. Data files include documents, spreadsheets, e-mail messages, digital photos, music files, and so on. If possible, back up all data before using PC Restore.
Note: Using PC Restore permanently deletes all data on the hard drive and removes any applications or drivers installed after you received your computer. If possible, back up the data before using PC Restore.
To use PC Restore: 1 Turn on the computer and watch the keyboard status lights.
2 Immediately upon seeing the lights flash, press <Ctrl><F11>.
If you do not press <Ctrl><F11> in time, let the computer finish restarting, and then restart the computer again.
Note: If you do not want to proceed with PC Restore, click Reboot in the following step.
3 On the next screen that appears, click Restore.
4 On the next screen, click Confirm.
The restore process takes approximately 6–10 minutes to complete.
5 When prompted, click Finish to reboot the computer.
NOTE: Do not manually shut down the computer. Click Finish and let the computer completely reboot.
6 When prompted, click Yes.
The computer restarts. Because the computer is restored to its original operating state, the screens that appear, such as the End User License Agreement, are the same ones that appeared the first time the computer was turned on.
7 Click Next.
The System Restore screen appears and the computer restarts.
8 After the computer restarts, click OK.
Cheers!

hi, you must have enabled power saving options. Thats why your monitor shut down. you can disable, just do the same:

1.Right click on desktop
2.Select properties.
3.Select "ScreenSaver".
4.Select "Power" under Monitor power option.
5.There select "never" from Turn off monitor (drop down menu).

Now your monitor will not turn off automatically.

Run an Error check on your computer. Process takes anywhere from 1 to several hours, depending on hard drive size, files on computer and number of errors needing to be fixed. Manual steps to run Chkdsk at the command prompt loadTOCNode(3, 'moreinformation');

1. Click Start, and then Run.
2. In Open, type cmd, and then press ENTER.
3. Use one of the following procedures:
   • To run Chkdsk in read-only mode, at the command prompt, type chkdsk, and then press ENTER.
   • To repair errors without scanning the volume for bad sectors, at the command prompt, type chkdsk volume:/f, and then press ENTER.
     
     Note If one or more of the files on the hard disk are open, you will receive the following message: Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. Would you like to schedule this volume to be checked the next time the system restarts? (Y/N)Type Y, and then press ENTER to schedule the disk check, and then restart your computer to start the disk check.
   • To repair errors, locate bad sectors, and recover readable information, at the command prompt, type chkdsk volume:/r, and then press ENTER.
     
     Note If one or more of the files on the hard disk are open, you will receive the following message: Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. Would you like to schedule this volume to be checked the next time the system restarts? (Y/N)Type Y, and then press ENTER to schedule the disk check, and then restart your computer to start the disk check.