The black & orange lines are probably due to the logos.sys file which
contains the "It's now safe to turn off your computer." orange letters on
black background message. For some reason this screen shot is being
distorted at shutdown and is not uncommon with laptops.

Try Jim Eshelman's excellent troubleshooting site. This links directly to an
article on WinME shutdown problems:
http://www.aumha.org/a/shtdwnme.htm

Mart


"sjcinnamond" wrote in message
...
I first searched the Microsoft Help and Support for this issue and only
found
article ID 289806, which describes my problem but I do not have a Sony
portable. I have about six Windows ME desktops under my watch and two of
them have identical periodic shutdown issues where the screen has
alternating
orange and black vertical bars and hangs. Since battery management is not
a
factor, can you tell me what else I should look for?