shutting down/USB key question..

[quartz01]

i am totally new to linux so bare with me..
i just installed Mandrake 10.0 and when i want to shut down the shutting down bar goes almost all the way to the end a just stays there.... is that what it is supposed to do????

and also, i know when you want to take a usb key out on windows you have to "safely remove hardware". do you have to do that in linux too??? and if so, where is the icon

[jeremy1701]

Try hitting the f2 (or whatever) key to get into text mode shutdown. What's the last message the appears? If it's just Powering Down, then you'll need to change acpi=ht to acpi=force in your /etc/lilo.conf file. Then run lilo.

You don't need to do anything other then unplug a USB device in Linux.

Jeremy