When you try to restart or to shut down Windows Vista, you receive the following message:

The following programs are still running:

• Explorer.exe
  Playing logoff sound

To close these programs and restart your computer,
click Restart Now.

You may lose work that you haven’t saved.

Note: If you are trying to shut down Windows Vista, “click Shut down now” appears in this message instead of “click Restart Now.”

If you click Restart Now or Shut down, as appropriate, Windows Vista restarts or shuts down as expected. This behavior also occurs if you just wait.