Cannot Log Out or Shut Down

After extended sleep mode, I cannot log out and computer will not shut down.
The first symptom of a problem that I noticed was that after waking from an extended sleep (i.e. overnight), the screen saver no longer worked and would not auto-start. I thought this was a problem with the screen saver and called Apple support. During the troubleshooting process, I was instructed to shut down the computer, but could not do so. I was forced to hold power button to force shut down. We ran disk utility and repair permission in an attempt to correct the screen saver issue. After rebooting the screen saver worked, but this issue remained a watch item.
The next day, after the computer awakened from auto sleep mode (overnight), same problem. Screen saver failed to start, I could not start it from the assigned hot corner, and I could not log out or shut down. When selecting log out or shut down, error messages would appear to the effect "log out timed out because Mail would not quit." The Mail program was not active in the dock, and when I tried to Force Quit, it would not display in the list of programs to force quit. I also noticed that Time Machine could not find the external drive. I had to hold down power button and reboot to resume normal operation.
I cannot resolve these problems.
Here is my configuration: Mac Mini G4 1.5GHz with 1GB memory. Upgraded from Tiger to Leopard. I have an Admin account & parental controlled account. Power save is set to sleep automatically after 1 hour, and screen saver is set to auto-start after 5 minutes. Computer wakes daily at 5:30 am. I have set a password for screen saver. Time Machine is set to "On" to backup to 250GB LaCie Firewire external hard drive. No content barrier software installed. I have removed all programs from Startup folder.
I plan to call Apple support again, but in the meantime, any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Hi there EEP1 - I have had the same problem with my Mac Mini for years and cannot solve it either. When my Mac comes awake from sleep Mail usually looks for new mail and hangs indefinitely. I try and quit or force quit and this will stay in the dock. I'm not sure whether Mail is the problem or not, but it seems to take out actions associated with file control in the Finder [saving, quitting, shutting down, force quitting etc.]. It's really frustrating and I'm sure it's not healthy to force restart each time it does this.
Did you manage to call Apple again? Or find any other soloutions? It's a tricky search term to define when looking for advice from forums!
Many thanks, Ben

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