Shut down Windows in an instant

The other evening I turned off my Windows XP system and busied myself with other matters, only to find the machine churning away several minutes later as it worked through its shutdown process. I could've understood the delay if it were installing updates, or even if some program or service had hung the system. But this was a typical PC shutdown, and it was taking forever.

"There's gotta be a better way," I thought, and after doing a little research, I found a bunch of Registry tweaks that reset Windows to close shop like it's late for the bus ride home. Keep in mind, any changes to the Registry can be troublesome, so you may want to make these alterations one or two at a time just to make sure they don't futz up the works (it'll also be easier to diagnose any problems that may arise). And for sure back up the Registry by creating a restore point before you begin.

Kill your apps
Some programs just don't know how to say goodbye. To speed up force-closing them at shutdown, open the Registry Editor (in Vista, press the Windows key, type regedit, and press Enter; in XP, click Start > Run, type regedit, and press Enter), and navigate in the left pane to HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Control Panel/desktop (or Desktop). Double-click WaitToKillAppTimeout in the right pane, and change the value data (measured in milliseconds) to 1000-if you're in a real hurry--or something larger, if you want to give your recalcitrant apps a little more time to call it quits. Click OK when you're done.

Use this Registry key to reduce the number of milliseconds you want Windows to wait before killing apps at shutdown.

(Credit: Microsoft)

To reduce the wait before forcing hung applications to close, double-click HungAppTimeout in the right pane of the same key, and change the value data to 2000, or however many milliseconds you want to give the apps to unhang on their own. Of course, a better approach is to figure out why the app is hanging in the first place; I'll cover diagnosing hung applications in a future post: Stay tuned!

You may also want to change the value data of WaitToKillAppTimeout and HungAppTimeout in HKEY_USERS/.DEFAULT/Control Panel/Desktop key to apply the changes to all users on the system.

Clip your running tasks and services
There's another Registry key that automatically ends running tasks at shutdown. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Control Panel/Desktop, double-click AutoEndTasks in the right pane, and change the value data to 1. Now to whack your slow-ending services, go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Control, double-click WaitToKillServiceTimeout in the right pane, change the value to 1000, and click OK.

Some people will tell you that you can speed up shutdowns by telling Windows not to clear the pagefile when it closes. Unfortunately, this could compromise your system security because sensitive data may be stored in the file unencrypted. There's even some question about whether disabling this setting will save you any time at shutdown. For me, the possibility of saving a couple of seconds on shutdown isn't worth the risk. That's why I recommend that you leave the ClearPageFileAtShutdown value at HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Control/SessionManager/Memory Management at 1.

Some Vista systems (including mine) don't have all the Registry key entries described above. To add a missing entry, right-click in the right pane of its key, choose New > String Value, type the name, such as AutoEndTasks, double-click the new entry, add its value data (1 in the case of AutoEndTasks), and click OK.

Tomorrow: create multiple workspaces in Ubuntu.

[tjcs]

- or you could just run a Macintosh OS and not worry about all these time-consuming tasks!

[Mercury23]

Apple people like you make me want to throw my iMac from the roof of my apartment. Always have to chip in on Windows topic and submit your "superiority" because you think you run a better OS. Apple needs to put an EGO WARNING on their boxes! You people look like complete ***** when you post.

[ceejer53]

Yes, simple, elegant and truly workable solution to the problem of Windows being so slow.

I have an XP box on my desk at work and this kind of stuff fills my day and it is truly frustrating. I have a hard time understanding why people choose Windows when Mac is so much better.

Once upon a time, people thought Macs were more expensive, not true. Once upon a time, people thought Macs were slower, completely not true.

[pjhenry1216]

yes, you could do that. but then you have to worry about all those applications not available on the mac. or you'd have to worry about having to only buy all your equipment and peripherals from apple, which all have a significant markup (due to lack of third-party competition).

[cpose]

Just started using a nice new Mac at work 8 months ago. I now spend much of my day looking at the spinning wheel, waiting for my Mac to decide it's ready to continue working. This is only one issue of many I have had to deal with since moving to Mac. Mac devotees, you've been deceived. Intuitive? I don't think so. Fast? No way!

[LawkSalih.Com]

lol.

[LawkSalih.Com]

Mac OS if faster than Win OS? hmm.... I must be from another planet.

[j03b0b]

Or, you could download Linux for free, still get the Unix-like OS (with the freedom to tweak and customize to your heart's content), and not have to pay Steve Jobs an ungodly amount for a computer that's only marginally (at BEST and only sometimes) better on shutdown times.

[rcrusoe]

Many people I know shutdown Windows by holding in the power button for 10-15 or killing the system via a power strip, etc. Their thinking is "screw it, I have to rebuild Windows a couple times a year anyhow."

Can't say I blame them, but one of the biggest shutdown problems I've noticed is Microsoft Outlook. If it is closed prior to shutting down Windows it saves a ton of time.

[pjhenry1216]

Well, thats probably why they have to rebuild Windows all the time. Windows doesn't need to be rebuilt all that many times a year if you do everything correctly. Misuse and abuse of the system are what require rebuilds and even then, a lot of times, that can be avoided if you know what is truly broken. Most of the time people are like, "eh, its going slow, time to reformat." when all that is happening is that they have extrenuous services running and have to figure out how to uninstall them. Or maybe they have variable sized virtual memory turned on (its best to have a fixed size AND to make sure its all in one location. to do that, turn off virtual memory, defrag, then turn it on with a fixed size, max = min).

Though, I have to agree with you on MS Outlook. I tend to try to avoid Outlook from the get-go (thunderbird could replace it for a lot of people).

[C.Schroeder]

Do you have Microsoft's User Profile Hive Cleanup Service installed?

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=1b286e6d-8912-4e18-b570-42470e2f3582&displaylang=en

I have found it to be very helpful with speeding up the shutdown of Win2K and WinXP.

[wannamac]

Thanks these registry edits were great. I had no problems with them. You can find all of these registry edits and more in a book call windows hacks it had a lot of good stuff in it like this for speeding up your computer

[devans00]

I hope this solves my problem. Often, when I go to login, I see that my system has been hung on a "shut down application" confirmation screen since the previous day. So much for smart systems.

Ummm...I AM running a Mac OS X and it takes just as long if not longer to shutdown. So, that blows that theory...

[menotbug]

I also have OS X 10.4, & my iMac shuts down in 10 secs... Maybe you have a mac that was made in Moses' day.

[cyberDJ-2038765336053745013836]

Why does any of this matter?

When I shut down my PC, I get up from the desk and go do something else. I don't care how long it's taking to shut down.

This is like obsessing over how long it takes your car to cool off after shutting off the ignition.

Windows (mainly Vista) has far more serious issues to be dealt with so let's worry about those.

[Super_Moose]

This is for people like me with a laptop on the go who don't like windows to take it's sweet time shutting down.

[ronjon13]

it is called a laptop, lap-top.

[netlovers]

Visit the following link for simple tip for shutting down pc quickly.
http://www.thetechpedia.com/2008/03/26/how-to-shutdown-computer-in-5-seconds/

[wintensive]

Preface: I am no Windows apologist. Microsoft has made enough mistakes lately to anger any computer user. Heck, I'm thinking of getting a Macbook just because you can run both OS's on it.

However, the Mac Cult is so annoying I must comment. "just use MAC OS and you won't have those problems"

Whatever. It's still a $%^&* computer. With vulnerabilities that will need remedy. For instance, try this on for size:

http://www.informationweek.com/industries/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=207000434
Your Mac was hacked, and Linux and Windows are still standing. In any case, I'm sure a patch will fix it.
With Mac gaining market share (for good reason, they make a great product) on Microsoft, and more companies writing software for Macs, and more hardware being designed for them, the simple fact is we will see more "computer" type problems like the one in this article in Macs as well as hackers writing viruses for Mac OS. It's really only "safer" right now because it isn't as tasty a target as Windows. The real problem is that there is a cavalier atitude with those who drank the Mac Kool-Aid that they are invulnerable. I've heard them BRAG that they refuse to put any anti-virus software on their computer. For this reason, I think Mac OS will take a hard hit at first in the near future as a result of this popularity boom of the Mac OS, as the users learn the lesson the hard way (the way Windows users already learned it in the late 90's). My advice: Mac's are sweet computers. But there are just computers, so get ready for some patches now and then, and mix in some anti-spyware and anti-virus whether you think you need it now or not. The internet will be a safer place for all.

By the way, what about the Time Machine debacle...or the Leapord upgrade hassles. That's what happens with all computers.

[Anatoly Borisov]

To proper and fast windows shutdown I use my Power Off Key program. To shutdown just press ScrollLock on the keyboard and you can see stylish end logo before shutdown. :)
You may take it from my site toycatsoft.com.

[julalbert]

i recently reformat my computer and now it still does not proceed to winxp welcome screen...