[ # ] Speed Up Windows Shut Down

/* Posted March 26th, 2008 at 9:09am */
/* Filed under Microsoft, Windows */

Windows XP Shutdown

Sometimes you try to turn off Windows and you leave the computer to do it’s thing only to find that 5 minutes later, the computer is still on and Windows is still trying to shut down. Try out a few of these registry hacks to see if you can cut down your shut down times. To open the registry editor, type “regedit” in the Start menu’s “Run…”

Set HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Control Panel/desktop/WaitToKillAppTimeout to 1000 (1 sec).
Set HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Control Panel/desktop/HungAppTimeout to 2000 (2 secs).
Set HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Control Panel/Desktop/AutoEndTasks to 1 (enable).
Set HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/SYSTEM/CurrentControlSet/Control/WaitToKillServiceTimeout to 1000 (1 sec).

If some of these keys don’t appear in the registry, you could always add them. Also remember to back up your registry before you go messing around in there.