[jpChris]

Hi all,

To make Windows shut down faster:

Right click on the Desktop and select "New" and "Shortcut."

In the Location of item box, type in:
C:\Windows\System32\shutdown.exe
Click, Next
In the Type Name box, leave as is or change to the name you want.
Click Finish.

Right click on the Shortcut and click Properties.

In the Target box, amend it to:
C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\shutdown.exe /s /t 00

Please note the spaces. Do a cut and paste if necessary. The switch /t 00 at the end is for the time it takes to shutdown. You can amend it to a slower time if you wish.

Then, click Apply.

Next, right click on the Desktop shorcut icon and click Change Icon. In the %SystemRoot% . . . box, clear it and type in: pifmgr.dll Then hit Enter, do not click Browse. You should see a list of icons and towards the end of the list, you'll see Dynamite and a Plunger. Click on it (or, if you see something else you'd prefer) and, voila!, a nifty Shutdown Icon you can't confuse with anything else.

[kronus]

sounds cool. It seems dangerous, though. Do you have more info? Why does it work, how does it work, what does it not do, stuff like that.

[jpChris]

Hi Kronus,

First, it's not dangerous. All it is is a shortcut on the desktop to save you a few clicks to turn off your computer. The *Shutdown.exe* file is the same one that's used when you click Start | Turn Off Computer | Turn Off.

>>>"Why does it work . . ."<<<
Because it's a shortcut to an existing program.

>>>"how does it work. . ."<<<
See above.

>>>"what does it not do . . ."<<<
It won't: Shine your shoes, cook your food, empty your chamber pot, drive the kids to school, format and partition your hard drive, forward your e-mails, give you a gift certificate for free dog food if you forward this to 100 people, or cure hemorrhoids.

The only thing it does is turn off your computer. Sorry 'bout that.

[eddie5659]

kronus

Belive me, its okay to do, I have it on mine. Its a lot better that using the Start part, as I've sometimes clicked Restart by mistake, and have to go thru it all again

eddie

[kronus]

I'll try it, sounds fun like living on the edge. I have a question for you guys since you seem to know so much about shutting off windows. How do I make it so when windows shuts down, the power automatically shuts off? I use home, was using XP pro version. The Pro version defaults like I liked, you hit shutdown and walk away. I've looked, don't see anything.

[jpChris]

Hi,

I realized that I forgot to add the auto shutdown switch to my original post. In the original shutdown equation, I had just come off using w95, 98, 98SE and I was used to having the "It's now safe . . ." screen come up.

However, I got over myself and decided to just have the 'puter do it for me.

Anyway, to have XP shutdown\powerdown automatically, use the original Target Line configuration, just change the ( / )switchs to dashes ( - ).
It should read:

C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\shutdown.exe -s -t 00

You can add a Short Cut key to it (ie., ctrl+alt+ [whatever]), bypass the mouse completely and impress your friends and influence enemys by just hitting the ctrl+alt [whatever] combo, turning around and walking away while the 'puter shuts itself off.

OR, do a Google search for Wizmo. It's a very handy utility that you can use to make the 'puter do a lot more automatically — like Reboot, Standby, et al., just by clicking an icon on the Desktop.

And, as I'm familiar with it, write and let me know if you run into any problems.

And, if any of you are using Netscape 7x or a Mozilla build browser and miss the Auto Disconnect when you exit out, let me know that, too. I found another program that will do it. However, if you decide to try it, the command line switches are different for all flavors of WinXP vs earlier versions.

I hope this helps.

jpChris