Tips & Tricks

Just Shut Down, Will ya??

Have you ever found yourself wishing that Windows wouldn't ask you if you really want to shut down after you've gone to all the trouble of hitting the Start button, then Shut Down? Sure, if you're a wild mouse clicker, maybe that extra little confirmation occasionally saves the day, but what if you just want a quick way to turn the thing off?

Well, as luck would have it, I happen to have a way to make that dream a reality. Using the tips below, you can put icons on your desktop that will shut your computer down, restart it, and more—no questions asked.

In order to keep things inconsistent and confusing, Microsoft decided to change the scripting on this for XP (big surprise there ;-). So, Win 95/98/ME appears directly below and XP is after that.

Windows 95/98/ME

1. Right click the Desktop and select New/ Shortcut

2. A screen will appear asking you for a Command Line. Here's what you put in that box:

rundll32.exe shell32.dll,SHExitWindowsEx N

Wait - before you click NEXT, replace the "N" at the end of the command line with one of the following numbers:

0 - Log Off - Shuts down all running processes and logs the user off.

1 - Shutdown - shuts system down to the point where you can turn off the computer.

2 - Re-boot - shuts the system down and re-boots the computer.

4 - Force - Shuts the system down without notifying any running programs. Information can be lost with this one, so be careful.

8 - Poweroff - Shuts the computer down and turns the power off (on systems that support it).

You can use combinations of the above by adding them together. For example, use 6 to re-start (2) the computer forcefully (4).

After you've decided which of the above numbers to use, click the Next button and give the shortcut an appropriate name. Be forewarned, if you mess with some of the "forced" shut downs it will cause your active desktop to be disabled.

If you're not using XP you can skip this next section, but make sure you check out the "Final Notes" section below.

XP Users:

1. Right click the Desktop and select New / Shortcut

2. A screen will appear asking you for a Command Line. Here's what you put in that box:

For Shutdown:
Shutdown -s -t 0

For Restart:
Shutdown -r -t 0

For Log Off:
Shutdown –l -t 0

After you’ve decided which of the above options to use, click the Next button and give the shortcut an appropriate name.

Final Notes:

1. Now that you have the nifty little shutdown shortcut on your desktop, you may want to drag it to your taskbar for easier access (and less chance of accidental clickage).

2. I didn’t like the nasty looking icon that XP gave my shortcut (it was too Win3.1 for my taste), so I changed it.

If you want to learn how to change an icon, refer to our 6-21-02 issue:

http://www.worldstart.com/archives/computer-tips/2002/06-21-2002.htm

Whew, that’s it.

~ Steve

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