95. Increasing shutdown speed by reducing wait times part
1
Windows
XP stores a couple of values in its registry which are responsible for
determining how long to wait before shutting down (killing) open applications
and services once the shutdown command has been given.
By
editing these two settings and changing them to lower values, you can
considerably decrease the amount of time that Windows XP needs to successfully
shut itself down. The first part of this tweak deals with setting the amount of
time Windows will take to kill open applications on shutdown.
Open REGEDIT and navigate to 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control
Panel\Desktop\'
Highlight the 'WaitToKillAppTimeout'
value.
Set it to '1000' (the default should be
20000).
Now highlight the 'HungAppTimeout' value
Set it to '1000' also.
96. Increasing shutdown speed by reducing wait times part
2
The
second part of this tip changes the same settings, this time for all users on
the system.
Open
REGEDIT and navigate to 'HKEY_USERS\.DEFAULT\Control Panel\Desktop'
Highlight the 'WaitToKillAppTimeout' value.
Set it to '1000' (the default should be 20000).
Now highlight the 'HungAppTimeout' value.
Set it to '1000' also.
97. Increasing shutdown speed by reducing wait times part
3
In the
third part of this tip, we will alter a second registry setting to decrease the
amount of time Windows XP will wait before shutting down active services after
receiving a shut down command.
Open
REGEDIT and navigate to
'HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\'
Highlight
the value 'WaitToKillServiceTimeout'
Change
this value to '1000.'
This
should help to considerably speed up the time windows XP takes to shut itself
down.
98. Disable the Nvidia driver helper
service
This
service, included with recent NVIDIA Detonator driver packages, is of
indeterminate function. Nothing is found on the NVIDIA site about it, and the
only thing that people in the hardware community can seem to agree on is that it
can considerably slow down boot up time and especially shutdown time.
Hence, if
you do have an Nvidia video card, consider searching for and disabling this
service. Chances are it will improve your shutdown times.
To
disable the Nvidia Driver Helper service:
Right
click on 'my computer' and select 'manage.'
Expand
'services and applications' and select 'services' to open the services
window.
Locate
and highlight the 'Nvidia Driver Helper' service. Right click it and select
'properties.'
Set the
'startup type' dropdown box to 'disabled.' Click 'ok.'
99. Auto kill tasks on shutdown
By
default, Windows XP will prompt the user for input if there are one or more
applications which have crashed or are not responding and it receives a shut
down command. This halts the shutdown process entirely until the user approves
the stopping of the non-responsive app.
By
altering the registry slightly, Windows XP can be set to close crashed
applications automatically. While this does not technically speed up the shut
down process, it does streamline it, and ensure that the user will not give the
shutdown command then get up and leave, only to find the PC still powered on
because Windows never received input on what to do with a hung
application.
To allow
Windows XP to close non-responsive applications automatically upon shutdown:
Open
REGEDIT and navigate to 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop'
Highlight
the value 'AutoEndTasks.'
Change
the value to '1'
XP will
now be able to close hung applications without user input during the shutdown
process.
Well,
that's it for PCstats latest 99 Tips! We hope you enjoyed using this tips list
as much as we enjoyed making it!
If you have any comments or questions, please post them
in the PCSTATS Forums. Find out about this and many other reviews by joining the Weekly PCstats.com Newsletter today! Catch all of PCSTATS latest hardware reviews right here.