Reducing the time it takes for Windows to shutdown

Updated By - May 22, 2007

In some cases, it might seem like it takes forever for Windows to shutdown. By altering a simple registry setting, you may be able to dramatically decrease the amount of time it takes for Windows XP to shutdown. This tutorial shows you how to adjust your shutdown speed by reducing the time Windows allows before it proceeds to kill running applications.

Adjusting Windows XP shutdown speed:

  1. Open the Registry Editor: Click Start->Run
  2. From the Run box type regedit
  3. Navigate to: HKEY_CURRENT_USER/Control Panel/Desktop
  4. Once there, find the entry HungAppTimeout and make sure its value is set to 5000 (default)
  5. In the same directory, locate WaitToKillAppTimeout. Set this to 4000 (default is 20000)
  6. Exit the Registry Editor and restart your computer.