‘How do I speed up the shutdown of XP’.

If you’re having this somewhat annoying problem were Windows just takes ages to shutdown, always when you’re in a hurry  to go out somewhere, then carry on reading and I’ll show you how to solve it.

To achieve the goal of speeding up your shutdown time on XP, what I’m about to show you involves editing the registry.  Before you make any changes to the registry it’s always advisable to backup your registry using your favourite registry backup utility. If you don’t do use one, then don’t panic as you can just set a system restore point instead. I’ll be covering backing up your registry as part of a series of articles I have planned for the next few weeks.

Ok, so once you’ve backed up your registry, proceed with the following:

Step 1

Click ‘Start’ and then click on ‘Run’. In the Run window type Regedt32 and click ‘OK‘:

You should now see the Registry Editor window.

Step 2

Expand HKEY_CURRENT_USER by clicking on the little plus sign next to it.

Now do the same for ‘Control Panel’ and then ‘Desktop’

Now look under the ‘Name’ column and scroll down until you see the field that says ‘WaitToKillAppTimeout’ (like in the image below).

Double click on this field with your left mouse button.

Step 3

You will then be presented with another window like below. Set the value data to 1000 then click OK

Step 4

Now double click on the ‘HungAppTimeout’ value

And set the value data to 1000 also….

Ok, now we’re nearly there we just need to alter one more registry value.

Step 5

Click on the little minus sign next to the HKEY_CURRENT_USER to collapse the tree below it.

Now expand the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE by clicking on the little plus sign again. Now do the same for System, CurrentControlSet and then finally Control, see below for example….

Now double click on the entry that says ‘WaitToKillServiceTimeout‘ and set the Value data to 1000 then click OK.

That’s it! Now just click on File and then Exit in the Registry Editor and you’ve successfully solved your slow shutdown problem J

Stay tuned for more great tips coming to you in the next few weeks.

I’m currently testing out an excellent video creating software package called Camtasia, so I’ll be trying it out on my next series of articles.

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Karen has noticed that both Softonic and Spanish Speaking Guy are no longer hosting this app. I have therefore uploaded to this site, so you will now have to download it from here – Thanks Karen!

I have been using this application for a few days now and it has noticeably reduced Firefox’s memory usage – even when I have 20 tabs open with various media running!

Once you have downloaded this program, all you have to do is run the EXE file and it will add an icon to your task tray. I have added a shortcut of the EXE file to my Startup folder but I think there is an option to have it load when Windows starts.

Anyway, hope this helps you guys out!

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1. Click on Start button
2. Click on Run
3. Type regedit, in RegEdit use the search function to find the term FormSuggest
4. Double click on Use FormSuggest
5. Change value from no to yes (on some computers the value may appear as a DWORD value. If this is the case for you, change the value from 0 to 1)
6. You may need to restart computer for changes to take affect.

Here is a screenshot from my computer:

Let me know if this fixes IE7 on your computer!

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1. Open My Computer,
2. Select Views buton in toolbar and choose your preferred Folder View type (Thumbnails, Tiles, Icons, List, Details),
   I normally choose Details because I find that it is the most useful.
3. Now click on Tools in the main toolbar and select Folder Options…
4. Select the View Tab and click on Apply to All Folders button
5. Press OK to close

Now when you open up any folder in Windows XP it should be displayed using your preferred Folder view

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1. Right Click My Computer
2. Select Properties from context menu
3. Click on Advanced tab
4. Under Performance, click on Settings button
5. Select option listed as Adjust for best performance (see below)
6. Click Apply and press OK until all Windows are closed.

You may find that you may want to go back and turn some of these features back on if you think Windows is looking a bit too ugly One option that i always leave on is Use common tasks in Folders.

Anyway, have fun tweaking

To install your Shared Printer on your Vista computer do the following:

1. Go to Control Panel
2. Double click on Printer
3. Click on Add Printer
4. Select Add a Local Printer
5. Click on Create a new port
6. Select Local Port from drop down list (this is the default setting … don’t change it)
7. Click Next
8. A box will appear asking you to create a port name. Type in \\computername\printername where “computername” is the name of the computer that has the printer physically installed, and “printername” is the sharing name you assigned to the printer. Eg. My computer name was Office, and the printer sharing name was hpprinter, so I typed \\Office\hpprinter
9. Press OK and follow prompts to select your printers driver from list.
10. Wait for install to complete and print a test page.

Hopefully you can now print to your shared printers from your nice shiny new Vista computer

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To end processes automatically when logging off all you need to do is change one simple entry in the registry. Here are the steps.

1. Click on Start button, then click on Run… button.
2. In Run… , type regedit
3. Navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop (make sure you click on Desktop folder)
4. Find AutoEndTasks in right column and double click on it to open.
5. Change REG_DWORD value from 0 to 1

I have created a quick video below demonstrating how to do this -

1. Click on Start
2. Click on Run
3. Type control userpasswords2, and press OK

4. Select your name from the User Accounts window
5. Uncheck Users must enter a user name and password to use this computer

6. Fill out you password details (leave blank if you have no password)
7. Press OK and close all windows.

Next time you restart the computer Windows should load straight into your user profile!