You can start the Event Viewer in Windows using the keyboard shortcut [Windows R], typing [eventvwr.msc] and hitting [enter]. Navigate in the Event Manager using the menu on the left side using the following path: Applications and Services Logs => Microsoft => Windows => Diagnostics-Performance => Operational. This will lead directly to the location that contains performance diagnostics not only for the Windows shutdown but also for standby and boot performance issues.

A good way to start is to sort the columns by Task Category. Click on the Task Category title and look for Shutdown Performance Monitoring entries. Each entry will contain information about the application or process that was causing problems during shutdown including the time it took to shutdown that process. A process that takes very long to shutdown is usually the problem for the shutdown problems.

Once the process or application has been identified it is a matter of finding out why it is causing the delay. It could be outdated or incompatible with that version of Windows and to a lesser extent a faulty version or driver. A good way to start is to look for updates for that software and install those if they are available. It might be easier on the other hand to simply deactivate or uninstall the software if that is possible.

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Smart Shutdown does not look like much after installation and users judging its tiny interface might be disappointed at first glance. This disappointed will surely change to sheer joy after finding out that it offers functionality that would put many applications to shame.

The basic functionality is to perform an action after a certain time of inactivity on the user’s part. The default setting is to turn off the computer after 30 minutes of inactivity. The interval and the action can be changed in the same menu. Instead of turning off the computer the user could be logged off, the Internet connection be disconnected or a message reminder send.

Then there is the option to perform an action at a specific time or after some time has passed independently from the activity level of the computer. This provides even more options like shutting down network computers.

The list of network computers that will be automatically shutdown can be configured in the options. The administrator can define a message that will be displayed on the network computer and the time that the message will be displayed. Network computers can be shutdown or rebooted this way. Lists of computers can be saved and loaded at a later time which is excellent for remote shutdowns.

And then there are the global options. The user can select to shutdown the system fast, empty the recycle bin, force the system to close all open tasks, configure settings for each user individually and confgiure left and right-click shortcuts that perform certain actions.

Smart Shutdown can be configured to be run from the command line which would make it possible to create a shortcut for an automatic shutdown of Windows.

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The actions that can be assigned are manifold as well. Users can choose to shutdown, reboot, hibernate, log off, lock / switch the user, turn on the screensaver, turn off the monitor, put the PC in sleep mode or shut down the Internet connection. That’s a lot of options to choose from already but there is more to it if you check the options of the program.

Another program can be executed before the selected action takes place. It seems that only executable files can be selected though.

Other options include emptying the recycle bin or hiding the shutdown and log off buttons in the start menu as well as the task manager. There is also another option to create shortcuts for all the actions, e.g. to shutdown the computer.

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What about shutting down a computer when a pixel changes its color, if the user is inactive for a certain amount of time, shutting down when a shutdown request has been intercepted, if a upload, download speed is reached or a process is using more or less than a specified amount of CPU usage.

You might have asked yourself why a shutdown program would intercept a shutdown request. It’s pretty easy to explain, DShutdown allows to configure customized shutdowns. It is for instance possible to execute a program, backup or temp file clearer for instance, before shutting down. Users can define the type of shutdown, do you want to go into hibernation, power off, log off for instance or write a log file.

It is furthermore possible to remotely shutdown computers, this means that you can shutdown more than one computer if one of them receives a shutdown command. Awesome software, 200 Kilobyte, no installation needed.

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The shutdown is almost immediate which means it is much faster than the shutdown with the usual registry tweaks that can be applied to reduce the timeout delay for processes. The freeware runs fine on Windows Vista and XP, you should just be aware that Superfast Shutdown ignores everything that is still open and running. This could mean that you loose data that has not been saved. Make sure you save everything important before you activate the shutdown option.

Installing the freeware adds two shortcuts to your desktop. The first is called superfast shutdown and the second superfast reboot. Both options are great if you think that the normal shutdown and reboot procedure takes to long. Again, make sure that everything important is saved before you click on the shortcuts.

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This can happen when third party, or even Microsoft applications have not properly cleaned up when exiting. Windows will keep trying to unload the profile until Windows finally decides that it can’t and should shutdown. Even if you find the application causing the problem – it may be impossible to do anything about it.

Microsoft released the tool profile hive cleanup because of this. When you install the tool you will find a new service which is called profile hive cleanup service. This service automatically cleans up user profiles when it is running and this should have the result that the shutdown of the system does not take minutes but seconds.

The idea of this program is to reclaim resources when a task is finished (memory, handles, etc). It accomplishes this by monitoring for users to log off and verifying that unused resources are reclaimed. This approach is superior as it works for any known reason that profiles do not unload and also will keep working to address new unknown issues.

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