Windows 7 - Shut Down -Speed Up

   Information

This will show you how to set the Wait to Kill time Windows 7 waits for programs to save data and close before shutting down.

   Warning

You should always save and close all programs before shutting down the computer to help prevent any data loss.

1. To Speed Up Shut Down Time

A) Click on the Download button below to download the file below.
NOTE: This sets the shutdown "Wait to kill" time to 2 seconds (2000 milliseconds). If you want shutdown to wait for a different amount of seconds, then do the manual method below.

2_Second_Shutdown.zip

B) Go to step 3.

2. To Restore the Default Shut Down Time

A) Click on the Download button below to download the file below.
NOTE: The default shutdown "wait to kill" time is 12 seconds (12000 milliseconds).

Default_Shutdown.zip

3. Click on Save, and save the .zip file to the desktop.

4. Open the .zip file and extract the .reg file to the desktop.

5. Right click the .reg file (On Desktop) and click on Merge.

6. Click on Run, Yes, Yes, and OK when prompted.

7. When done, you can delete the downloaded .reg and .zip files on the desktop if you like.

1. Open the Start Menu.

2. In the search box, type regedit and press Enter. (See screenshot below)

3. In regedit, go to: (See screenshot below)

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control

4. In the right pane, right click on WaitToKillServiceTimeout and click on Modify. (See screenshot above)

5. Type in a number between 2000-20000 (2-20 seconds) and click on OK. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: The default time is 12000. I use 2000 (2 seconds) and have not had any problems. Your experience may vary.

6. Close regedit.
NOTE: If you have problems with programs from your computer shutting down to quickly, then repeat the above steps and increase the time (step 5) a bit.