Shut Down -Speed Up

How to Set WaitToKillServiceTimeout to Speed Up Shut Down Time in Windows​

   Information

This tutorial will show you how to set the WaitToKillServiceTimeout to how long the system waits for services to stop after notifying the service that the system is shutting down in XP, Vista, Windows 7 and Windows 8.

When the WaitToKillServiceTimeout value of this entry expires, the system notifies the user that the service has not stopped. The user can either force the service task to stop or continue to wait. If the user waits, this WaitToKillServiceTimeout value specifies the interval between repeated user notices that the service has not stopped.

If all services stop before this WaitToKillServiceTimeout value expires, the system shuts down; it does not wait for this value to expire.

   Warning

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

   Tip

If your shutdown time is still taking longer then normal, then check these items below.

• Make sure your system is not set to clear the page file at shutdown.
• Perform a clean start to see if it shuts down normally with minimal applications running. If so, it will help you to find what may be causing the hang at shutdown.
• WaitToKillServiceTimeout registry value does not work in Windows 7 or in Windows Server 2008 R2

OPTION ONE

Set WaitToKillServiceTimeout before Shut Down using a REG File Download

1. Do step 2, 3, or 4 below for what you would like to do.

2. To Speed Up Shut Down Time with 2 Second WaitToKillServiceTimeout
A) Click on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 5 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.reg

Download


3. To Restore the Default WaitToKillServiceTimeout in Windows 7
A) Click on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 5 below.
NOTE: The default shutdown "wait to kill" time is 12 seconds (12000 milliseconds) in Windows 7.
Windows-7_Default_Shutdown_Time.reg

Download


4. To Restore the Default WaitToKillServiceTimeout in Windows 8
A) Click on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 5 below.
NOTE: The default shutdown "wait to kill" time is 5 seconds (5000 milliseconds) in Windows 7.
Windows-8_Default_Shutdown_Time.reg

Download


5. Save, and save the .reg file to your desktop.

6. Double click on the downloaded .reg file to merge it.

7. If prompted, click on Run, Yes (UAC), Yes, and OK to approve the merge.

8. If you like, you may also wish to change the HungAppTimeout, WaitToKillAppTimeout, and AutoEndTasks values to what you want.

9. When finished, you can delete the downloaded .reg file if you like.

OPTION TWO

Set WaitToKillServiceTimeout before Shut Down in Registry Editor

1. Press the Windows + R keys to open the Run dialog, type regedit, and click/tap on OK.

2. In regedit, go to: (See screenshot below)
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control

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

4. Type in a number between 2000-20000 (2-20 seconds), and click on OK. (See screenshot below)
NOTE: The default time is 12000 (Windows 7) or 5000 (Windows 8). I use 2000 (2 seconds) and have not had any problems. Your experience may vary.

5. If you like, you may also wish to change the HungAppTimeout, WaitToKillAppTimeout, and AutoEndTasks values to what you want.

6. When finished, you can close Registry Editor if you like.
NOTE: If you have problems with programs from your computer shutting down to quickly, then repeat the above steps and increase the WaitToKillServiceTimeout time (step 5) a bit.
That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

---

• How to Specify HungAppTimeout Used to Determine a Hung Process in Windows
• How to Specify WaitToKillAppTimeout to Speed Up Shut Down Time in Windows
• Turn On or Off to Automatically Close Apps not Responding at Shutdown in Windows
• How to See What Your Windows 7 Restart Time is
• How to Create a Shut Down Windows Shortcut in Windows 7
• How to Create a Shut Down Computer Shortcut in Windows
• How to Enable or Disable Shut Down without Having to Log On
• How to Change the "Logging off..." Text Message at Shut Down in Windows 7 and Vista
• How to Change the "Shutting down..." Text Message at Shut Down in Windows 7 and Vista
• How to Allow or Prevent Users and Groups to Shut Down the Computer
• How to See the Last Shutdown Time of Your Windows PC
• How to Enable or Disable "Clear Virtual Memory Paging File at Shutdown" in Vista and Windows 7
• How to Enable or Disable Hibernate in Windows 7 and Windows 8
• How to Reduce the Startup Delay Time for Desktop Apps in Windows 8 and 8.1

 

[Brink]

Absolutely.

Shutdown - Vista Forums

 

[Night Hawk]

Now you have to find something that really speeds up the loading time for Vista to provide over there. I just got done looking over a laptop with 1gb of memory bought new recently with Vista preinstalled on it! A friend bought it new for his better half and wanted to know why things ran slow........ :roflmao: You know the answer to that one! I emailed a link for a pair of 1gb dimms to replace the 512s!

The reduction to 12000 on Vista even on the VPC proved worthwhile! Once you pause at the shutdown screen for a few ..............zoom!!! to the restart!

I found the same 20000 value in the XP mode registry as well. I lowered that one down to the 8000 mark and should see the same results there!

(Gosh I could have used this when the XP/Vista dual boot was on! :roflmao

Update: I went ahead and lowered it down even further to the 3000 mark. You'll notice a big difference in how fast you see the post screen come up if you are not simply shutting everything down. The shutdown goes a lot faster there too!

 

[messjess]

thanks, nice easy little tweak.

 

[Brink]

You're welcome Jess.

 

[Night Hawk]

It was definitely a great catch on that one! So far the low 3000 setting has proven itself!

 

[Bugs]

will try this out

 

[Night Hawk]

It's worth a look! In fact I just dropped it again down to the 1000 mark on the host install of 7 to see how that goes.

 

[AvenTis]

huh .., it looks ok and very simple, but then i have a question, why MS don't make (for e.g 2s.) it as default settings?

 

[Brink]

Hello Aven, and welcome to Seven Forums.

The time period is to allow programs enough time to close properly when Windows 7 closes them to shutdown. Some programs do no need extra time, or if you do not have anything running, then you do not need as much wait time. Microsoft is just playing it safe with the amount of default wait time. That's all.

Hope this helps,
Shawn

 

[Dinesh]

I keep the waittokill value at 200.

 

[Night Hawk]

Apparently you don't too much running there?! dinesh

Once you load a good number of programs onto the system you'll always one or two waiting to close when going to shutdown or restart. The 1000 mark looked like a good one there for allowing for that.

Next someone will have it down to "0000"! :shock:

 

[Dinesh]

Apparently, I have noticed a good change in my reboot time.

 

[Night Hawk]

Well as long as it doesn't end up causing crashes "nothing chanced nothing gained" correct?

 

[Dinesh]

yep.

 

[Night Hawk]

One update I could mention here is that when going to lower the shutdown time too far when having a good number of processes active in Windows is seeing the "still waiting for one program or process to close" screen simply from lowering the time down too low.

Since a 200 count proved to be far too low that was raised upto 600 to see how things go from there. That should avoid seeing one program hanging on exit. Note this is only for the advanced user to try lowering things that low to begin with.

 

[gamepoint]

so...why the default waitokill duration is longer when we can set it shorter?

 

[Brink]

so...why the default waitokill duration is longer when we can set it shorter?

Hello Gamepoint, and welcome to Seven Forums.

It's just a average default time that Microsoft had set to be on the safe side since everyone may vary on what time may work best for them. That's all.

 

[Night Hawk]

When lowering the time below 500 here I ended up seeing one program holding up the shutdown on the 7 RC. I raised it back up from 300 to 700 to prevent anything else from seeing the same. The retail 7 now on will be the real test for this now however!

I just lowered the retail 7 down to 500 since I won't be seeing as much there as presently seen on the remaining RC install. Should know rather fast how that goes!

 

[Lucretius]

Now I can actually reach for the monitor portion of my laptop to close it immediately after I click shutdown!

Many thanks!

 

[Night Hawk]

So far the retail 7's shutdown time set at 500 down from the default 12,000 has been working well. Apparently that nic card item was a one time only seen.

With the RC still on and set to 500 as well with much more running on it that seems to leave a small safety margin while definitely making the difference. Again thanks to Brink for pointing this out!