FASTER SHUTDOWN

One of the reasons why Windows can take a really long time to shut down is because it clears the page file every time you power off your PC. This is good from the security point of view, as the page file stores temporary files and other data. Sometimes unencrypted passwords can end up in your paging file, which means that clearing it on shutdown is not such a bad idea. However, if you have all your sensitive data encrypted or if extreme security is not high on your list of priorities, it's a good idea to stop Windows clearing the page file every time you shut down your computer. To do that, you'll need to change some stuff in the registry. Here is how:

1. Click on Start and type regedit in the Search box (XP users will need to click on Start - Run and type regedit there). Hit Enter
2. In the new window, locate HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\MemoryManagement
3. Now double-click on ClearPageFileAtShutdown and change the value to 1
4. Close the Registry Editor and reboot your computer for the changes to take effect.

Another way to speed up Windows shutdown is to decrease the time Windows waits to kill non-responding services. To do that, we will need to open regedit again:

1.   Click on Start and type regedit in the Search box (XP users will need to click on Start - Run and type regedit there). Hit Enter
2. Now navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control
3. Now double-click on WaitToKillServiceTimeout. A new window will appear
4. Change the value to 5000
5. Click OK, close the Registry Editor and restart your computer.