Shut Down

Shut Down

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Shut down the system, restart the computer, or put it in power-saving mode.

To Open

Start Turn off Computer (or Start Shut Down)

Ctrl-Alt-Del Shut Down

A Windows XP machine should never be simply turned off because the system caches data in memory and needs time to write it out to disk before it is turned off. Always use Shut Down before you turn off the power.

Depending on your settings, you may see "Turn off Computer" or "Shut Down" at the bottom of your Start menu. Both do the same thing, but the interface is slightly different. "Shut Down" displays the Shut Down dialog found in earlier versions of Windows, allowing you to Log off, Shut down, Restart, or Stand by. "Turn off Computer" displays the same choices, except as new Windows XP-style buttons instead of a drop-down listbox. To choose between these two Shut Down dialog styles, go to Control Panel User Accounts Change the way users log on or off. Turn off the "Use the Welcome screen" option to use the classic Shut Down dialog, or turn it on to use the new XP-style dialog. Keep in mind that this option also affects the logon dialog; when you use the Welcome screen, an icon is shown for each user. When you use the classic logon dialog, you'll need to type the username to log on.

The classic logon dialog may not be as friendly as the Welcome screen, but it offers better security because any user must know both the username and password to log on. Furthermore, the classic logon dialog is the only way to log into the Administrator account, which is not shown at all in the Welcome screen.

Notes

• If Windows displays the "It is now safe to turn off your computer" message instead of simply cutting power automatically, your computer is not properly set up for APM (Advanced Power Management). There are two requirements for auto-power off: your computer must have an ATX-compliant power supply and APM support must be enabled in your system BIOS. Check with your system or motherboard documentation for details.

• Windows XP also has a new option that, at least in theory, will go through the proper shutdown procedure when you press the power button on your computer. Go to Control Panel Power Options Advanced tab, and change the "When I press the power button on my computer" option to "Shut down." Whether this works or not depends on how APM-compliant your motherboard is.