One of the things I don’t like about Windows 8 is the messing about just to log off or shut it down. If you think the road to shutting down your Windows 8 system is a little long winded as well then you will know exactly what I mean. There are a couple of ways you can speed things up, here is one that I particularly like.
First a word of caution; this tip involves editing your registry so create a restore point and/or backup your registry first. Secondly, the tweak will work on Windows 7 as well as Windows 8 but not earlier versions of the OS.
Copy all the highlighted script below into Notepad then save it as Power.reg onto your desktop or wherever you can easily find it. Take note that Notepad will by default want to save it as a txt file, just click on the little arrow and choose All Files.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTDesktopBackgroundShellPower Menu]
“MUIVerb”=”Power Menu”
“SubCommands”=”lock;logoff;switch;sleep;hibernate;restart;shutdown;hybridshutdown”
“Icon”=”shell32.dll,215″
“Position”=”bottom”
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerCommandStoreshelllock]
@=”Lock”
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerCommandStoreshelllockcommand]
@=”Rundll32 User32.dll,LockWorkStation”
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerCommandStoreshelllogoff]
@=”Log Off”
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerCommandStoreshelllogoffcommand]
@=”Shutdown -l”
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerCommandStoreshellswitch]
@=”Switch User”
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerCommandStoreshellswitchcommand]
@=”tsdiscon.exe”
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerCommandStoreshellsleep]
@=”Sleep”
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerCommandStoreshellsleepcommand]
@=”rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,SetSuspendState Sleep”
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerCommandStoreshellhibernate]
@=”Hibernate”
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerCommandStoreshellhibernatecommand]
@=”Shutdown -h”
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerCommandStoreshellrestart]
@=”Restart”
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerCommandStoreshellrestartcommand]
@=”Shutdown -r -f -t 00″
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerCommandStoreshellshutdown]
@=”Shut Down”
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerCommandStoreshellshutdowncommand]
@=”Shutdown -s -f -t 00″
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerCommandStoreshellhybridshutdown]
@=”Shut Down (Hybrid)”
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerCommandStoreshellhybridshutdowncommand]
@=”Shutdown -s -f -t 00 -hybrid”
Double click on the reg file and a warning will pop up asking you if you sure you want to continue, click Yes then in the next box OK.
Right click on your desktop and you will see the Power Menu.
Now, just to tweak the Power Menu a little further if you want to: as you can see there is a little icon next to the Power Option menu, I don’t like any right click context menu icons as you can see from the screenshots. If you feel the same then removing it is simple.
Before you save and run the script, delete the Icon line – “Icon”=”shell32.dll,215″ which is just a couple of lines down from the top.
If you want to call it something other than Power Menu then edit the line: “MUIVerb”=”Power Menu” to what you want to call it then save and run the script. The Power Menu is added to the right click context menu instantly, no need for a reboot. I know mine says Meny, that’s Swedish for Menu. LOL!
If you want to remove the power options from the right click menu then copy all of the following script into Notepad, name it RemovePower.reg and save it just as above. Again, double click on the reg file and accept the changes then click on OK and the Power Options will be removed from the right click context menu.
And again the change is instant, no need to reboot.
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[-HKEY_CLASSES_ROOTDesktopBackgroundShellPower Menu]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerCommandStoreshelllock]
As I said there are a few tools and tweaks that simplify the shutdown procedure this is one of them.
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerCommandStoreshelllogoff]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerCommandStoreshellswitch]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerCommandStoreshellsleep]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerCommandStoreshellhibernate]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerCommandStoreshellrestart]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerCommandStoreshellshutdown]
[-HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionExplorerCommandStoreshellhybridshutdown]
As I said, there are a few ways around the log off/shut down issue, but this is the way I prefer to do it. This particular method apples to the desktop side of Windows 8, if you’d like to also add one-click power options to the Start Screen.
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