Shut Down Windows XP in 7 Different Ways
There are so many different ways to turn off your Windows XP computer, let's look at some of them:
1. The standard approach - click the Start Button with your mouse, then select the Turn Off menu and finally click the Turn Off icon on the Turn Off computer dialog. [ooph!]
2. Press Ctrl+Esc key or the Win key and press u two times - the fastest approach.
3. Get the Shutdown utility from Download.com - it add the shut down shortcuts for you. Else create them yourself using approach
4. Create a shutdown shortcut on your desktop. Right click on the desktop, choose New Shortcut and type shutdown -s -t 00 in the area where you are asked to specify the location of the program file. Now you can just double click this icon to turn off the computer. The best location would be your quick launch bar.
5. Press the Win key + R key to open the run window. Type shutdown -s -t 00. [s means shutdown while t means the duration after which you want to initiate the shutdown process].
If some open processes or application won't let you turn off, append a -f switch to force a shut down by closing all active processes.
6. Win+M to minimize all windows and then Alt+F4 to bring the Turn Off computer dialog.
7. Open Windows Task manager (by right clicking the Windows Task bar or Alt+Ctrl+Del) and choose Shut down from the menu. Useful when the Windows are not responding.
The icons that lay cluttered on your Windows Desktop aren't just for running programs - you can do other things like shutting down the computer, chat using Google Talk, quickly compose an email, open multiple websites at once or just run your favorite programs faster.
Here's a quick list of desktop shortcut that can help you boost productivity.
Shut Down, Log Off or Restart Windows in 1-Click
Right-click anywhere on the desktop and choose New->Shortcut. Now type the following command in the target box (without the square brackets)
%SystemRoot%\system32\shutdown.exe -s -t 00 [to shut down]
%SystemRoot%\system32\shutdown.exe -r [to reboot]
%SystemRoot%\system32\shutdown.exe -l [to log off]
Click Next and type a name of this shortcut.
Create a pre-addressed e-mail message from the desktop
If you frequently send email to abc@xyz.com or even multiple people, you can create a desktop shortcut that will launch a compose message window in your default email editor (like Outlook, Thunderbird, GMail, etc).
Just type the following command in the target box from New->Shortcut as explained previously:
mailto:bill.gates@microsoft.com [create a new e-mail message that is pre-addressed to Bill Gates]
mailto:bill.gates@microsoft.com;sjobs@mac.com [create a new e-mail message that is pre-addressed to Bill Gates as well as Steve Jobs]
Start Microsoft Office Programs without the Splash Screen
You can suppress the splash screens of Microsoft Office software like Word, Excel, Powerpoint, etc with a simple trick - append a /q switch in the application shortcut.
"D:\Program Files\Microsoft Office 2007\Office12\WINWORD.EXE" /q
The above example will start Microsoft Word in quiet mode.
Send an Instant Message or Make a Call via GTalk
When you have a long list of contacts in Google Talk, this will come in very handy. Create a shortcut on your desktop for gtalk buddies with whom you frequently chat or call as mentioned below:
gtalk:chat?jid=abc@gmail.com (starts a chat)
gtalk:call?jid=abc@gmail.com (starts a call)
Click on the desktop shortcut and a message window pops-up for you to type the message , no need to hunt for that name in your long GTalk buddy list. [via]
Start Skype in Minimized mode
Select an existing Skype shortcut menu or create a new one using the same method New -> Shortcut and browse for skype.exe. Add the /minimized switch.
skype.exe /minimized
Skype is minimized to system tray when it starts.
Launch Firefox with Multiple Websites
Say you want to check gmail, Adsense earnings, orkut scraps in one go.
Just create a desktop shortcut with the following text in the target box.
firefox.exe "gmail.comadsense.google.comorkut.com"
[Alternatively, you can add these URLs to the Firefox home-page list in the settings window]
