If you are running Windows XP, which I imagine most of you are, it is very easy to make shortcuts on your desktop. “Quick Shutdown” and “Quick Reboot” icons are very convenient tools for your Windows system.

In this case, “Quick” means “do it now; do not ask if I want to shut down, reboot or go to logoff.”

Let’s create a the Quick Shutdown icon, first.

For Windows XP, the first thing you need to do is get to a blank space on your Windows XP Desktop. Then right-click to get the popup context menu.

Read the rest of Creating Quick Shutdown Shortcuts in Windows

I received an email from Terry’s Computer Tips reader Cecil, who said:

Hi Terry, I am enjoying your newsletter … very informative and timely … here’s my question:

By using MSCONFIG on Windows XP Pro under the startup tab, what are the minimum items that need to be “checked” for fastest bootup? BootVis is not much help and the startup items in MSCONFIG are difficult to identify. The window that MSCONFIG opens is small and cannot be stretched to assist identification of the items. I have reviewed BlackViper.com’s descriptions but that list is long and many items do not apply for a fast bootup. So, I am guessing that someone out there has done the optimization for the fastest bootup by eliminating many of the items under the MSCONFIG startup tab???? I hope.

Rather than using MSCONFIG and having little help to decide what is necessary other than extensive Google searching, I’ve chosen a different program with an information database…

Read more in my article Slow Windows XP Boot Times