OT: Windows bootup-screen thingy

[Will]

NullAshton said:
That's because Windows does several things at shutdown, like erase the page file.

While Windows technically does do this, it isn't something that will cause a delay in shutting down. By default, it just removes the reference to the file from the filesystem. There is an option that zeros out the page file (manually writing a null byte to all bytes of the pagefile, probably more than once), however this happens while the "Windows is shutting down..." screen is up. IIRC, it's only an option in NT, Win2kPro/Server, WinXPPro, and Win2k3 Server. If the option is enabled, you will notice. At a former job I had a workstation with "only" 1GB pagefile, and it took about 30 minutes to go from the shutdown screen to power-off.

If there is a delay between hitting the power button and the shutdown screen, it is caused by an excess of running programs and services, or programs that do not quit nicely. One in particular I have noticed is Norton AV. It always takes about 10 or so seconds for its processes to finally exit cleanly.