Add Enhanced Shutdown Button to the Windows XP Start Menu

We saw how to add the Lock Workstation command to the Start menu using the OEM link area in the Windows XP Start menu. Here is another registry tweak that adds an enhanced Shutdown button to the Windows XP Start menu, with additional options in the context menu.

This excellent registry hack comes from Herby’s Tweaks Website. This again uses the OEM link slot in the Windows XP Start menu.

Important: It’s suggested that you backup your registry or create a System Restore point before applying any registry hack.

Add Enhanced Shutdown button with more options

Visit Herby’s Tweaks page, download the file shutdown.zip and unzip the contents to a folder of your choice. Move the file NirCmd.exe to the Windows\System32 folder. Double-click the file Add Shutdown.reg to merge the contents. Similarly, merge the contents of Remove Default Buttons.reg file. Logoff and login back again.

Your Start menu should now look like this.

The above menu options are powered by NirCmd, a freeware tool that we’ve already covered in this site.

Menu option	Command-Line
Shutdown	NirCmd.exe exitwin poweroff forceifhung
Hibernate	NirCmd.exe hibernate
Lock Computer	NirCmd.exe lockws
Log Off	NirCmd.exe exitwin logoff forceifhung
Monitor Off	NirCmd.exe monitor off
Restart	NirCmd.exe exitwin reboot forceifhung
Stand By	NirCmd.exe standby

Here is a screenshot of the Windows Vista Start menu, which has most of the above options included by default.

Herby’s Tweaks has other useful and creative registry tweaks that you would like to check out.

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