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1 Step ShutDown

Findings of the Tribunal:

The official product description:

1 Step ShutDown shuts down Windows with one click. There are eight different shutdown options: shut down the system and attempt to power it off; reboot the Windows system; terminate processes, then log off; forcibly terminate processes that do not respond, then log off; forcibly terminate processes that do not respond, then shut down the system and attempt to power off; forcibly terminate processes that do not respond, then log off current user and prompt for new logon; forcibly terminate processes that do not respond, then restart the system; and shut down the system, then restart.

The official price: 9x version: US$6; NT version: US$50
The official bloat specs: Download: 2.9MB; expansion on disk: 4MB

What's involved here is not even as complex as some of the other winners in the Hall of Bloat, with as many as TWO system calls. 1 Step ShutDown has only ONE.

ExitWindowsEx

The ExitWindowsEx function either logs off, shuts down, or shuts down and restarts the system.

BOOL ExitWindowsEx(
   UINT uFlags, // shutdown operation
   DWORD dwReserved // reserved
);

Parameters

uFlags

Specifies the type of shutdown. This parameter must be some combination of the following values:

Value Meaning
EWX_FORCEForces processes to terminate. When this flag is set, Windows does not send the messages WM_QUERYENDSESSION and WM_ENDSESSION to the applications currently running in the system. This can cause the applications to lose data. Therefore, you should only use this flag in an emergency.
EWX_LOGOFFShuts down all processes running in the security context of the process that called the ExitWindowsEx function. Then it logs the user off.
EWX_POWEROFFShuts down the system and turns off the power. The system must support the power-off feature.
EWX_REBOOTShuts down the system and then restarts the system.
EWX_SHUTDOWNShuts down the system to a point at which it is safe to turn off the power. All file buffers have been flushed to disk, and all running processes have stopped.

dwReserved

Reserved; this parameter is ignored.

Wow, that's difficult. Wow, that's rocket science. Wow, that's really worth US$50. Seriously, any developer could write this 'app' in about 10 minutes - but wouldn't, because here is the very very funny punch line:

Everything this app does is already on the Start menu.

A ray of hope: people who check out 1 Step ShutDown are not slow to react.

This can be easily managed by right-clicking on your Desktop and selecting New -> Shortcut. In the command line field type 'C:\WINDOWS\RUNDLL.EXE user.exe,exitwindows'. Click 'Next' and label it 'Shutdown'. Rebooting can be done by entering the same command but instead of "exitwindows" you enter 'exitwindowsexec' (without the quotes of course).

You can do the same thing with a FREE 1Kb size application written in assembler. This oversized (2.9 MB) software is just totally stupid to use. The authors actually want to get paid for this junk!?!

This software is the perfect example of what VB 'programming' has to offer, a waste of time and money.

What is the point of this program? It is completely useless.

4MB bloatware to shutdown your PC? Rated as excellent? Did I get it right? It is authors of 'software' like this that must be shutdown. Geeez! 4MB! It's crazy! Such a thing should not weigh 1KB!

The author seems very intent on shilling his own product, as this POS is not freeware - this costs! (The NT version - which does no more than the Start -> Shut Down menu item - costs - get ready - US$50.) Bad reviews are consistently bracketed with really dumb good reviews that don't mesh with the general reaction at all.

The author of 1 Step ShutDown 1.01 is a criminal who should be taken to the Bloatbusters dungeon, forced to eat his own fatty slime, and left to rot away with the key thrown into a molten vat of VISUAL BASIC BLOAT.

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