Designed
for Windows 95/98/NT.
(Download all 12Ghosts 1.3
MB, 18-Dec-98)
Introducing PACT ShutDown
╖ More Commands
╖ Additional Features
╖ New in this version
Installation and Usage
ScreenSaverSpirit
For Example: Backup with XCOPY
Programmers and Administrators
E-mail ShutDown Support
How to Order a License
330
KB, 18-Dec-98, Including ScreenSaverSpirit,
self-extracting Setup, complete Uninstall, full documentation.
Introducing PACT ShutDown
Terminate programs not responding
automatically with two additional time-outs! Power off, shutdown, restart, log off, reboot
into NT boot.ini entry, reboot to DOS, restart Windows only, restart shell only, initiate
standby, start screen saver, lock workstation. User defined hotkey, optional tray icon,
FlyingIcon™, shortcut or batch file. Optional confirmation, countdown, run and wait
for program before, play sound, eject CDs, clear history lists.
• Power off, Shutdown,
Restart, Log off, reboot to DOS
• Boot into any OS
listed in your boot.ini with just one click without waiting for the boot menu (only with Windows NT).
• Restart Windows Only (on
Windows 95/98 only)
• Restart Shell Only
(no log off, application keep running!)
• Initiate Standby
mode
• Start screen saver
and lock workstation: did you ever wonder
why the screen saver doesn't jump in immediately when you lock your NT workstation? You
can do it now!
• Now you can Terminate
programs not responding automatically! Select two more time-outs for unresponsive
applications: a second friendly challenge to close, and then a definitive termination!
• Prevent
standby/screen saver from jumping in while you are running a slide
show or a paused network game!
• Run a program before
shutdown, for example your backup program. PACT ShutDown will wait for this program to
finish, and power-off your system unattended later
• Shutdown your system per taskbar tray icon, define any key
combination, or create a shortcut or batch file.
• FlyingIcon™
- No longer depend on the too small taskbar tray. Place the FlyingIcon™ anywhere on
the screen.
• Optional confirmation
and countdown
• Cancel
during shutdown (NT only)
• Flash
icon and siren as additional warning
• ScreenSaverSpirit:
Manage your screen saver per batchfile, change screen saver, stop it per scheduler, start with
password protection, set time-out within seconds (!), enable/disable screen saver, set/reset password
protection, enter standby mode.
• Support the new Nutek
power management standard that turns off monitor power, even in NT, by changing screen savers at a scheduled time!
New in this version:
99.1c: If no boot.ini was found and the
menu command "Boot into this OS" was selected, it crashed. This has been
corrected
• Select any shutdown command in the menu: all previous actions will happen like confirmation,
countdown, run program before, play sound, eject CDs, termination, and clear history
lists.
• Hold CTRL to
prevent the previous actions and do a standard
shutdown/restart/log off.
• Terminate
programs not responding automatically! Select two more time-outs for unresponsive
applications: a second friendly challenge to close, and then a definitive termination!
• Initiate Standby
mode, start screen saver
• Prevent
standby/screen saver from jumping in while you are running a slide show or a paused
network game!
• Screen Saver Manager
and support for the Nutek power management
feature
• Reboot to MS-DOS.
Just enter "win" at the command prompt to restart Windows.
• Restart Shell Only
has been enhanced to work even more effective and stable!
• The different shutdown commands are now available
per command line!
• Support for "/s" or "/silent" on the command line. With
"/s" specified in a shortcut, no dialog is displayed, just the icon will appear
in the taskbar tray. In other words, as long as no "/s" is specified, the
ShutDown dialog will now open immediately!
• Proceedings box is now optional
• Optional siren
on mouse over icon
• You can now move the
FlyingIcon™ per arrow keys (if it has
the focus after a move, click or a double-click).
Installation and Usage
To install PACT ShutDown, just click here to save the file on your
local disk. Start the downloaded program and select OK to accept the default installation
options. That's it!
You should notice the red blinking FlyingIcon™
at the
top of the screen. Click with the right (the other) mouse button on this icon to
open the PACT ShutDown menu. Select the first command to open the PACT ShutDown Settings.
![PACT ShutDown menu.](images/c_shutdownmnu.gif)
Right-click on the red icon to open this menu.
First, you might want to change the default "On Click" option. This is the
currently selected shutdown default command
executed when you left-click on the icon
, or
press the hotkey.
Please review and customize the selected actions to take
place before any log off. You might want to confirm the shutdown but
proceed automatically after a countdown. You can run a program
before and let ShutDown wait for it to finish. If this program requires
parameters you can specify them in the Command Line Options.
"Say Goodbye" can play any
sound file. It will be played asynchronously while the
applications are being closed and the shutdown process continues. (The normal Exit Windows
sound stops the shutdown process.)
There are two new buttons at the right: General and ScrnSavSpirit.
Open General options to select the tray and
FlyingIcon. Choose if ShutDown should add a shortcut to the Startup
folder and/or remove it on quit. Easily add/remove shortcuts in the Start menu, Programs
menu, or on the desktop. Change the delay until the context help should appear when you
hover the cursor over a control. And select a user defined hotkey for the default shutdown command.
Also in General Options, on the right, are four buttons to save, restore, or completely remove all user defined settings. This includes ShutDown
Settings as well as General Options. You might want to transfer all the settings, you have
carefully selected, from one computer to another. Or to a new Windows installation. Or
just keep them in case something is crashing. Or in case somebody else is volunteering at
your computer... It should be wise to copy the settings file to a backup floppy or zip
disk. Please make sure to first save your settings before restoring or removing! If a
warning is displayed you should take that very serious!
The FlyingIcon™ is called FlyingIcon
because it can be moved anywhere on the screen. There is enough room on the top of the
screen where most windows just display a wide blue beam, or you can use the area at the
right where the vertical scroll bar usually wastes screen real estate. But you need to
take care to really move it, otherwise it's a click invoking the default action!
Tip: If you hold CTRL while selecting a menu command, this will do
a standard shutdown or logoff without any action before.
A constant question on the NT and video groups regards monitor power management for NT.
As you know, NT does not have native power management.
However, many monitors now support the new Nutek power management standard. This
feature turns off monitor power, even in NT, when a totally blank screen is detected.
The ScreenSaverSpirit was developed to
change screen savers from, let's say, Flying Stars, to a blank screen at a scheduled time.
This enables the use of the Nutek feature and provides power
management for Windows NT!
You can use the non-blank saver most of the time, for example from 9 AM to 5 PM, and
then switch to the blank screen until 9 AM the following morning (a blank.scr could be
used) to turn off power. You don't want to use the blank saver all day because switching
power on and off constantly reduces monitor life because of thermal cycling. During the
"blank period", the blank.scr would act as a normal screen saver, allowing the
use of the monitor when keyboard or mouse activity wakes it up, then powering down again
after the screen saver time-out interval.
There is a slight trick to switch a screen saver in NT when another is already running.
You first need to stop the one running to selected a new saver.
And even if you don't use power management, you might still want to change screen
savers from time to time. To switch screen savers call the following command from a
scheduling program like PACT Timer:
Start Path: pactssss.exe
Parameters: /stop /change:scrnsave.scr /start
The ScreenSaverSpirit will help you to directly manage screen saver settings or create
shortcuts for batchfiles and scheduling. Change screen saver,
stop it per scheduler, start
with password protection, set time-out within seconds (!), enable/disable screen saver, set/reset password
protection, enter standby mode.
(New
in 99.1a: Help button did not respond. Corrected.)
For Example: Backup with XCOPY
Well, we are in the security business somehow: I do network consulting, and we offer
the BackGhosts backup tools. Security is one of the things I really like to stress!
Surprisingly, me personally, I do not use a special backup program nor do I have
a tape. I just don't trust them... Instead, I use "xcopy" started through PACT
ShutDown.
When you shut down your computer you usually can't say if you will ever be able to boot
it again. Last time I had not done a backup before shutdown I was fiddling with
an old FAT disk editor in an NTFS partition. This was hairy! I lost all data of this day
including some e-mails I've never seen...
Since this time I put a lot of concentration on always starting my backup before
shutdown. I do a backup as I always did a backup: I just copy changed files to a second
(!) disk drive after every bigger change and always before shutdown.
With our PACT ShutDown you no longer need to concentrate on your backup, just add
"xcopy" as the program to start before shutdown. PACT ShutDown will wait on the
program to close and shut down unattended when it's ready. You might need to change the
paths in the following example:
Run this Program: xcopy
Options: "C:\My Documents"
"D:\Backup\Docs" /d /s /e /h /r /i /f /c
The options are the same for 95/98/NT :-O. They mean that you want to copy only
files with a newer /date
("incremental"), copy directories and /subdirectories,
including /empty ones, also copy /hidden and system files, overwrite /read-only files, assume a d/irectory,
display /full paths while copying, and the
most important is to /continue even if
errors occur, for example if a file is in use: the Explorer "copy" does not do
this!
Replace "My Documents" with the folder you want to backup. It is always a
good idea to unite all user data below one folder. Actually, this is the very task to
solve if you are planning any backups!
If you want to know the details: I have only one "C:\Docs" folder that needs
a backup. And in there are only files that need a backup
to speed up the backup process. I have a second folder indeed called "D:\Docs without
Backup" containing only things which are not going to change, data files copied from
a CD-ROM, closed projects already backed up, or the collection of jokes, speeches, and
articles.
From time to time I copy the "C:\Docs" folder to an Iomega ZIP drive that I really like a lot. I also use
"xcopy" with the above parameters. That will copy only changed files and will
continue if a file is locked (in use). I keep one ZIP disk per month - what I think is
sufficient. For my wife I have an extra ZIP
disk and I copy her document folder manually from time to time. I tell her to do this
herself again and again but she refuses to make backups - she probably thinks her husband
is a genius regarding computer, so what could happen to her data...
My very important data, like C source files, to-do lists, business tables etc., I have
added to 2ndBackup
which also makes multi-backups to the second disk. And with the help of 2ndFolder I copy
our complete web site folder to a new destination folder after every glamorous change. I
do some clean up unregulary when I feel the
second disk really needs it. It's probably useful to rename or delete the xcopy's
D:\Backup\Docs folder every three months and do a fresh copy.
Programmers and Administrators
Command Line Options
Like all PACT Software, PACT ShutDown is batch capable. You can start the shutdown
process through a shortcut on your desktop, unattended by a scheduling program like PACT Timer, a batch file, or through your own programs.
PACT ShutDown accepts the following command line options:
/default |
This does the shutdown with the current settings |
/poweroff |
Power off the computer with any further actions before log
off. |
/shutdown |
Do a standard shutdown. |
/restart |
Restart the computer |
/logoff |
Log off as the current user |
/restartwin |
Restart Windows only |
/bootdos |
Shutdown and boot into MS-DOS |
/bootnt:N |
Boot into an OS listed in the boot.ini, where N is the NT
submenu index (1 for the first entry). |
Tip: You can specify extra hotkeys for every shortcut you create,
for example one to shutdown and one to just log off.
Control Settings
Should you plan to use PACT ShutDown with your own programs or a batch file, you can
set the options directly with your program, or import them per 12Ghosts Settings file.
To create an according settings file select all options as intended an then click
General Options and Save. You can simply edit the settings file with Notepad, for example
to delete lines you don't want to have changed. When you double-click this
".12g" file or call it from a batch file the settings will take effect. You can
specify "/s" for silent.
License
This program is a test version for evaluation only. You can use the software for
evaluation purposes without charge for a maximum of 30 days. If you use this software
after the 30 day evaluation period a registration fee for a full version is required.
How to Order a License
License Agreement
Support
Should you have any questions please contact support@12Ghosts.com. We stand committed to solving
your issues within hours! We're also running a UBB support forum where other users might
already have asked your question. You're welcome to join the discussion!
And you can take part on the future development of the 12Ghosts family:
Send us your thoughts on features and usage. We really appreciate your feedback!