Oh, how quaint. I'd forgotten about that. Yes, if you select "shut down 
my PC", it sits there for a few minutes saying "writing unsaved changes 
to disk" (despite there being no CPU or HD activity). And then it pops 
up a message saying "it is now safe to turn off your PC".

Yes, that's right, you have to manually turn the power off. The OS 
doesn't do this automatically. It predates the time when it was 
physically possible to turn off the PC in software.

Now, if you look up the appropriate Microsoft KB article, it tells you 
how to replace HAL.DLL with a patched version, and then edit a registry 
key to enable an extra option in the shutdown dialog that says "shut 
down and power off", which really *does* power off your PC. (Unless it 
lacks that feature, in which case you get a Blue Screen Of Death when 
you try it. I have seen this happen once or twice...)

Indeed, many years ago I actually scripted this whole operation - 
replacing HAL.DLL, setting the registry key, etc. Back when I actually 
gave a damn. Ah, the memories... Jesus, I've been working here FAR too 
long! o_O

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