NOTICE: Always be careful when editing the registry. Sometimes changes to the registry affects Windows in undocumented ways. You should always make a backup of the registry before making changes. You can make a backup using your registry editor.

For those who are still on Windows 98, there is a faster way to shutdown 98. The painful process can be shortened through a registry tweak. Go to Start -> Run -> regedit and navigate to the tree folder HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Shutdown. You will have to make a new string (go to Edit -> New -> String) and call it “FastReboot” and set it to equal 1. Windows 98 should shut down faster the next time you decide to turn your PC off.