The Shutdown Event Tracker is a workstation or server feature, which can also be accessed in Windows 10/8/7, to consistently track the reason for system shutdowns. You can then use this information to analyze shutdowns and to develop a more comprehensive understanding of your system environment. This is an extra set of questions that is displayed when you invoke a shutdown to collect information related to why you are shutting down the computer.

Enable, disable Shutdown Event Tracker using Group Policy

To enable this policy setting in Windows , type gpedit.msc in start search and hit Enter to open the Group Policy Editor.

Navigate to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > In RHS, doubleclick  Display Shutdown Event Tracker policy.

Now in the dialog box which opens, select Enabled; and from the drop down menu select Always.

If you enable this setting and choose “Always” from the drop-down menu, the Shutdown Event Tracker is displayed when you shut down.

If you enable this setting and choose “Server Only” from the drop-down menu, the Shutdown Event Tracker is displayed when you shut down a Windows Server computer beginning with Windows Server 2003.

If you enable this setting and choose “Workstation Only” from the drop-down menu, the Shutdown Event Tracker is displayed when you shut down a Windows workstation beginning with Windows XP Professional.

If you disable this setting, the Shutdown Event Tracker is not displayed when you shut down.

If you do not configure this setting, the default behavior for the Shutdown Event Tracker occurs. By default, the Shutdown Event Tracker is only displayed on the Windows Server family, and not in Windows 7 or Vista.

Alternatively, you can also set the policy through the Registry Editor. Type regedit in start search and hit Enter to open it.

Navigate to the following key:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows NT\Reliability

In RHS, double click on each of these values and change both their values to 1.

• ShutdownReason
• OnShutdownReasonUI

The Shut Down Windows dialog box will now appear with the Shutdown Event Tracker feature enabled, every time you click on shutdown.

You may also want to enable Verbose Status Messages if your Windows does not shutdown.

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