A hidden shutdown screen in Windows 11

Hello, my friends! Let's hit 15K likes? Check out my website! enderman.ch
Today I am going to show you the hidden disabled shutdown screen of Windows 11. It's been decades since ACPI was integrated into BIOS to help operating systems have better control over hardware. Since that screen is required to notify the user that the system has finished cleaning up and ready for the power to be shut off when there's no Advanced Power Interface to power down automatically for you, it's no longer needed, asides from likely debugging purposes.
Still got questions? Don't hesitate, send them to [e-mail]!
Hope you have a great day!
#endermanch #experiments #windows

[@DavidWonn]

Fun fact on the Win95 version of the shutdown screen: Many people mistakenly misread it as, "It's NOT safe to turn off your computer."

[@XDboyLolz]

it looks eerie af so i would understand why

[@DavidWonn]

@Akhilesh Sattanathan Since YT deleted my reply (and they don't like links), it is a legendary tale in tech support of people mincing words.

[@blueberrycmd]

cringe

[@Happy29_]

More like its NT safe to turn off your computer

[@DavidWonn]

@@Happy29_ Funny that you mention that, as the old NT versions by default have a dialog box saying something similar, with a single button to press to restart. And of course there were people pressing that, wondering why it didn't shut down!

[@pessie83]

The well-known phrase 'It is now safe to turn off your computer' was back in the days when you still had to turn off the computer manually. Now that happens automatically when you shut down the computer.

[@tylern6420]

Which Computers even do that anymore?

[@rughksu]

@@tylern6420 None. All PCs are ACPI-compatible nowadays, this screen was made for older non ACPI-compatible PCs in the 90s but was left as a remnant from the past by Microsoft

[@tylern6420]

@@rughksu imagine turning off your SNES but the light stays on until you unplug it and after 5 minutes it just says "GO TO SOCKET AND UNPLUG THE DAMN THING"

[@krnlexception]

@@tylern6420 no, it doesn't work like that. Power switch on basically every older console (pre-6th gen I think) was a hardware button that cut power off to console's motherboard.

[@nathanbentley1939]

Technically, computers these days don't truly turn off, but rather, they enter an extremely low power "stand-by" mode. As long as the power supply is switched on or the battery has charge on it (depending if it's a desktop or laptop), the computer is always drawing power.

[@alikirb]

there's something so unsettling about just seeing the text "it is now safe to turn off your computer" in small text with a black background in modern times

[@QuantumScratcher]

At least add an icon to it

[@XaneMyers]

For me, it's that and just how the text overall looks, like a low-color image of text. 😣

[@ToaderTheToad]

I wonder why they removed the Windows logo from XP's shutdown screen? It looked less unsettling there

[@johnyt9040]

Yea it's so creepy, kinda.

[@XaneMyers]

@@ToaderTheToad Comparing that to the Windows 10/11 version, the Windows XP screen's text looks clean (no anti-aliased pixels around the text) so it looks like it belongs, and indeed, I agree, the Windows XP logo was a nice touch. Microsoft shouldn't have removed it from later versions; It feels like they assumed that since barely anyone would see it that they could cut corners and make it look unsettling. The Windows 10/11 screen's text for some reason is anti-aliased with blue pixels, like it's meant to be shown on top of a blue background like Windows 10's shutdown screen. However, they show it on top of a *black* background, giving it this weird crusty look; I think *that* is what makes it so creepy. That, and how it's _randomly off-center_ in the top-left corner!

[@mcosta3810]

The Non-ACPI shutdown may still be useful for embedded systems. My last workplace had one such piece of manufacturing equipment with an embedded Windows system, which was still running Windows XP. As it was powered on and off by a hard switch, the hardware did not support the ACPI shutdown (the best I could tell) and we always saw the XP's shutdown screen when we shut down Windows. In addition to debuging purposes within Microsoft, I wouldn't put it past embedded equipment manufacturers to be doing the exact same thing today, only now using Windows 10 or 11

[@yop.1]

​@Dean Fayad Bot.

[@yop.1]

@Dean Fayad you are.

[@9852323]

A lot of places like that actually still use 95 and XP

[@realawesomeos]

@Dean Fayad Bot.

[@realawesomeos]

@Dean Fayad what the im not a bot

[@DavidWonn]

The Win95 version of the shutdown screen actually just exits Windows into single DOS mode. In fact, if you started Windows the old way (hit F8 to start up in DOS, then type WIN to launch Windows), then when you select Shut Down, you can actually type DOS commands blindly. I demonstrate the side effects of this in a vid.

[@wiliwilo]

where is this vid I may ask

[@DavidWonn]

@@wiliwilo YT doesn't like posting links, so I'll just say it's on my channel

[@wiliwilo]

@@DavidWonn i already found it, you could've just said the title of the video

[@DavidWonn]

@@wiliwilo YT has deleted my comments lately, so it's always a roll of the dice to know what is allowed to be said anymore.

[@technocody9296]

@@DavidWonn That's why I don't comment anymore. Stop comment to strangers because waste your time. Oh, I've de-googled my android devices since half year ago. Finally I'm here, because i'm on computer, not phone. I believe I hadn't liked or subscribe anyone's video on this YT's account for half year because of Newpipe doesn't require account which i never logged in but allowed me to subscribe youtuber's without an account!!!!!! I love that I can see my favorite youtuber without account but subscribed on Newpipe app instead of crappy youtube app. I'm glad Elon Musk are doing it right to make our speech freedom on the internet. Because that what google pushed me away as me useful commentary for since 2008. Well, guess what? I hadn't comment for 6 months until NOW. Finally I'm comment here to tell you to stop comments on youtube to waste your time. Anyway, decentralizating myself out again. Goodbye forever!

[@lukeb7954]

When you shut down your computer and go on a week long vacation later realizing you had this enabled

[@MrMasterKeyboard]

Goodbye wallet!

[@idifjrivhjf5198]

It is now safe to turn off yourself.

[@rpst39]

well it shouldn't use that much electricity. it's just doing nothing. no process is being done.

[@dylanharding5720]

@@MrMasterKeyboard The average pc isn't even that expensive to run at full power, and the cost for idling on this screen would be very low.

[@simon.bartos]

If you had an OLED monitor, you would get a pretty burn-in 😁

[@75rxREDSTONE]

Well yes. That group policy disables ACPI basically. ACPI is used for hardware power management. An OS mainly uses ACPI to shut down or restart. If Windows can't use ACPI at any point, it outputs that screen. Editing group policy just turns off a way for OS to access ACPI. The same thing happens when you disable ACPI Mode in BIOS. If the ACPI 'device' couldn't shut down a computer for any reason, whether it's an OS being restricted to do this through group policy (which you showed in a video), ACPI Mode being disabled, problem with the ACPI 'device' itself, or hardware problem, and Windows attempts to shut down anyway, it instead outputs that screen. That It is now safe to turn off your computer. screen, well, as it tells you, your PC is pretty much halted and it's safe to just power off your PC at any way instead of shutting it down. This screen has VGA mode enabled (640x480 resolution, not SVGA!), and that's the UI from ntoskrnl.exe process (open it in ResourceHacker if you don't trust me)

[@𰻝]

"That group policy disables ACPI"... no it doesn't. Vista and later require ACPI (it doesn't have non-ACPI HALs)

[@deadair32101]

ACPI is A LOT more than just Power Management lmao

[@paulstelian97]

@@deadair32101 ACPI is power management but not only of the whole system, but of individual devices. Plus stuff like IOAPIC (interrupts) and hardware detection I guess.

[@alexandrubossro]

ACPI provides more than just DSDT table (shutdown, reboot). We also have FADT, HPET, RSDP, BGRT, MADT, and many more which the OS must have now. You can check the osdev wiki for more

[@paulstelian97]

@@alexandrubossro HPET is just a device, BGRT is just the boot logo, MADT is the detection of multiple cores which is technically another facet of device enumeration, and I'm unsure of the rest. But the thing is: it's device detection and power management, for non-enumerable buses (the address space, IO ports, and e.g. I2C)

[@davide4731]

One of the interesting things about this screen is that, just like moderns BSODs, it shows up at the native screen resolution if you try it on a real computer On VMware neither this nor BSODs seem to inherit the resolution, even if you chage the UEFI resolution setting

[@dragan3010]

I remember seeing this screen (the classic orange one) on the win98 laptop I had as a kid. It's cool that it still exists.

[@sarahjanecrabtree]

I agree

[@FairPlay137]

I think this screen nowadays is more useful for devices which don't have soft power-off, but comply with ACPI in every other way (like a server). Really interesting how Windows 8 doesn't have that screen - makes me wonder if that was added back into Windows 10 in response to people using Windows on systems which can't do soft power (instead relying on a hard power switch).

[@Patashu]

Didn't know this was still around. Fascinating! I loved this message as a kid. Just something very... imperious, authoritative about it. The finality of knowing you were finally safe.

[@gomango99]

The windows95 one looks creepy for some reason, like an anti-piracy screen

[@C00LSH4RK]

true immagine if was there anti piracy message

[@Odswietny]

Did it have one?

[@NathanPlays395]

@@Odswietny it does - an MS-DOS cursor. after the trial period windows doesn't boot at all.

[@LordSzo]

Those shutdown screens made me terrified. Which say "It's now safe to turn off your computer."

[@SageBl4de0]

I know, it makes you seem like something was NOT safe before, but Windows put it on safe mode or something.

[@teknixstuff]

@@SageBl4de0 Technically, it wasn't. If you turn off without shutting down, you can get a corrupted disk.

[@SageBl4de0]

@@teknixstuff didn't know, sorrym

[@virtual2288]

"The monsters are gone, you're safe to escape... For now"

[@25COfficial]

3:05 and I still love windows 7 and its hidden shutdown :3

[@Aryx_]

Thank you Endermanch for all the support, i can't explain how much you have saved me, i'm literally in the process of fixing my main laptop because I did a dual boot of Windows 10 and Windows 11 and it broke my laptop from booting into Windows 10 and i couldn't boot into Windows 11 since the boot menu didn't show up to select Windows 11 i couldn't boot into even a OS and i couldn't boot into Windows RE since the F8 screen never shows up, so i had to go get my old laptop and re image the USB Drive to be bootable and once i was in the Windows Indtaller i had to install a driver, once i did i can delete the partition from diskpart then check if the BCD is intact and had only Windows 11 and then i rebooted and then Windows 11 finally booted

[@IronPikachu724]

I have no idea why, but anything that makes computers not function like normal (even if it is coded into the PC's programing for functions) scare me sometimes, like more of a chill down my spine then a jumpscare designed to scare people (things like the "Blue Screen of Death" sometimes if unexpected, or the "It is now safe to turn off your computer" screen from this video)

[@hacktor_92]

2:34 in win 11 (not sure if applies in 10) you'll have to gpupdate /force in order to forcefully update any gp change. prolly windows went the linux way to update current user stuff AFTER a logout

[@simon1000-7]

always gotta be the too epic music for windows features topic

[@SearInMinecraft]

On Linux, if the computer doesn't support ACPI, the computer will just freeze with the message "reboot: power off"

[@sebastianpatriciotapiamoya1225]

yeah, and because there's more text (the logcat) it doesnt look as creepy as M$ Windows

[@ahmadzahid266]

I am surprised the windows 11 still have this screen! Most computers form early 2000s have ACPI support and it’s become a standard feature

[@andresbravo2003]

There is one?! Back to Windows 95 days holy crap

[@Aeduo]

I wonder if this would show up on various ARM platforms that you could install Windows on to which many have no way to perform a soft shutdown, like the raspberry pi. I think there was a windows 10 version for that but not sure about 11.

[@Notevenmad955]

I don’t think so, due to Windows for ARM only supports UEFI and ACPI(yes there is a spec for ACPI on ARM)

[@ranaomar9752]

​@Notevenmad955 yo,how can I get? 🤔🤔🤔

[@teknixstuff]

The Pi can do soft shutdown, just you can't turn it on again without pulling the plug.

[@ko99913]

All fun and computers until steve comes in with blaze rods in his hands

[@laptech7483]

@Endermanch I like your videos. It has such good quality. Please continue to make such videos.

[@NewRepublicMapper]

Windows 8.1: Shuts downs and Freeze Me: Panicking intensifies

[@alpaca8152]

That screen always kicked my irrational fear to its traumatic rate.

[@win_ini]

that windows 11 screen literally looks like they put a blue background, put some white text, resized it through paint's default selection tool and made the screen black through fill tool...

[@pieceofdirt]

2:52 If i was sent to a dark huge room with a computer showing this i will freak out

[@proximitea]

i was expecting the screen to not be changed from windows xp, very neat

[@armeniancrusader301]

1:28 Imagine the "it is now safe to turn off your computer“ screen looking like XP but with Windows 11 logo instead.

[@SASTSimon]

1:27 why do i find the shutdown screen symcing to the music so funny. It looks like a geometry dash end screen.

[@drdonk_auf_die_1_xd]

Nice i get the notification when the premiere ended

[@partitionhlep]

same lol

[@ItzzNexiGB]

But i don't got that notification

[@OldVoytazov]

I was always scared about that text " Now it is safe to turn of your computer" I thought it wasnt

[@WithoutThe_GoodOne]

Are you still scared?

[@OldVoytazov]

Well at some Point

[@j.w.techchannel]

Interesting video; pretty cool how Microsoft still have this screen in Windows 11.

[@arronCARWASHES]

Did anyone know the "It is now safe to turn off your computer" action by using regedit? 🤔

[@melsbacksfriend]

Windows 8 not having a special screen makes sense. It was optimized for tablets after all.

[@malwaretestingfan]

I'll have to admit, if there's a thing where Windows shines as an OS is compatibility with older versions and features. Besides, i don't think i would need this feature.

[@traxx1o]

nice first song, i thought my spotify started playing XD

[@CrisslCross]

That windows 9x "it is now safe to turn off your computer" creeps me out for some reason

[@deadair32101]

Probably for the same reason that error screens on consoles like the PS2 freak people out

[@BhiPho]

Its Been 2 Months Daddy

[@Jackpkmn]

It was (and probably still is) possible to install Windows XP on not fully ACPI compliant hardware and end up legit using these screens. A lot of AMD Super Socket 7 platforms still used the AT standard power connector these systems were not fully ACPI compliant even if their bios was due to the fact that the computer could not control the power state. When Windows XP is being installed you can press one of the Fkeys i forget which one during the Press F6 for storage drivers prompt to be able to select a non ACPI compliant installation for XP bypassing the normal check.

[@aleksanderkysiak9540]

I have a Windows XP virtual machine. The 0xA5 ACPI_BIOS_ERROR blue screen says how to disable ACPI during system setup. "(...) you can turn off ACPI mode during text mode setup. To do this, simply press the F7 key when you are prompted to install storage drivers. The system (...) will silently disable ACPI and allow you to continue your installation."

[@xxz2007]

That message (“It is now safe to power off the system”) appears also in the (previous) W.10

[@TtEL]

If you actually watched the video you would've seen where at 3:11 it says that Win 11 inherited the screen from Win 10

[@xxz2007]

I did not see that comment in the video…

[@iSpace14]

Continue with the great content!

[@ktrmambiance1627]

3:14 Windows 10 freezes too, if done on Preinstallation / Recovery environment (not on normal desktop) Windows 7 shows it on both desktop and PE/RE, however gpedit isn't accessible there, so you'll need regedit (HKLM/Software/Policies/Microsoft/Windows NT ~ add 32-bit DWORD value *DontPowerOffAfterShutdown* with value 1) And you use shutdown.exe from where the Windows is installed (as PE/RE doesn't have it), the shutdown option in recovery menu won't work

[@ktrmambiance1627]

Tried on Win11's PE/RE a while ago and it showed the safe to power off screen Need to mention that Win10 and 11 freeze no matter, if VGA boot screen (Vista style) is enabled

[@ktrmambiance1627]

And this explains why Windows 8 freezes too; because it's probably trying to display Vista/7's screen (3:07), which requires the VGA video drivers that Win8 onwards don't load after boot screen. (also Win10/Win11 with Vista boot screen enabled) (that boot screen is where the VGA drivers are only loaded in)

[@Injitin]

for a second i thought i had CS:GO opened, because this video’s background music is my background music in CS

[@joshua9803]

Ah Windows 9X days, brings back some good-old memorys

[@iffyspeak]

Windows is such a backwards compatible operating system

[@LennyQUMFIF]

Yea, looks like even after years they're using the same code. Hell Floppys are still supported and show up as drives "A:" and/or "B:"

[@bonkmaykr]

Oh wow, it's that song from that dashstar CS:GO music kit. A banger

[@nicknorthcutt7680]

Bro I swear you have the best music on your channel

[@TetraTitanio]

I miss windows XP, Vista & 7 so much

[@ProblematicParag0n]

Bro I need to get Enderman's spotify playlist, this music slaps!

[@bartegd3248]

2:52 nothing was changes since windows vista :)

[@staidey5994]

I think it’s for the computers that don’t support ACPI but support modern operating systems.

[@lovrito2008]

I don't think there are many, if any at all, such computers.

[@the_archon]

"Some obscure reason " bro didnt click apply

[@WickerBasket9]

I'm surprised Windows 11 still has this leftover, which I find very cool, honestly.

[@dragogos]

It's not a leftover, it's a feature. Businesses use this group policy setting to this day. For example, ATMs use it.

[@biciclentiu69]

i love the choice you made with the music! ;D

[@RichardVR45]

Me: updates to windows 11 What it calls It: Windows 12 me:EEEEEH-- what

[@M.4y]

It's needs one reboot, because group policies get loaded/refreshed on login I guess

[@sniperstyx]

Music is way too hype for this type of content, but either way I get to watch some good quality tech content.

[@winnersmiling]

imagine if u turn ur computer off to go to a buisness trip or smth else and come back and see this

[@mrdoognoog]

I remember somehow the ACPI shutdown failed on my xp machine as a kid, gave me the "now safe" which i had only seen on the family 98 rig. its unexpectancy was certainly unnerving to say the least when you're used to it just going down normally

[@PaxQw]

Enderman make a video about the "Altruistic" (and how to remove it) virus I think for a lot of people it will be useful

[@ivandkridd]

When there is an virus and you click the emergency shutdown you need to wait and it will show you this message and shut it down

[@gparyani]

I'm guessing Microsoft thought the screen unnecessary when they built Windows 8. Then many people who made use of the screen previously (embedded systems per other comments) complained, so they brought it back in Windows 10.

[@johnsalamii]

that screen would've scared the shit out of me if i was 6

[@TheTimmynatoRex]

Now I want to know what Windows Vista to Windows 10 outputted when the same "do not turn off power" setting is enabled, if it's any different or if it's just an XP leftover.

[@alexaipaw]

in the video it is stated 11 inherits from 10, and presumably is also the case for 7 and Vista

[@noobiii]

windows 11: requires tpm2.0 just to install also windows 11:

[@thisfeatureisbad]

0:56 - Me with my ace 😎

[@ReikiAigawara]

I've been test this method in Windows 10 22H2 Version, and it's works. What a good old days...

[@someguystudios23]

From my experience, 7 freezes just like 8 does. Not sure about vista, but I'm assuming it would do the same.

[@TheDragShot]

I still remember that yellow text on black background telling me I can turn off the Windows 95 PC in my school

[@gddexer]

Thumbnail: Normal What i see: thats a roblox doors message

[@NumbersTada]

I didn't know that this existed.

[@braylenhammond12]

Endermans love of Windows xp never gets old

[@FixadomitheII]

i got scared when i saw an old computer and it said the horrible sentence "its now safe to turn off your computer."

[@masterofx32]

Most interesting for me is that they dropped this feature in Windows 8 and reimplemented it again later. Might as well have been a only a bug

[@steve_1507]

For all those people who somehow? use Windows 11 on their 9X era PCs

[@gannaty77]

windows 95 in windows 11 be like:

[@florinalexandrei3880]

Fun fact: windows Xp,windows 7,Windows 11 and 10 was the best operating system

[@polimetakrylanmetylu2483]

Weird to see Microsoft supporting devices that don't have ACPI but not supporting 2 year old x86_64 CPUs

[@rc-xdinb0und433]

BRO THE OS REALLY GOT A OUTRO 💀💀💀 2:51 that was what i meant

[@anteeeeek904]

(off topic) since i cant find your discord server, then i need to ask you it here. so my question is, if you run a virus/trojan (for example Solaris.exe) on VMware, does it cause any damage to your real computer?

[@zer0pointnothing]

If it is set up correctly, it shouldn't cause any damage, as that's one of the main points. However, it is still risky. The safest option would probably be to have a test computer, running a VM, not connected to the internet. The malware, even if it does escape the VM, will be contained perfectly.

[@AndrewTJackson]

Nice video, man! Thanks for taking the time to create it. Also, how did you get *my* name on *your* Win11 login screen in your video? ;-)

[@Liggliluff]

What confuse me is how many Australian KZbinrs have their computers set to MDY Enderman, PhoenixSC, Joinen, are some I know that all use MDY Australia is officially DMY and that's the date you'll see in public everywhere. Isn't it confusing to have it the wrong way around? Plus all these three KZbinrs are highly skilled in computer usage, maybe less so Joinen, yet they've not figured out how to properly set the regional settings...?

[@awesomeguy2650]

Isn't enderman from Russia

[@ilyasna1]

he's not australian, he just set his country to au, which is the first entry in the country selector on youtube

[@tftfxr56]

enderman is russian

[@flameflamey2723]

god live chat finally ended

[@plsdeleteme]

yeah

[@tensterss]

*forgets to hit apply* enderman: for some obscure reason for me it didnt work the first restart

[@deadair32101]

On dialogs that use the standard functions for the OK, Cancel, Apply buttons, OK is the same as Apply + Close, so unless gpedit is intentionally different, it shouldn't have mattered

[@RenaKry]

didn’t expect to hear dashstar lol

[@roymoon5986]

in love with the background music

[@ydemon101]

2:50 perfect sync

[@hm.hni01]

i think windows 8 froze because of the surface design's purpose. Windows 8 or 8.1 is designed for surfaces which can't have any chances for turning off manually like all the old toasts or the other Windows, when click Shut down, it won't show that screen (you have explained), but surfaces always have a shutdown button at the corner of the device which has the effects like the start menu or it has a different API calls. So, that means, Microsoft has a logic brain when disabling the it's safe to turn off screen =)) (my idea)

[@SpoiledGerbils]

I have a virtual machine on 86Box with Windows XP that does not have ACPI Support, so when it shuts down it shows that screen.

[@tepepefaue570]

hi! Your videos are great! I have an idea for new video: "Windows 7 but registries are connected with Windows 10 ones"

[@tylern6420]

How would XP act with Windows 11 stuff?

[@DccToon]

@@tylern6420 xp?? windows 11???? it literally says windows 7 and windows 10!

[@extremedragon1257]

You are making good videos, I am enjoying it 🙂 Also I like your channel🙂❤

[@Foxy_AR]

2:51 perfectly synced

[@DanTDMJace]

1:04 why are there 2 different api calls?

[@Martintyt]

its a safety shutdown i used windows 11

[@tealy-x]

Finally found your channel again

[@YelloPaint]

Got this when I forcefully ejected a E: drive

[@maxcrafting1982]

Goodbye old windows

[@user-zj4zd9on4v]

wait why dose win 8.1 didt have any non acpi shut down screens meaning it just freazes on thhe shutting down screen intill you reset the device or hard power off the pc