How to Disable Shutdown Event Tracker

My clients, and especially my students are always asking me how to disable shutdown event tracker on Windows Server 2003. On a production network, shutdown event tracker can be useful in logging the information in the Event Viewer. However, for some people, such as developers, testers and even in a classroom environment dealing with shutdown event tracker is a nuisance.

There are different ways to disable the event tracker. On a server you can either use on of the built-in policies, such as Default Domain Policy or edit the local group policy. I will describe the procedure to use the local policy to enable or disable the event tracker because it will work on a Domain Controller as well as a client operating system such as Microsoft Vista. Here’s how you can disable the event tracker.

1. Click Start, Run, type MMC and press Enter.

2 . On the File menu choose Add/Remove Snap-in.

3. Add the Group Policy Object Editor snap-in for the “Local Computer.”

4. Click Finish and OK until you get back to the MMC console.

5. Expand Local Computer Policy.

6. Expand Computer Configuration, Administrative Templates and select System.

7. In the right-hand pane double-click Display Shutdown Event Tracker.

8. Configure it to be Disabled and click OK.

9. Close the console without saving it.

NOTE: If you are working on a Domain Controller, it can take up to 5 minutes for the Group Policy to take effect. On a client it can take up to 90 minutes (with a 30 minute offset). Rather than waiting, you can go to the command prompt and manually refresh the Group Policy by typing GPUPDATE /FORCE so that your change takes place immediately. There is no need to reboot.

This tip applies to all Windows Server 2003/2008 Domain Controllers and member servers as well as Windows Vista clients.