I'm almost certain that I have seen some Windows API that can be used to register a callback to be called just before Windows is about to shut down, sorta like IoRegisterShutdownNotification, but for ring 3 apps. As usual though, once you really need it, it's completely impossible to find again...

My problem is that the normal Windows quit message that is sent to windowed applications during Windows shutdown for some reason fails at seemingly random occasions for my application, so that the application cleanup and shutdown code isn't executed, and the program gets a "Program XXX isn't responding" warning to the user instead. Hence, I thought that such a registered callback function would hopefully be a little more robust.

If anyone has any clues about such a function, or any other good solution for that matter, please let me know.

Hello Delta,

As far as I know there's only some functions for shutting down windows, and, having browse them, none offer a callback function.

see:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/sysinfo/base/system_shutdown_functions.asp

There's only two messages wich are sent to all programs:

WM_ENDSESSION
WM_QUERYENDSESSION

see :

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/sysinfo/base/system_shutdown_messages.asp

you can also force a shutdown (nothing displayed, all programs are shutted down, even if they are doing some job) while calling ExitWindowsEx with the EXW_FORCE flag.

Hope it could help.

Regards, Neitsa.

A callback could be in effect called, but only with Console Processes (and that is not supposed your case, dELTA).
You register it with
BOOL SetConsoleCtrlHandler(PHANDLER_ROUTINE HandlerRoutine, BOOL Add)



Just a marginal consideration. Regards, bilbo

As neitsa says, I've had success with WM_QUERYENDSESSION before. Alternatively, you might have some luck hooking this:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/secauthn/security/wlxshutdown.asp

Thanks for the info guys, then I know what I have to work with.

Hi Delta, I have an idea:

Inject code in the windows kernel, so its send a personalized message to all the applications, you write a callback to this message and...what about it!

Errrr, sounds a little bit difficult....but it worth the try !

Hey Im a beginner, and its was just an idea...

Hehe, yeah, I'm sure the users would appreciate me modifying their kernel to get around a quirk in my program, not to mention having their computer BSOD (or at least my program stop working, if the patcher is a bit more clever) when they run Windows Update the next time. Shooting mosquitos with cruise missiles usually gets expensive in the end.