Flash Shutdown Free

Flash Shutdown Free is a simple-to-use utility that gives you the possibility to shut down, restart or log of your computer in multiple ways. It supports hotkeys and desktop shortcuts. However, it doesn't support scheduled tasks.

Pay attention to the installer

The setup takes little time. Due to the fact that it's ad-supported, the tool offers to download and install third-party software programs that it doesn't really need to work properly. These offers can be declined to make a clean installation, however. On top of that, Flash Shutdown Free gets automatically integrated into Windows autostart sequence until told otherwise.

Systray accessibility for power options

It runs from the systray, which makes it non-intrusive, so you can carry on with your regular PC activity without any interruptions. The main application window has a clear-cut structure, enabling you to select one of the nine types of operations available: normal, force or quick shutdown, reboot or log off.
It's possible to use predefined hotkeys to effortlessly apply one of these power features, as well as to reconfigure them. Settings can be restored to default. Desktop shortcuts can be created for any of these actions with the simple click of a button.
Moreover, you can hide the message box when clicking buttons, pressing hotkeys or running desktop shortcuts to trigger the shutdown action. It's also possible to hide the systray icon and set a keyboard shortcut for toggling its visibility, disable auto-checkups for software updates, and remove the tool's entry from system autorun.

Evaluation and conclusion

It worked smoothly in our testing, without causing the OS to hang, crash or show errors. CPU and RAM consumption was minimal, and power options were carried out swiftly.
To sum it up, Flash Shutdown Free has handy and straightforward options for quickly turning off, restarting or logging off the PC. However, it doesn't leave much room for configuration.