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All about maintenance and optimization of your Windows System.
Aug 8, 2025
Have you ever clicked Shut down on your Windows computer and wondered if it really powers off completely? Thanks to a feature called Fast Startup, your PC might not be shutting down the way you think. In this article, we’ll explain what Fast Startup is, why it stops your PC from fully shutting down, and how you can disable it to make sure your Windows computer really turns off.
Fast Startup is a hybrid shutdown feature introduced in Windows 8 and used in Windows 10 and Windows 11. It speeds up the boot process by saving the system state to a file on your hard drive when you shut down.
Instead of fully turning off, Windows closes your user sessions but hibernates the system kernel and drivers. This saved state is stored in a file called hiberfil.sys. When you power your PC back on, Windows quickly reloads this file instead of starting everything from scratch.
Because Fast Startup uses hibernation for part of the shutdown, your PC is not doing a complete shutdown. This means some hardware devices may not reset properly, drivers and updates that require a full reboot might not install correctly, and dual-boot systems can face file system conflicts. Your PC may behave as if it’s still partially “on” even after shutdown.
If you want to make sure your computer truly powers off every time, you need to disable Fast Startup.
Changing the power options settings in the Control Panel is the most common and easiest way to turn off Fast Startup, and it will not disable the Hibernation. There are 5 Other Ways to Disable Fast Startup.
Press the Windows logo key + R to open the Run window, then type control, and hit Enter.
Choose Hardware and Sound > Power Options.
Click on Choose what the power buttons do on the left panel.
Click the link Change settings that are currently unavailable at the top. Then uncheck the box Turn on fast startup (recommended) under Shutdown settings.
Click the button Save changes at the bottom.
After a restart, whenever you shut down your PC, it will perform a full shutdown, fully powering off all hardware and system processes.
You can verify if Fast Startup is on or off by running the following command in Command Prompt:
powercfg /a
If the Fast Startup is disabled, you won’t see it in the list of available sleep states.
If your computer uses an SSD (Solid State Drive), it’s generally recommended to DISABLE Fast Startup. Because SSDs already offer very fast boot times, turning off Fast Startup can help ensure your system fully shuts down and avoids potential driver or update issues.
On the other hand, if your PC still uses an HDD (Hard Disk Drive), keeping Fast Startup ENABLED is better to benefit from faster boot speeds.
Fast Startup speeds up Windows boot by partially hibernating the system, but it prevents a full shutdown. Disabling this feature can help your computer truly shut down and improve stability. SSD users are recommended to disable Fast Startup for better reliability, while HDD users can keep it enabled for faster startups unless they face issues.
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