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Q75629: HOWTO: Ending the Windows Session from an Application

Article: Q75629
Product(s): Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit
Version(s): WINDOWS:3.1
Operating System(s): 
Keyword(s): kbprogramming kb16bitonly kbSDKPlatform kbGrpDSUser kbWndw kbUser
Last Modified: 10-JUN-1999

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The information in this article applies to:

- Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) 3.1 
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SUMMARY
=======

The ExitWindows() function permits an application to terminate Windows.
ExitWindows() restarts Windows by using the EW_RESTARTWINDOWS flag, and exits
Windows and reboots the system by using the EW_REBOOTSYSTEM flag. These
constants are consistent for the Win16 Application Programming Interface (API),
the Win32 API under Windows NT and Win32s.

All applications are sent the WM_QUERYENDSESSION message notifying them that a
request has been made to restart or terminate Windows. If all applications
"agree" to terminate, Windows will then send the WM_ENDSESSION message to all
applications before terminating.

In addition, you can use the ExitWindowsExec() function to terminate Windows. It
runs a specified MS-DOS-based application and then restarts Windows. It takes
two parameters:

- A null-terminated string that specifies the path and filename of the
  executable MS-DOS file to run after terminating Windows.

- A null-terminated string that specifies any parameters for the MS-DOS
  executable file. This value can be NULL.

The ExitWindowsExec() function is typically used by installation programs to
replace Windows components (device drivers, system DLL's, and so on) that are
active when Windows is running.

MORE INFORMATION
================

In previous versions of Windows, an application sent the WM_ENDSESSION message
to all windows to close the Windows session. Starting with version 3.0,
ExitWindows() puts Windows into a special state so that Windows can perform
housekeeping and unhook system interrupts to cleanly exit to MS-DOS. Because an
application cannot simulate this Windows special state, the application must
call the ExitWindows() function to close Windows.

Additional query words:

======================================================================
Keywords          : kbprogramming kb16bitonly kbSDKPlatform kbGrpDSUser kbWndw kbUser 
Technology        : kbAudDeveloper kbWin3xSearch kbSDKSearch kbWinSDKSearch kbWinSDK310
Version           : WINDOWS:3.1
Issue type        : kbhowto

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