How To Ending the Windows Session from an Application (75629)
The information in this article applies to:
- Microsoft Windows Software Development Kit (SDK) 3.1
This article was previously published under Q75629 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.
| Modification Type: | Minor | Last Reviewed: | 2/14/2005 |
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| Keywords: | kb16bitonly kbhowto kbprogramming kbUser kbWndw KB75629 |
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