# How can shutdown messages be read before the Windows Exit Graphic appears? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 26, 2014, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-shutdown-messages-be-read-before-the-windows-exit-graphic-appears/694124 "2014-07-26T22:21:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2014, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-shutdown-messages-be-read-before-the-windows-exit-graphic-appears/694124/1 "2014-07-26T22:21:39Z")
My Win 7 tower pc has some kind of message when I shut down. It looks like a black DOS cmd window. I’m guessing its forcing the shutdown of something. Impossible to read. That damn [Windows Shutdown Image](http://www.jamescoyle.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/03/Screen-Shot-2013-03-19-at-21.52.00.png) obliterates the entire screen a 1/10th second later. Any ideas on how to pause or maybe step through the shutdown? Whatever that black DOS window is saying might be important for me to know Might be something I need to fix. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2014, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-shutdown-messages-be-read-before-the-windows-exit-graphic-appears/694124/2 "2014-07-26T22:29:35Z")
Have a look in the Event Viewer, which logs details of each shutdown. That may well show the message received. ---
**Author:** ![Heracles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heracles/32/487_2.png) [@Heracles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Heracles)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2014, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-shutdown-messages-be-read-before-the-windows-exit-graphic-appears/694124/3 "2014-07-27T02:47:53Z")
AFAIK, the “shutting down” screen switches to a low-resolution mode of the display adapter; it’s possible that what you see flash by is the stuff that happens to be in the adapter’s text mode memory (presumably the BIOS boot-up text). ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2014, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-shutdown-messages-be-read-before-the-windows-exit-graphic-appears/694124/4 "2014-07-27T04:06:48Z")
Is the shutdown involuntary? When my Vista computer was crashing often, I found a setting that kept the BSOD screen on so I could write down the message and look it up. I’ll have to remember what I did, but you should find the same thing for Win7 with a quick Google. ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2014, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-shutdown-messages-be-read-before-the-windows-exit-graphic-appears/694124/5 "2014-07-27T04:24:08Z")
If it is from the computer screen or BIOS the error message will not be saved on the computer log, you can try to use a video camera or a smart phone to record the shut-down and then pause the video at the error message; mine does a good job at a high resolution, but you may have to adjust the shutter speed, and make sure the light/flash feature is off or you may get big spot of light in the middle of the screen that you are recording. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2014, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-shutdown-messages-be-read-before-the-windows-exit-graphic-appears/694124/6 "2014-07-27T04:25:10Z")
No, this is just a routine every night Windows shutdown. I never leave my pc on without a reason. I’ve looked at Event logs. There are so many trivial warnings that it’s hard to figure out which one is which. ---
**Author:** ![Shaggy\_Z](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@Shaggy\_Z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shaggy_Z)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2014, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-can-shutdown-messages-be-read-before-the-windows-exit-graphic-appears/694124/7 "2014-07-27T15:38:34Z")
Can you take a picture?