Solved How to Shutdown 'First Boot' Set up of Windows 11

I'm selling an old laptop. I reset to factory. I checked to see if I did it right by booting up. It worked, but there's no way to shut down the computer. I played with the power button and it either goes to sleep or reboots. No shutdown option is available.

Am I missing something?

Put it to sleep then remove the battery? Only thing I can think of...

Maybe this might help? Missing shutdown button in Windows 10

For Power, some laptops with dual battery have that option in BIOS which you need to know about if doing something with the hardware. Like Lenovo for instance.

Have a look at this,

Thanks for responses.

I attempted Fabler2's advice, but the keyboard wouldn't let me type while in CMD.

I previously tried going into the bios, hoping I could simply shutdown the PC after leaving it. No option for that. Having to try that or remove the battery sounds a little absurd for this old an operating system, don't you agree.

If you're the type of do the MS Feedback hub, I've recently complained about this situation. Please upvote me to get some attention to this. (I believe on a Mac there's a way to quit the setup app and shutdown.)

I can't be the only person trying to sell a used PC laptop.

The Pool Man said:

Thanks for responses.

I attempted Fabler2's advice, but the keyboard wouldn't let me type while in CMD.

I previously tried going into the bios, hoping I could simply shutdown the PC after leaving it. No option for that. Having to try that or remove the battery sounds a little absurd for this old an operating system, don't you agree.

If you're the type of do the MS Feedback hub, I've recently complained about this situation. Please upvote me to get some attention to this. (I believe on a Mac there's a way to quit the setup app and shutdown.)

I can't be the only person trying to sell a used PC laptop.

Click to expand...

See if you can enable the OSK.

Press Shift + Ctrl + F3 at the first OOBE screen. (on a laptop it may be Shift + Ctrl + FN + F3). That will get you into audit mode. In audit mode you can do all sorts of things like updates and install drivers. On the Sysprep Window that opens automatically select the options to restart to OOBE, and the bottom option to Shutdown. The computer will shutdown and the next time it starts it will back to the OOBE screen just like nobody had logged in before.

NavyLCDR said:

Press Shift + Ctrl + F3 at the first OOBE screen. (on a laptop it may be Shift + Ctrl + FN + F3). That will get you into audit mode. In audit mode you can do all sorts of things like updates and install drivers. On the Sysprep Window that opens automatically select the options to restart to OOBE, and the bottom option to Shutdown. The computer will shutdown and the next time it starts it will back to the OOBE screen just like nobody had logged in before.

Click to expand...

Whoa! THANK YOU. So that's the deal. I found this video that helps me see it to understand it --


-- but I still find this rather cumbersome considering how EASY it would be for Windows to add a shutdown button on the OOBE screen. I recognize the registry change is minimal but feels it's misleading for a buyer to learn you've been inside their system doing things.

In fact learning people can do this is nerve wracking. Couldn't someone sell a used laptop with spyware planted on it this way?

If I'm reading what's going on with this laptop properly I believe Windows has a silent fix for this issue. You see while I couldn't turn the thing off I folded up the laptop and put it away. What it did was eventually drain the battery. So I recharged it and closed the lid.

Now the keyboard doesn't awaken the laptop. My guess why is that really DEEP SLEEP PCs can do? So it's essentially 'off' but I'll drop a note into the box that the buyer must plug her right back in.

The Pool Man said:

In fact learning people can do this is nerve wracking. Couldn't someone sell a used laptop with spyware planted on it this way?

Click to expand...

Only a fool would not do their own completely clean install of the OS after buying a used computer.

So it turns out the easiest way to do this is a few steps.

1. OPEN CMD

I forget where I found how how to do this (and will correct this omission when I have more time) but basically you boot into CMD. Then a maybe 15 CMD windows open. Close all except the original one. Then type in the commands as explained here --

2. BOOT INTO ADVANCED OPTIONS


3. SHUTDOWN PC

One of the advanced options is simply to shutdown the PC>

Mission Accomplished

The Pool Man said:

I forget where I found how how to do this (and will correct this omission when I have more time) but basically you boot into CMD. Then a maybe 15 CMD windows open. Close all except the original one. Then type in the commands as explained here --

Click to expand...

Hold down the shift key when clicking on Restart from the power menu.

If your goal is to shutdown the computer, simply press and hold the power button for about 4 or 5 seconds until the system powers off. That performs a hard power off. That should work on any PC, be it a laptop or desktop.

On my first perusal of this thread I totally missed the post from NavyLCDR. That's the best answer! If you press SHIFT + CTRL + F3 and go into audit, you can simply leave the default settings on the dialog that pops up but change the reboot option to shutdown. The next time that system is started, it will go right back to the OOBE portion of setup.

The Pool Man said:

I'm selling an old laptop. I reset to factory. I checked to see if I did it right by booting up. It worked, but there's no way to shut down the computer. I played with the power button and it either goes to sleep or reboots. No shutdown option is available.

Am I missing something?

Click to expand...

You should just be able to hold down the power button and it'll turn off. . Try that, and then turn it back on and see if the "setup" starts over. .If so, there ya go :)

hsehestedt said:

If your goal is to shutdown the computer, simply press and hold the power button for about 4 or 5 seconds until the system powers off. That performs a hard power off. That should work on any PC, be it a laptop or desktop.

Click to expand...

It doesn't. It instead initiates a reboot.

Keep holding the power button until the computer shuts off. It could take up to 15 seconds.

I hate doing the dirty shutdown (holding down power button). Normally at the OOBE screen, pressing Shift + F10 opens a command prompt window, in which my keyboard has always worked, and I run:
shutdown /s /t 00

Since @The Pool Man stated the keyboard does not work in the command prompt, then going into Audit Mode using Ctrl + Shift + F3 should get the sysprep window which can then be used to initiate a proper shutdown and return to OOBE by selecting OOBE in the top dropdown and shutdown in the bottom dropdown.

It is very weird the keyboard does not work in the Shift + F10 command prompt, though. Is the keyboard plugged into a black USB 2.0 Port? That is the type of USB port it should be plugged into, especially one on the back of the computer coming directly off the motherboard.

NOTE: sometimes laptops require FN key to be pressed along with the function key. So it might be Shift + Fn + F10 or Ctrl + Shift + Fn + F3

The Pool Man said:

So it turns out the easiest way to do this is a few steps.

1. OPEN CMD

I forget where I found how how to do this (and will correct this omission when I have more time) but basically you boot into CMD. Then a maybe 15 CMD windows open. Close all except the original one. Then type in the commands as explained here --

2. BOOT INTO ADVANCED OPTIONS

3. SHUTDOWN PC

One of the advanced options is simply to shutdown the PC>

Mission Accomplished

Click to expand...

These tutorials may be useful:

NavyLCDR said:

I hate doing the dirty shutdown (holding down power button). Normally at the OOBE screen, pressing Shift + F10 opens a command prompt window, in which my keyboard has always worked, and I run:
shutdown /s /t 00

Click to expand...

I'm not a fan of a dirty shutdown either, but within setup when just sitting at the start of OOBE, the system is not doing anything so it's perfectly fine there. It's not like in a full Windows environment where all kinds of background processes are running.

But the idea of booting into Audit mode is still most appealing to me.