Many tasks that can be performed on PC’s these days require you to close all currently running programs. For example, almost every installer asks you to close all other applications to minimize conflicts and to avoid replacing in-use files. Other high-end tasks, such as burning CD’s and defragmenting or scanning hard drives can slow down or even fail when other processes ‘kick in’, like background programs, the screen saver or a scheduled task. Of course, you can manually exit each program one by one, disable the screen saver…

That is when SmartClose comes in! SmartClose will automatically close all running programs, disable the screen saver and halt all other processes that can interrupt without asking. But what when you have finished the task that required you to use SmartClose and you want to restore the programs and such that were disabled by SmartClose? Restart the computer? No, because before SmartClose closes or disables anything, it will first save the current state of the system (running programs, screen saver…) to a ’system snapshot’, that can later be opened and restored again by SmartClose.

SmartClose is a free program that will automate the process of closing all running programs. It can also save the state of the system to a system snapshot, so all the programs that have been closed can be easily restarted later by SmartClose.

Download SmartClose

Some other features of SmartClose:

  • Two wizards: the Close Programs wizard, for closing all the programs, and the Restore wizard, to restore a system snapshot. Both provide an intuitive and clear interface – the latest Windows 2000/XP wizard style – and assist you step by step.
  • Thanks to its SmartClose-technology, most programs can be properly closed, so that the program can still save its settings and return memory and resources to the system.
  • In the rare cases that a program can’t be properly closed, SmartClose can use SmartKill to kill the program. Still, all the memory and resources used by the program will be freed with this method.
  • If you don’t want a program to be closed or killed by SmartClose, you can add it to a list of ‘Protected Programs’.
  • Besides closing programs, SmartClose also closes Explorer and Internet Explorer windows and saves their current location, so they can be restored properly later.
  • Disables and restores the screen saver.
  • Stops and restarts Windows NT/2000/XP-services, such as the Task Scheduler, that can interrupt other processes. On Windows 9x/Millennium, the Task Scheduler can also be disabled and re-enabled.
  • And finally, you get all of these features for free! SmartClose is 100% freeware without any nag screens, trial periods, ads, spyware etc.

    • Do take note that most antivirus and firewall programs cannot be closed or killed because these programs are especially protected against this so that malicious programs are unable to turn them off either. Think about it, if Kaspersky Antivirus can be closed with SmartClose, it would be a lousy antivirus as virus can also close the process and infect the whole system. If you really want to close or disable security programs, you should do this manually before or after using SmartClose to close all programs.

    The last time SmartClose updated was on March 9, 2005 and it only mentioned that it can support from Windows 95 up to Windows XP. I’ve tested it on Vista, it works but it wasn’t able to restore closed explorer Windows.

    [ Download SmartClose v1.1 ]

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