there is no risk in this tweak, the only drawback is that...once u click shutdown...ur comp will off ASAP and u wont have time to save anything if you click shutdown by accident

when u click on shutdown, the "WaitToKillServiceTimeout" and a few more registry settings take time to activate the commands. With the # of applications running and the longer settings of those commands, it will buy you enough time to save a "notepad" document just before it closes every services and tasks. however, when you speed things up, you might not have enough time to save it.

the above setting is one of my "essential windows xp tweak".....i've been using it for years. there are also a few more tweaks that can boost your shutdown duration.

even when you are clicking your power button to turn off your pc, that does not speed up the process. a single push on the power button only activates trigger the shutdown command, windows will still have to follow the other command settings in when turning of applications and services in windows. doing this tweak and pressing power off is two different thing.