SmartClose is a free program that automates 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.

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 CDs 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 could manually close each program one by one, disable the screen saver…, but that is where 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 the task is finished and you want to restore everything that was disabled by SmartClose? Restart the computer? No, because before SmartClose closes or disables anything, it will save the current state of the system (running programs, screen saver…) to a 'system snapshot', that can be opened and restored again later.