Saving the state of at least one open application on a data processing system when an event forces open applications to close includes monitoring data processing system activities to detect an event indicative of a forthcoming system shutdown action. The system shutdown action includes a command which forces closing of running applications. Responsive to detecting the event, execution of said shutdown action is suspended and the state of the at least one open application is recorded. An indication that a state of the at least one running application has been recorded for reuse is stored and, following the recording and storing steps, execution of said shutdown action is restored.