There are three parts to this page. Quick instructions to find the
Windows 8 Shut down button, creating a shutdown tile for the Metro UI, and
learning the Shutdown switches.
Before I discuss tricks with the shutdown executable, a few words for those
newbies who are struggling to find the
normal shutdown button.
Firstly, 'Sign out' by clicking on your account icon, then at the main front
screen seek out the Power button (see screen shot below). Click, and
you have the option to Shut down or Restart.
Windows 8 Shutdown Plan B - Turn on the Charm Many users prefer to
bring up the 5 'Charms' by touching the right side of the screen, select
the
Settings cogs, and then click on the Power button at the bottom of the
screen. Another even quicker
keyboard method is to call for the Power button by pressing WinKey +i.
Here are instructions to create a Shut down button in the Windows 8 Metro
interface.
Confession: it took me three goes before I got it to work. My point:
there is less scope than usual to deviate from the 'official' script.
It helps if you understand these 3 underlying principles.
There is a knack to creating the shortcut, my biggest mistake was
trying to create shortcuts to xyz.cmd, abc.txt files; they did not work,
but paring down to this bare command worked:
C:\windows\system32\shutdown /s /t 20
There is a special location which houses the shortcuts to all the
tiles: C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs Note: Start at ProgramData not ProgramFiles.
You can Pin (and Unpin) tiles to the Metro UI.
Detailed Instructions to Create a Windows 8 Shutdown Tile
Start on the Windows 8 desktop, or in a new folder - anywhere except
in the Start Menu folder!
Right-click, New, Shortcut. Paste this instruction:
C:\windows\system32\shutdown /s /t 20 (remember the space between t and
20)
Name the shortcut after yourself, e.g. Guy's Shutdown, that way you
will recognise it easily!
Use Windows Explorer to navigate to the crucial folder:
C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\Start Menu\Programs
Paste the shortcut. You may wish to click on the advanced
button and 'Run as administrator'.
In passing you can see that it's not possible to create a new
shortcut here.
It's reassuring to see your shortcut amongst the other Apps.
Return to the Metro UI start screen - Windows Key is the quickest
way.
Now, you may see your shortcut at the extreme right of the Metro
screen. If not type the first letter, then you should see a list
of Apps begining with that letter. If yours is there, then
Right-click its icon and see if it says Pinned or Unpinned, naturally
you want it to be Pinned. See more on
how to create a Windows 8 Metro Tile.
Windows Shutdown Tile Variations: Change your
shortcut's icon. Right-click, Properties, Change Icon. There is
a classic orange square with a vertical line. See screenshot above.
Tweak the Shutdown command, at least while your testing you may wish to
change /t 20 to /t 120. The benefit is you can go to the command prompt
(or PowerPoint)
and issue the counter-command: Shutdown /a. This aborts the shutdown.
Challenge: Make a second tile but with the Shutdown /a
command. See screenshot above.
Encouraging computers to sleep when not in use is a great idea -
until you are away from your desk and need a file on that remote sleeping machine!
Wake-On-LAN really will save you that long walk to awaken a hibernating
machine; however my reason for encouraging you to download this utility is
just because it's so much fun sending those 'Magic Packets'. As Wake-On-LAN (WOL) is free, see
if I am right, and you get a kick from arousing those sleeping machines.
WOL also has business uses for example, wakening machines so that they can have
their patches applied.
The rest of this page explains how to fine-tune the shutdown command by
appending a variety of switches.
While you can execute shutdown from the command line you can also run it
from a GUI by typing Shutdown -i. Incidentally, this highlights
a heated
debate, should you precede switch with a slash or a hyphen? Frankly, it
does not matter, for instance, Shutdown /i works just the same as Shutdown
-i.
People often wonder why you need the /s (Shutdown) switch at all; well,
the reason is that you need to tell the operating system whether you want to
turn off the machine with /s, or alternatively reboot with /r.
Shutdown /s
Remote Shutdown Command
Once we have mastered the crucial /s switch we can extend the Microsoft Shutdown
command to act on remote machines.
Shutdown /s /m \\ComputerName
Note 1: I always get in a tangle with the /m (machine)
switch. Pay close attention to its position (after /s or /r) and
remember to introduce the victim machine with a double backslash \\ victim.
Note 2: Observe that there is no space between the backslashes and the computername \\
ComputerName would not work.
Here is an example to restart a server called 'BigSrv'.
Shutdown /r /m \\BigSrv
Note 3: Remember the sequence of switches is
vital, hence shutdown /m /s \\Laptop does not work, too many switches, and
not paying attention to their order gets me into a
tangle.
Sooner or later everyone makes the mistake of accidentally shutting down
the local machine instead of the remote target computer. To cancel the
command practice with Shutdown /a so that you can always abort a mistake
within the 30 second default before the shutdown starts.
Shutdown /a
If you make a more serious mistake and apply the Windows 8 shutdown
command to the wrong machine then you are in trouble. No amount of
trying Shutdown /a on the local machine will have any effect. You have
to run to the target machine and issue the cancel command at that machine.
My plan B is to launch remote desktop, there is a faint chance that I can
connect in time and issue Shutdown /a.
shutdown /r /m \\Laptop -
Reboots a remote machine called 'Laptop'.
Tip: Create a shortcut. Right-click the desktop, New, Shortcut:
Just type: Shortcut -i Press OK and a shortcut is born.
Calculating IP Address ranges is a black art, which many network managers
solve by creating custom Excel spreadsheets. IPAT cracks this problem of
allocating IP addresses in networks in two ways:
For Mr Organized there is a nifty subnet calculator, you enter the network
address and the subnet mask, then IPAT works out the usable addresses and their
ranges. For Mr Lazy IPAT discovers and then displays the IP addresses of existing
computers.
/t is for time. Is 30 seconds too long (or too
short)?
Adjust the setting with /t 10, and thus display the dialog box for 10
seconds. Maximum is
600 seconds.
/f is for force. This means shutdown is coming, ready or not! Shutdown
/r /f restarts the local machine, and closes all programs
without warning.
/c is an option Microsoft included so you can add a comment. I only use this when applying
Shutdown to remote machines. Would you let people know who is in charge, who is shutting them down? /c "Guy
is shutting you down"
/d p:4:1 reason. I would avoid this switch, the syntax
is tricky, the numbers obscure, and worst of all it does nothing exciting.
However, the idea is sound, it enters a reason for the shutdown in the event
log. If you activate shutdown's help, then you will get a whole list
of major and minor reasons that you could employ with this switch. For
me, this switch is simply an option I would rather not take.
/i Display the graphical user interface (GUI). This must be the first
option. /l Log off. This cannot be used with /m or /d options. /s
Shutdown the computer. /r Shutdown and restart the computer. /g
Shutdown and restart the computer. After the system is rebooted, restart any
registered applications. /a Abort a system shutdown. This can only be
used during the time-out period. /p Turn off the local computer with no
time-out or warning. Can be used with /d and /f options. /h Hibernate the
local computer. Can be used with the /f option. /e Document the reason
for an unexpected shutdown of a computer. /m \\computer Specify the
target computer. /t xxx Set the time-out period before shutdown to xxx
seconds. The valid range is 0-315360000 (10 years), with a default of 30.
If the timeout period is greater than 0, the /f parameter is implied. /c
"comment" Comment on the reason for the restart or shutdown. Maximum of 512
characters allowed. /f Force running applications to close without
forewarning users. The /f parameter is implied when a value greater than 0
is specified for the /t parameter. /d [p|u:]xx:yy Provide the reason for
the restart or shutdown. p indicates that the restart or shutdown is
planned. u indicates that the reason is user defined. If neither p nor u
is specified the restart or shutdown is unplanned. xx is the major
reason number (positive integer less than 256). yy is the minor reason
number (positive integer less than 65536).
An Alternative to Windows 8 Shutdown: PowerShell's Stop-Computer
PowerShell has a Stop-Computer, which is very similar to the Windows 8 shutdown
-s command. A likely scenario is that you wish to
automate the reboot of a remote server. With a tiny
substitution of 'Restart' for 'Stop' you could change the command so that it
reboots the computer.
See more about using
PowerShell's Stop-Computer cmdlet.
How To Stop Nutters from Remotely Shutting Down Computers
Trust me, every organization has a joker, someone who thinks it's funny
to use shutdown -s or -r to play pranks on colleagues. The good news is
you can
configure a policy to prevent 'Force Shutdown From A Remote Machine'.
Launch GPMC or SECPOL.MSC Navigate to Local Policies, User Rights
Assignment.
Experiment by assigning just your account, rather than all
administrators.
Learning Microsoft's Windows 8 shutdown command line switches is satisfying, and one day they
will save you a long trek when you want reboot a remote computer. My
advice is to perfect the /a (abort) switch, that way you won't panic if you
issue a command to shutdown the wrong machine.
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