Computer Software > Windows Tips & Tutorials

Windows Shutdown Shortcuts

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Floydoid:
The windows shutdown procedure (click start / turn off computer, etc) is in my opinion a bit cumbersome.  A neat way to sidestep this is to create a shutdown shortcut on your desktop.

Right-click on your desktop, choose new/shortcut and in the location box type (or C&P):

C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\shutdown.exe -s -t 00

click 'next' and give it a name, e.g. Shutdown

click finish, and now you can assign an icon to it, so rt-click on the new shortcut and choose Properties, then click on 'change icon'.  You will get a warning message but just click on 'OK' and it will show you the available icons within shell32.dll, where you can find the nice red square with a white circle & vertical line.  Highlight it and click OK, then click OK on the file properties dialogue.  Job done.

If you're feeling brave enough you can drag the shutdown icon to the quicklaunch bar, but be careful not to accidentally click on it!

There are also a couple of variants you can use:

C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\shutdown.exe -l -t 00 (for logoff)

C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\shutdown.exe -r -t 00 (for restart)

This procedure is for XP.  I have no idea if it works in Vista, but I'm sure someone can enlighten us on that.



[As a postscript, in Windows 98 (and possibly for the rest of the win9x series), the code for the shortcut is:

C:\WINDOWS\RUNDLL.EXE user.exe,exitwindows
]

HPsauce:
Or just press the power button briefly...... ;)

Floydoid:
Hmmm, the only time I use the power button for shutting down is on the rare occasion when the PC locks up.  I've always been of the opinion that shutting down via a software procedure is much safer... others may disagree of course.

roseway:
With most modern motherboards, a brief press of the power button triggers a proper OS shutdown or restart, depending on how the OS is set up.

Floydoid:
Oh for the days of Windows 3 & 386 machines when you just exited to a DOS prompt and then pressed the power button!

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