There are situations for IT administrator wants to reboot the server remotely. Fortunately there is Shutdown command from Microsoft. Shutdown command is in-built in XP, Windows 2003 and Vista machines (and Windows 2008 obviously).
You can also write a simple batch file to reboot the server once a week or say shutdown your desktop every night at 10pm.
For a simple restart, use the command below,
shutdown -m \<server_name> -r -t 0 -f
-m is to tell which server to reboot
-r to Reboot to Restart
-t 0 is to tell don’t wait to reboot to don’t provide a warning box on the server
-f is force to close applications
If you are not a command line guy, try the GUI tool by typing the following in "Start Menu Search Box" (Start –> Run in XP),
shutdown -i
You will get the following Remote Shutdown dialog Window.
The full Shutdown command options are below ( I got it from typing Shutdown /? in command prompt).
Usage: shutdown [/i | /l | /s | /r | /g | /a | /p | /h | /e] [/f]
[/m \computer][/t xxx][/d [p|u:]xx:yy [/c "comment"]]No args Display help. This is the same as typing /?.
/? Display help. This is the same as not typing any options.
/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 0-600, with a default of 30.
Using /t xxx implies the /f option.
/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.
/f is automatically set when used in conjunction with /t xxx.
/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 unpl
xx is the major reason number (positive integer less than 256).
yy is the minor reason number (positive integer less than 65536).Reasons on this computer:
(E = Expected U = Unexpected P = planned, C = customer defined)
Type Major Minor TitleU 0 0 Other (Unplanned)
E 0 0 Other (Unplanned)
E P 0 0 Other (Planned)
U 0 5 Other Failure: System Unresponsive
E 1 1 Hardware: Maintenance (Unplanned)
E P 1 1 Hardware: Maintenance (Planned)
E 1 2 Hardware: Installation (Unplanned)
E P 1 2 Hardware: Installation (Planned)
P 2 3 Operating System: Upgrade (Planned)
E 2 4 Operating System: Reconfiguration (Unplanned)
E P 2 4 Operating System: Reconfiguration (Planned)
P 2 16 Operating System: Service pack (Planned)
2 17 Operating System: Hot fix (Unplanned)
P 2 17 Operating System: Hot fix (Planned)
2 18 Operating System: Security fix (Unplanned)
P 2 18 Operating System: Security fix (Planned)
E 4 1 Application: Maintenance (Unplanned)
E P 4 1 Application: Maintenance (Planned)
E P 4 2 Application: Installation (Planned)
E 4 5 Application: Unresponsive
E 4 6 Application: Unstable
U 5 15 System Failure: Stop error
E 5 19 Security issue
U 5 19 Security issue
E P 5 19 Security issue
E 5 20 Loss of network connectivity (Unplanned)
U 6 11 Power Failure: Cord Unplugged
U 6 12 Power Failure: Environment
P 7 0 Legacy API shutdown
Anand, the Architect 