Restart Windows Server 2003 from the command line

The Windows Server 2003 computer you are working on will not shut down. You don’t have any luck using the Start menu or the [Ctrl][Alt][Delete] methods, and you need to restart the server as quickly as possible. There is a quick workaround that gets the job done — and you don’t even have to handle power cords or the power switch.

From the command line, you can shut down or reboot any Windows Server 2003 computer (or even Windows XP or Vista machines) with the Shutdown.exe command. (Note: The exe file extension is optional for the Shutdown command.) Shutdown.exe contains a number of switches that allow you to specify different actions for the server when the Shutdown command executes. The Shutdown.exe switches are as follows:

When you enter a Shutdown with no arguments, the Help listing will display. The Help listing also includes the reason codes available for use with the /d switch. The reason codes are shown below:

You can use many of these switches in conjunction with one another when issuing the Shutdown command. A usage example for the Shutdown command follows:

Shutdown /r /c “Hanging Application or service” /t 30

This example would restart the local machine storing the comment provided with the /c switch. Windows would wait 30 seconds before initiating the restart. You might also create a batch file to use when it is necessary to restart a server in a remote location. The batch file might look like this:

Shutdown /m \\computername /r /c “Remote Restart” /t 45

By saving this command in a batch file, it can save you time if you routinely restart the same remote server.

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