Hi everyone! Well, I found out that there is a way to remotely shutdown a computer on a workgroup using the command prompt. I've been putting in the following sequence: "shutdown.exe -s -m \\computername" like it says to remotely shutdown a computer. Well, when i hit enter, it seems like its trying to work but then it'll give me an error saying "Network path not found." Is there a different way to remotely shut down a computer on a network USING the command prompt? :idea: THANKS!

Thanks, but i don't want to pay for a monthly subscription just to see one simple answer. lol.

experts exchange is a free to browse site? i peruse through their all the time looking for answers??

here is the entire conversation at expert exchange, i copied and pasted it for your viewing pleasure..


Accepted Answer from PeteLong
Date: 07/09/2004 12:23PM PDT
Grade: A
Accepted Answer
Remote Shutdown

Shutdown.exe is available in the Microsoft Windows 2000 Resource Kit. It is a command-line tool that you can use to shut down or restart a local or remote computer that is running Windows 2000 or Windows NT 4.0. If you want to schedule a computer to shut down and restart at a specific time, use Shutdown.exe in combination with the at command or Task Scheduler.


HOW TO: Use the Remote Shutdown Tool to Shut Down and Restart a Computer in Windows 2000

*****Software*****

PsShutdown is a command-line utility similar to the shutdown utility from the Windows 2000 Resource Kit, but with the ability to do much more. In addition to supporting the same options for shutting down or rebooting the local or a remote computer, PsShutdown can logoff the console user or lock the console (locking requires Windows 2000 or higher). PsShutdown requires no manual installation of client software.

Syntax: "psshutdown -u username -p password -r \\computername"

EMCO Remote Shutdown 1.4 is a Freeware utility to Shutdown/Reboot one or many machines on a NT network's. It works only under Administrator rights.

Multi-Remote Shutdown Manager is an easy and fast way to shutdown the computers you administer

remote SHUTDOWN by Apteryx is a Windows Service that allows an administrator to logoff, shutdown* or reboot individual and/or grouped networked computers on demand from an easy to use interface. remote SHUTDOWN can also be used to route logoff, shutdown or reboot requests to individual or groups of other computers on the network also running remote SHUTDOWN

FREEWARE
PowerOff

The new direct download link for poweroff 3.0 is:

Comment from Sembee
Date: 07/09/2004 12:24PM PDT
Comment
You need to be logged in to the computer with an account that has administrative rights - which match an account on the other machine that also has administrative rights (ie same username and password).
Doing it from Windows 200x Server would have the same problems unless you were in a domain. In a domain having domain admin rights would be enough.

Try using the GUI - shutdown -i

Simon.

Comment from 3ezz
Date: 07/09/2004 12:41PM PDT
Author Comment
Sembee
i have Winxp ? .. can i do shudown to local computer ! ? .. i can .. then how can i have these rights ?
if i can't so.. why shutdown.exe exist is WinXP ! ? ..


Comment from Sembee
Date: 07/09/2004 12:46PM PDT
Comment
Shutdown.exe is in Windows XP as the system uses it.
Get infected with MSBLASTER and the system will start shutting down with a 30 second count down. That is generated by shutdown.exe

Windows XP Pro is designed as network client to operate on a domain. It has lots of command line tools and utilities that allow a network administrator to manipulate and work with the client machines from remote.

Simon.

Comment from 3ezz
Date: 07/09/2004 12:50PM PDT
Author Comment
thats mean i can never use shutdown.exe to shutdown a remote computer ! ? .. because i'll never have rights on pther computers ?

Assisted Answer from sciwriter
Date: 07/09/2004 12:57PM PDT
Grade: A
Assisted Answer
I think 3ezz wants to do it REMOTELY, NOT sitting at the computer running a program, and I don't think you can do this with shutdown.exe.

3ezz -- look at these, see if they help --




Assisted Answer from Sembee
Date: 07/09/2004 01:03PM PDT
Grade: A
Assisted Answer
It can be done remotely in a domain environment. I do it all the time.
In a workgroup the only way it would work is if the remote and local credentials match. Same username and password.

Simon.

Comment from PeteLong
Date: 07/09/2004 01:06PM PDT
Comment
Simon

psshutdown (link above)
psshutdown -u username -p password -r \\computername

providing he knows the username and password at the destination, and if he dont then he shouldnt be doing it :)

Comment from vico1
Date: 07/09/2004 03:01PM PDT
Comment
Do this command instead

shudown -i
that will give you a GUI to shutdown the remote computer

shutdown -m //Remote Computer
that wil shut the remote computer off
or
type shutdown /? from command prompt and that will give you all the switches you need
I hope that help

Assisted Answer from ErikPhilips
Date: 07/10/2004 05:15AM PDT
Grade: A
Assisted Answer
Create a shortcut to c:\windows\system32\shutdown.exe -i (for the GUI interface).
Now you can add as many machines as you want using the add command. (winXp, w2k, w2k3 I'm pretty sure)
You will shutdown anymachine THAT YOU HAVE permissions to.
This means that if your machine is ON A DOMAIN, and you are logged in as an user that has administrative access to those machines, they will shutdown/reboot.
If you ARE NOT on a domain, then your usename/password combination needs to be on each machine to shut them down AND that username need administrative access.

Right click on the shortcut created above select properties, then select advanced, check the box "Run with Different Credentials".
This will allow you to run the application as another user.

If you runt the app and the login is onto the Domain, its the same as above.
If you login to the local computer, the account you login as must exist on the local machine AND the remote machines.


Comment from PeteLong
Date: 07/20/2004 11:40PM PDT
Comment
ThanQ

Comment from Coasite
Date: 07/26/2004 05:34PM PDT
Comment
Well i'm not sure if this helps, however, in my network I am able to shutdown any computer from anywhere as long as I have execute rights on shutdown.exe. I just use:
shutdown -s -t 0 -m \\COMPUTERNAME
-s = shutdown
-t # = countdown time in seconds, I use 0 to do it instantly.
-m \\COMPUTERNAME = Specifies the computer in the workgroup
This is done in the command prompt, I use XP Pro (not sure if it makes a difference). Anyhow, I just tried it and it worked. Hope this helps.

Comment from shenazzer
Date: 07/27/2004 05:06PM PDT
Comment
hello
install then run these files on remote pc
r_server.exe
raddrv.dll
AdmDll.dll


and u can shutdown remote pc by using its console which is radmin.exe

Comment from junkie_
Date: 07/31/2004 12:15PM PDT
Comment
Some AV register RADMIN as Trojan.You Should need something like VNC , so if u dont want to have problems with unknown "trojans" install VNC :) my suggestion.This client - server program not should be problem.

> : info
> : download

Comment from shenazzer
Date: 07/31/2004 02:04PM PDT
Comment
hello


well download RADMIN from and u can shutdown and restart the remote pc in ur workgroup // just u have to run this file on the remote pc r_server.exe but it wont work wid out its dll files for keep the dlls files wid it


raddrv.dll
r_server.exe
raddrv.dll


these file should be present on the remote pc !
but u have to run r_server
u can also view the screen of ur remote pc by this software ........
u can shutdown,restart or view the remote desktop by using this file of it ( Radmin.exe )

Comment from javaretard999
Date: 08/05/2004 03:15PM PDT
Comment
Use Remote Desktop Connection. Nice Microsoft tool that comes with XP.

Comment from ndelorito
Date: 08/09/2004 12:43AM PDT
Comment
Question, what about windows 2000 to xp or vise versa any comments about that?

Basically my home network runs on XP pros and my laptop runs on win2k so i can really fiddle with it, later i will partition to be able to run xp pro and 2k. But so forth how much is the conflict with that (rshutdown) and sharing between the 2 operating systems.

Comment from satyen007
Date: 08/09/2004 09:55AM PDT
Comment
Another way to do it on WIn2k,XP or 2003 computer is to run Computer Management as Administrator and then connect to Remote PC (Right Click and connect to another computer).
Once connected , right click again on the Top node in the tree and choose properties and go to Advanced Tab.
Now Select STARTUP and RECOVERY. From here you can shutdown the PC and even restart.

Comment from demurrer_99
Date: 08/14/2004 08:58PM PDT
Comment
hi everybody,
can this remote unit shutdown and reboot be done on win98se network?

Comment from 3ezz
Date: 08/15/2004 04:43AM PDT
Author Comment
i think it can't be de done by shutdown coammand .. but sure it can be using a program like Remote Admin

Comment from brianncr
Date: 08/16/2004 10:57AM PDT
Comment
Log in remotely and go to command prompt and type "shutdown -s"

WOW! I'm sure one of these will work. LOL :)

to remotely shutdown a computer go to run
cmd or command them trype shutdown -i then go to add computer type the name of the comp u want to shutdown then go to reason and go to harwdare maintanance type something in comments then ok

-=ShutDown=-
Enables you to shut down or restart local or remote computers one at a time.
Syntax
shutdown [/i | /l | /s | /r | /a | /p | /h | /e] [/f] [/m \\<ComputerName>] [/t <XXX>] [/d [p|u:]<XX>:<YY> [/c "comment"]]


Parameter Description
/i
Displays the Remote Shutdown Dialog box. The /i option must be the first parameter following the command. If /i is specified, all other options are ignored.

/l
Logs off the current user immediately, with no time-out period. You cannot use /l with /m or /t.

/s
Shuts down the computer.

/r
Restarts the computer after shutdown.

/a
Aborts a system shutdown. Effective only during the timeout period. To use /a, you must also use the /m option.

/p
Turns off the local computer only (not a remote computer)—with no time-out period or warning. You can use /p only with /d or /f. If your computer does not support power-off functionality, it will shut down when you use /p, but the power to the computer will remain on.

/h
Puts the local computer into hibernation, if hibernation is enabled. You can use /h only with /f.

/e
Enables you to document the reason for the unexpected shutdown on the target computer.

/f
Forces running applications to close without warning users.
Caution
Using the /f option might result in loss of unsaved data.

/m \\<ComputerName>
Specifies the target computer. Cannot be used with the /l option.

/t <XXX>
Sets the time-out period or delay to XXX seconds before a restart or shutdown. This causes a warning to display on the local console. You can specify 0-600 seconds. If you do not use /t, the time-out period is 30 seconds by default.

/d [p|u:]<XX>:<YY>
Lists the reason for the system restart or shutdown. The following are the parameter values:
p Indicates that the restart or shutdown is planned.
u Indicates that the reason is user defined.
Note
If p or u are not specified, the restart or shutdown is unplanned.
XX Specifies the major reason number (positive integer less than 256).
YY Specifies the minor reason number (positive integer less than 65536).

/c "<Comment>"
Enables you to comment in detail about the reason for the shutdown. You must first provide a reason by using the /d option. You must enclose comments in quotation marks. You can use a maximum of 511 characters.

/?
Displays help at the command prompt, including a list of the major and minor reasons that are defined on your local computer.


Remarks
Users must be assigned the Shut down the system user right to shut down a local or remotely administered computer that is using the shutdown command.
Users must be members of the Administrators group to annotate an unexpected shutdown of a local or remotely administered computer. If the target computer is joined to a domain, members of the Domain Admins group might be able to perform this procedure.

Default groups.
If you want to shut down more than one computer at a time, you can call shutdown for each computer by using a script, or you can use shutdown /i to display the Remote Shutdown Dialog box.
If you specify major and minor reason codes, you must first define these reason codes on each computer where you plan to use the reasons. If the reason codes are not defined on the target
computer, Shutdown Event Tracker cannot log the correct reason text.Remember to indicate that a shutdown is planned by using the p: parameter. Omitting p: indicates that a shutdown is unplanned. If you type p: followed by the reason code for an unplanned shutdown, the command will not carry out the shutdown. Conversely, if you omit p: and type in the reason code for a planned shutdown, the command will not carry out the shutdown.
Examples
To force applications to close and restart the local computer after a one-minute delay with the reason "Application: Maintenance (Planned)" and the comment "Reconfiguring myapp.exe" type:

shutdown /r /t 60 /c "Reconfiguring myapp.exe" /f /d p:4:1
To restart the remote computer \\ServerName with the same parameters, type:

shutdown /r /m \\servername /t 60 /c "Reconfiguring myapp.exe" /f /d p:4:1

commented: bump to a super old thread with no real new information -2
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