Remote Shutdown

hatch

I was just helping out a friend who was trying to remotely restart a server that was somewhat locked-up and I found this gem on the JSI FAQ, which describes a “feature” of the Microsoft Management Console (MMC) on Windows 2000 & XP that will enable you to remotely restart a server.

Q: How can I log off or shutdown a remote Windows 2000 computer? (Quoted from the JSI FAQ)
A: You can do this from your Windows 2000 desktop.

  1. Right-click My Computer and select Manage.
  2. On the Action menu, press Connect to another computer…
  3. Double-click a computer in the list.
  4. Right-click Computer Management (‘server-name’) and press Properties.
  5. On the Advanced tab, press Startup and Recovery.
  6. Press the Shut Down button.
  7. Select an Action:
  • Log off Current User
  • Shut Down
  • Restart
  • Power down (if supported)
  1. Select a Force Apps Closed action and press OK. Very cool! I didn’t even know that feature existed!!

If that doesn’t work, there’s also a free Remote Shut Down tool from Sysinternals:

You can also get the Kill.exe from the Windows NT Resource Kit.

Oh yea, another cool hack is this one which enables you to remotely install VNC on a server.