Believe it or not, I've spent the last 20 minutes Google searching this subject... only to find not-so-much information on it. I'm using Windows 7 (if that matters) and I'm trying to set up a timed shutdown of my computer. It's a long story as to why, so I won't get in to that, but the point is: I'm getting frustrated with myself. I've done it in the past, but it doesn't seem like it's working for me with my recent purchase of a new computer :wall: . Here's an example of what I'm tried doing:

 

- At the Desktop, right click >> New >> Shortcut

- In the item location, I'm looking to type something along the line of "shutdown -s -f -t 3600 -c Windows will shutdown in 60 minutes!"

- If I remember correctly, -s is "Shutdown", -f is "forcing applications to close without warning", -t is "setting a time in seconds until the shutdown", and -c is "a message box with the typed text"

 

When I click the finished shortcut, I get a very quick pop-up that I can't even read. And it isn't the message box type of pop-up like it should be; it's one of those DOS windows that insta-disappears. I have a tendency of over complicating very simple things & over looking very simple mistakes, especially when I get frustrated over something I technically KNEW how to do :mellow: . Any help is appreciated!

 

P.S. - I know that there's probably an easier way to do this (i.e. a pre-installed program on my computer), but I'd rather have this specific problem solved either way... just so I can get my mind at ease!

Did you forget the double quotes around the message? (visual basic requires strings to have double quotes around them.)

Hi, all... I went digging, and found out something rather nasty. Look at http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc770416.aspx and http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc732503%28WS.10%29.aspx, and you'll notice in the 1st page's info and the 2nd page's comments at the bottom that Microsoft limited the "/t" switch to 600 seconds. That's a short 10 freaking minutes, way too little! Also, as Stragomagus said, you'll need double-quotes around the text comment that you wish to have displayed back at yourself. :geek:

 

So, the best you can do is...

shutdown /s /f /t 600 /c "Windows will shutdown in 10 minutes!"

...or...

shutdown /s /force /t 600 /c "Windows will shutdown in 10 minutes!"

...which sucks, in my opinion, a lot. Have fun, if you don't find yourself ripping your hair out first. :(

 

~D. V. "Bloody command-line switches and syntax..." Devnull

.

Just put quotes around the message and remove the "-f" switch. As long as you have the "-t" switch with a time greater than 0, it will imply the "-f" switch automatically.

 

Arguments:

 

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 0-315360000 (10 years), with a default of 30.

If the timeout period is greater than 0, the /f parameter is

implied.

/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.

The /f parameter is implied when a value greater than 0 is

specified for the /t parameter.

/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

unplanned.

xx is the major reason number (positive integer less than 256).

yy is the minor reason number (positive integer less than 65536).

 

.

Wow, thanks everyone! All the posts were very helpful. It's been a loooong time I've even been around the TIF, it's awesome to know this place is still running strong ;) .

Not sure if this is any help, but im putting it here anyway so others can use it.

 

On Vista+ you can use the "Task Scheduler"

You can use the GUI by searching for "Task Scheduler"

You can also use the command prompt eg:

schtasks /create /SC ONCE /TN "taskname" /TR "C:\Windows\System32\shutdown[Caution: Executable File] /s" /ST 23:10 /RL HIGHEST