In Windows 7 or Vista, you can create shutdown, restart, and lock icons to help indicate when a system is in the process of shutting down or restarting. To create these icons, open the Control Panel and click on the System icon. Then click on the Properties button. Under the General tab, you will find a list of options for Shutting Down and Restarting Your Computer. In addition to these options, you can also select whether your computer should automatically start up after a power outage or not. If your computer should start up automatically after a power outage, then select this option. If your computer should not start up automatically after a power outage, then select this option instead. If you want to create shutdown and restart icons for all users on your computer, then select the Users tab and click on Add User. Then type in your user name and password for the user account that you want to add shutdown and restart icons for. Click on OK to add the user account to the list of users who will have access to these icons. If you want to create shutdown and restart icons only for certain users on your computer, then select the Users tab and click on Add User again. This time type in your user name and password for only those users who will have access toShutdown and Restarting Your Computer symbols from above. Click on OK to add the user account to the list of users who will have access to these symbols only if they are logged onto their computer with an account that has administrator rights.
Of course, Windows 7 makes the shutdown menu a lot better, but if you want a shortcut elsewhere or to assign a hotkey, this should help you out.
This tip is nothing new, and probably very old hat to most of the advanced geeks reading this feed. I’ve been asked this question so many times in the last month that I decided to finally just write it up for everybody.
First right-click on the desktop, choose New and then Shortcut.
In the shortcut location box, you’ll need to enter the correct command, which I’ve listed for you below.
Shutdown Computer
Restart Computer
Lock Workstation
Hibernate Computer
Sleep Computer
When you’ve clicked next on the above dialog, you’ll be asked to name the shortcut. Probably best to name it according to the right function.
After you click Finish, you should now have a new icon that you can double-click to immediately shutdown, restart, or lock your computer.
Change Shortcut Icon
The default icon is really ugly, and if you want to have separate shortcuts for each function you might want to change the icon. Right-click on the icon and choose properties.
Click the Change Icon button, and then you can pick from the available icons in the system, or you can use the Browse button to pick an icon you downloaded off the web.
Note that you can drag them to your quick launch bar if you’d prefer to have them there.
And so ends the tale of the shutdown icons…
