Create a Shutdown Shortcut and/or Restart

Instead of having to navigate through the Start menu every time you want to shut down your computer, you can set it up so all you have to do is click a shortcut icon on your desktop. Here's how to create that aforementioned shortcut:

1. Right-click on an empty area of your Desktop.
2. In the pop-up menu, select New > Shortcut.
3. Type this code "shutdown -s" (without the quotes) in the empty field.
4. If you'd like a 'Goodbye' message, add: -c "TYPE MESSAGE HERE" to the end of the code.
5. Click on Next, and then Finish.

The above code shuts down Windows as it does normally (i.e. by closing each and every program, and then shutting down). But if you want your Windows to shut down instantly, just by stopping every program, then use the code "shutdown -s -t 00" (00 is the number of seconds till shutdown, if you put 100 it will take 100 seconds) in Step 3.

Desktop Reboot Icon
Right click on the desktop
Click [New] [Shortcut] to open the Create Shortcut Wizard
Type [shutdown -r -t 00] without the brackets.
Click [Next] and type a descriptive name of your choosing for the shortcut
Click [Finish]