Frequently Asked Questions About Automatic Shutdown of Remote PCs
Here you can find answers for a frequently asked questions about automatic shutdown systems, their benefits and limitations.
Table of Contents
- What shutdown scheduling method is preferred for PsShutdown?
- How to allow users to cancel shutdown operation?
- Why my scheduled task didn't executed successfully?
What shutdown scheduling method is preferred for PsShutdown?
PsShutdown utility has own scheduling mechanism. To activate it you can pass value for -t parameter as hours and minutes in 24-hour format (as hh:mm). In this case operation will be executed one at a specified time. This approach is preferred if you need to make a quick scheduling (with no using any other tool or service) of one-time operation execution within next 24 hours.
If you have a more complicated case and you need, for example to make a regular shutdown, than you have to schedule execution of PsShutdown utility using Windows AT command or add a task to Windows Task Scheduler using visual interface. Both methods provide the same set of options.
How to allow users to cancel shutdown operation?
Interactive shutdown cancellation by user on the remote side isn't possible using standard Windows shutdown command. If you like to have this feature you can use PC power management software that supports it, for example EMCO Remote Shutdown, or use PsShutdown command. In particular PsShutdown should be executed with -c option that enables Cancel button on the notification window displayed on the remote PC.
Why my scheduled task didn't executed successfully?
In order to troubleshoot such kind of problems you should first of all ensure that remote operation works successfully when it's executed manually. If you use Windows shutdown or PsShutdown commands just run them manually and check that operation was successful. In many cases remote shutdown command may fail if you don't have administrative permissions on remote PC. PsShutdown also requires to have File and Printing sharing enabled and open access to Admin$ shares on remote PCs. If manually initiated operation works, but tasks scheduled using Windows Task Scheduler are failed, check that Windows Task Scheduler service is running on the local PC.