Comments on: Can I reboot a Vista machine from another machine on the same network?

Question: Can I reboot a Vista machine from another machine on the same network?

miniape — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 10:37:57 -0800

Can I restart a Vista machine from another Vista machine on the same network?

I'm troubleshooting two Vista computers on a LAN using a 3rd party remote desktop tool. Occasionally the remote desktop freezes the system and I'm screwed. Is there a way I can reboot the frozen machine by logging into the other and issuing a command? I seem to remember windows having a restart command, and also an IT guy at a former job using it over the network.

Is this possible and what do I need to pull it off?

By: ElDiabloConQueso

ElDiabloConQueso — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 10:51:25 -0800

At the command line: shutdown -r -m \\machinename

Complete list of switches:

-i : Display GUI interface, must be the first option
-l : Log off (cannot be used with -m option)
-s : Shutdown the computer
-r : Shutdown and restart the computer
-a : Abort a system shutdown
-m \\computername : Remote computer to shutdown/restart/abort
-t xx : Set timeout for shutdown to xx seconds
-c "comment" : Shutdown comment (maximum of 127 characters)
-f : Forces running applications to close without warning
-d [u][p]:xx:yy : The reason code for the shutdown

Let me know if you need more info, but that should do it for you.

By: McGuillicuddy

McGuillicuddy — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 11:04:47 -0800

No, a frozen machine will basically never respond to network requests or commands. If when you get to the machine, it doesn't respond to local console input, it is truly frozen and will be inaccessible from the network.

If it is the 3rd party remote control software that is freezing the machine, I'd suggest using Remote Desktop Connection as your remote desktop tool.

By: damn dirty ape

damn dirty ape — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 11:18:31 -0800

Depends whats frozen. If its just the VNC service then the shutdown command will work. So will psexec.

He's probably using 3rd party because he has Vista home. The home versions dont support remote desktop. Supposedly there are hacks which fix this.

Worst case scenario is something like this remote reboot device.

By: miniape

miniape — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 11:26:00 -0800

Thanks

By: wongcorgi

wongcorgi — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 12:20:17 -0800

If the remote desktop session is frozen and not the computer, you can try RWINSTA:

RESET SESSION {sessionname | sessionid} [/SERVER:servername] [/V]

By: gjc

gjc — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 17:40:47 -0800

If you can't ping it, no software will work. (Assuming you haven't turned ping off.)

If you're really motivated, similar to damn dirty ape's suggestion, these guys have some wonderfully high priced, but functional, stuff. Reduces support costs A LOT in the right environment.

By: flabdablet

flabdablet — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 00:03:34 -0800

You can also turn on a telnet server in the machine you're remoting to, which will let you log in and run commands on it even if all the fancy RPC-based stuff is down. Don't do this on a network accessible to black hats, because telnet is all kinds of insecure.