How To Restart Windows Servers Remotely using CMD

You may encounter a situation where you will need to restart a Windows server however you cannot access the physical server or you cannot log in remotely using Remote Desktop Connection.

Here is how you can restart the server from another computer in the same local area network.

1. Login with a full administrative account to another computer.
2. Open a Command Prompt (CMD) window.
3. Type the following command:

Shutdown -m \\###.###.###.### /r 

where "##.##.##.##" is the IP address of the server that you want to reboot.

e.g. Shutdown -m \\192.168.1.100 /r 

The server will shutdown and restart.

Here is the list of command to use with "shutdown"

Usage: shutdown [/i | /l | /s | /r | /a | /p | /h |
   [/m \\computer][/t xxx][/d [p:]xx:yy [/c "commen

   No args    Display help. This is the same as typ
   /?         Display help. This is the same as not
   /i         Display the graphical user interface
        This must be the first option
   /l         Log off. This cannot be used with /m
   /s         Shutdown the computer
   /r         Shutdown and restart the computer
   /a         Abort a system shutdown.
        This can only be used during the time
   /p         Turn off the local computer with no t
        This can only be used with /d option
   /h         Hibernate the local computer.
        This can only be used with the /f opt
   /e         Document the reason for an unexpected
   /m \\computer Specify the target computer
   /t xxx     Set time-out period before shutdown t
        The valid range is 0-600, with a defa
   /c "comment" Comment on the reason for the resta
        Maximum of 127 characters allowed
   /f         Force running applications to close w
   /d [p:]xx:yy  Provide the reason for the restart
     p indicates that the restart or shutd
        xx is the major reason number (positi
        yy is the minor reason number (positi

  Reasons on this computer:
  (E = Expected U = Unexpected P = planned, C = custom
  Type    Major   Minor   Title

   U      0       0       Other (Unplanned)
  E       0       0       Other (Unplanned)
  E P     0       0       Other (Planned)
   U      0       5       Other Failure: System Unresp
  E       1       1       Hardware: Maintenance (Unpla
  E P     1       1       Hardware: Maintenance (Plann
  E       1       2       Hardware: Installation (Unpl
  E P     1       2       Hardware: Installation (Plan
    P     2       3       Operating System: Upgrade (P
  E       2       4       Operating System: Reconfigur
  E P     2       4       Operating System: Reconfigur
    P     2       16      Operating System: Service pa
          2       17      Operating System: Hot fix (U
    P     2       17      Operating System: Hot fix (P
          2       18      Operating System: Security f
    P     2       18      Operating System: Security f
  E       4       1       Application: Maintenance (Un
  E P     4       1       Application: Maintenance (Pl
  E P     4       2       Application: Installation (P
  E       4       5       Application: Unresponsive
  E       4       6       Application: Unstable
   U      5       15      System Failure: Stop error
  E       5       19      Security issue
   U      5       19      Security issue
  E P     5       19      Security issue
  E       5       20      Loss of network connectivity
   U      6       11      Power Failure: Cord Unplugge
   U      6       12      Power Failure: Environment
    P     7       0       Legacy API shutdown