Tuesday, December 16, 2008

How to create Shutdown/Restart shortcut

Windows has a program called SHUTDOWN.EXE which allows you to easily create icons to shutdown or restart your computer.

To create a shutdown shortcut on the desktop follow next steps:
  1. Right click on an open area of the desktop
  2. Select New / Shortcut
  3. Enter in "shutdown -s -t 00" - no quotes
  4. Press the Next button
  5. For the name, enter anything you like - ex. shutdown.
  6. Click on the Finish button.
For a reboot shortcut, at (3) enter "shutdown -r -t 00"

Shutdown command and parameters:

Shutdown [{-l|-s|-r|-a}] [-f] [-m [\\ComputerName]] [-t xx] [-c "message"] [-d[u][p]:xx:yy]

-l - Logs off the current user, this is also the default. -m ComputerName takes precedence.
-s - Shuts down the local computer.
-r - Reboots after shutdown.
-a - Aborts shutdown. Ignores other parameters, except -l and ComputerName. You can only use -a during the time-out period.
-f - Forces running applications to close.
-m [\\ComputerName] - Specifies the computer that you want to shut down.
-t xx - Sets the timer for system shutdown in xx seconds. The default is 20 seconds.
-c "message" - Specifies a message to be displayed in the Message area of the System Shutdown window. You can use a maximum of 127 characters. You must enclose the message in quotation marks.

Monday, December 8, 2008

Google Dictionary on SMS

Now you don't need to carry any dictionary on your phone, what you you just need to do is send the word to Google and you will receive the meaning of the word.

Just SMS
define xyz to 9 77 33 00000 [ India ] for getting meaning of xyz, i.e., SMS define typo and you will get reply as Typo: an abbreviation for typographical errors.

This service is provided by Google and is totally free. You don't need to pay any premium charge, just normal SMS rates apply.