Shutdown /s /t xx doesn't work in my Windows 10 pc

Question

As the title says, the typical shutdown /s /t xx command doesn't work when I run it from a script. Instead of shutting down after x seconds, it only runs the shutdown part, and ignores the arguments. However, if I type it manually in a Command Prompt window, it executes correctly. I tried running other commands from a script like ipconfig /all and I have no problems. Is this a general Windows 10 problem or did I mess up with something on my computer?

P.S. I get the same results with Powershell as well.

Answer 1

Test this as a diagnostic step.

@echo off
"c:\Windows\System32\shutdown.exe" /s /t 20
pause

Answer 2

Might be worth mentioning Powershell doesn't always play nice with external executables and command line switches/arguments. Try using:

Start-Process shutdown.exe -ArgumentList "/s /t 20"

Also, there is Invoke-Item which can start a process but I've noticed using Start-Process

Reference this for more information.

Answer 3

Swap out our /s /t xx for -s -t xx. That fixed this on my Windows 10 system.

Answer 4

In PowerShell, you could use Stop-Computer.