How to shut down the computer from C

Question

What s the best way to shut down the computer from a C  program   I ve found a few methods that work - I ll post them below - but none of them are very elegant  I m looking for something that s simpler and natively  net

User · Answer

You can launch the shutdown process    shutdown -s -t 0   - Shutdown shutdown -r -t 0   - Restart

User · Answer

This thread provides the code necessary  http   bytes com forum thread251367 html  but here s the relevant code   using System Runtime InteropServices    StructLayout LayoutKind Sequential  Pack 1   internal struct TokPriv1Luid       public int Count      public long Luid      public int Attr      DllImport  kernel32 dll   ExactSpelling true    internal static extern IntPtr GetCurrentProcess      DllImport  advapi32 dll   ExactSpelling true  SetLastError true    internal static extern bool OpenProcessToken  IntPtr h  int acc  ref IntPtr phtok      DllImport  advapi32 dll   SetLastError true    internal static extern bool LookupPrivilegeValue  string host  string name  ref long pluid      DllImport  advapi32 dll   ExactSpelling true  SetLastError true    internal static extern bool AdjustTokenPrivileges  IntPtr htok  bool disall  ref TokPriv1Luid newst  int len  IntPtr prev  IntPtr relen      DllImport  user32 dll   ExactSpelling true  SetLastError true    internal static extern bool ExitWindowsEx  int flg  int rea     internal const int SE PRIVILEGE ENABLED   0x00000002  internal const int TOKEN QUERY   0x00000008  internal const int TOKEN ADJUST PRIVILEGES   0x00000020  internal const string SE SHUTDOWN NAME    SeShutdownPrivilege   internal const int EWX LOGOFF   0x00000000  internal const int EWX SHUTDOWN   0x00000001  internal const int EWX REBOOT   0x00000002  internal const int EWX FORCE   0x00000004  internal const int EWX POWEROFF   0x00000008  internal const int EWX FORCEIFHUNG   0x00000010   private void DoExitWin  int flg         bool ok      TokPriv1Luid tp      IntPtr hproc   GetCurrentProcess        IntPtr htok   IntPtr Zero      ok   OpenProcessToken  hproc  TOKEN ADJUST PRIVILEGES   TOKEN QUERY  ref htok        tp Count   1      tp Luid   0      tp Attr   SE PRIVILEGE ENABLED      ok   LookupPrivilegeValue  null  SE SHUTDOWN NAME  ref tp Luid        ok   AdjustTokenPrivileges  htok  false  ref tp  0  IntPtr Zero  IntPtr Zero        ok   ExitWindowsEx  flg  0            Usage   DoExitWin  EWX SHUTDOWN      or  DoExitWin  EWX REBOOT

User · Answer

I had trouble trying to use the WMI method accepted above because i always got privilige not held exceptions despite running the program as an administrator   The solution was for the process to request the privilege for itself  I found the answer at http   www dotnet247 com 247reference msgs 58 292150 aspx written by a guy called Richard Hill   I ve pasted my basic use of his solution below in case that link gets old   using System  using System Collections Generic  using System Linq  using System Text  using System Management  using System Runtime InteropServices  using System Security  using System Diagnostics   namespace PowerControl       public class PowerControl Main                 public void Shutdown                         ManagementBaseObject mboShutdown   null              ManagementClass mcWin32   new ManagementClass  Win32 OperatingSystem                mcWin32 Get                 if   TokenAdjuster EnablePrivilege  SeShutdownPrivilege   true                                 Console WriteLine  Could not enable SeShutdownPrivilege                              else                               Console WriteLine  Enabled SeShutdownPrivilege                                  You can t shutdown without security privileges             mcWin32 Scope Options EnablePrivileges   true              ManagementBaseObject mboShutdownParams   mcWin32 GetMethodParameters  Win32Shutdown                    Flag 1 means we want to shut down the system             mboShutdownParams  Flags      1               mboShutdownParams  Reserved      0                foreach  ManagementObject manObj in mcWin32 GetInstances                                  try                                       mboShutdown   manObj InvokeMethod  Win32Shutdown                                                      mboShutdownParams  null                                     catch  ManagementException mex                                        Console WriteLine mex ToString                         Console ReadKey                                                            public sealed class TokenAdjuster                  PInvoke stuff required to set enable security privileges          DllImport  advapi32   SetLastError   true           SuppressUnmanagedCodeSecurityAttribute          static extern int OpenProcessToken          System IntPtr ProcessHandle     handle to process         int DesiredAccess     desired access to process         ref IntPtr TokenHandle    handle to open access token                      DllImport  kernel32   SetLastError   true           SuppressUnmanagedCodeSecurityAttribute          static extern bool CloseHandle IntPtr handle             DllImport  advapi32 dll   CharSet   CharSet Auto  SetLastError   true           static extern int AdjustTokenPrivileges          IntPtr TokenHandle          int DisableAllPrivileges          IntPtr NewState          int BufferLength          IntPtr PreviousState          ref int ReturnLength             DllImport  advapi32 dll   CharSet   CharSet Auto  SetLastError   true           static extern bool LookupPrivilegeValue          string lpSystemName          string lpName          ref LUID lpLuid             StructLayout LayoutKind Sequential           internal struct LUID                       internal int LowPart              internal int HighPart                      StructLayout LayoutKind Sequential           struct LUID AND ATTRIBUTES                       LUID Luid              int Attributes                      StructLayout LayoutKind Sequential           struct  PRIVILEGE SET                       int PrivilegeCount              int Control               MarshalAs UnmanagedType ByValArray  SizeConst   1      ANYSIZE ARRAY   1             LUID AND ATTRIBUTES   Privileges                      StructLayout LayoutKind Sequential           internal struct TOKEN PRIVILEGES                       internal int PrivilegeCount               MarshalAs UnmanagedType ByValArray  SizeConst   3               internal int   Privileges                    const int SE PRIVILEGE ENABLED   0x00000002          const int TOKEN ADJUST PRIVILEGES   0X00000020          const int TOKEN QUERY   0X00000008          const int TOKEN ALL ACCESS   0X001f01ff          const int PROCESS QUERY INFORMATION   0X00000400           public static bool EnablePrivilege string lpszPrivilege  bool         bEnablePrivilege                        bool retval   false              int ltkpOld   0              IntPtr hToken   IntPtr Zero              TOKEN PRIVILEGES tkp   new TOKEN PRIVILEGES                tkp Privileges   new int 3               TOKEN PRIVILEGES tkpOld   new TOKEN PRIVILEGES                tkpOld Privileges   new int 3               LUID tLUID   new LUID                tkp PrivilegeCount   1              if  bEnablePrivilege                  tkp Privileges 2    SE PRIVILEGE ENABLED              else                 tkp Privileges 2    0              if  LookupPrivilegeValue null  lpszPrivilege  ref tLUID                                 Process proc   Process GetCurrentProcess                    if  proc Handle    IntPtr Zero                                        if  OpenProcessToken proc Handle  TOKEN ADJUST PRIVILEGES   TOKEN QUERY                      ref hToken     0                                                tkp PrivilegeCount   1                          tkp Privileges 2    SE PRIVILEGE ENABLED                          tkp Privileges 1    tLUID HighPart                          tkp Privileges 0    tLUID LowPart                          const int bufLength   256                          IntPtr tu   Marshal AllocHGlobal bufLength                           Marshal StructureToPtr tkp  tu  true                           if  AdjustTokenPrivileges hToken  0  tu  bufLength  IntPtr Zero  ref ltkpOld     0                                                           successful AdjustTokenPrivileges doesn t mean privilege could be changed                             if  Marshal GetLastWin32Error      0                                                                retval   true     Token changed                                                                                 TOKEN PRIVILEGES tokp    TOKEN PRIVILEGES Marshal PtrToStructure tu                          typeof TOKEN PRIVILEGES                            Marshal FreeHGlobal tu                                                                     if  hToken    IntPtr Zero                                CloseHandle hToken                             return retval

User · Answer

The old-school ugly method  Use the ExitWindowsEx function from the Win32 API    using System Runtime InteropServices   void Shutdown2         const string SE SHUTDOWN NAME    SeShutdownPrivilege       const short SE PRIVILEGE ENABLED   2      const uint EWX SHUTDOWN   1      const short TOKEN ADJUST PRIVILEGES   32      const short TOKEN QUERY   8      IntPtr hToken      TOKEN PRIVILEGES tkp          Get shutdown privileges        OpenProcessToken Process GetCurrentProcess   Handle             TOKEN ADJUST PRIVILEGES   TOKEN QUERY  out hToken       tkp PrivilegeCount   1      tkp Privileges Attributes   SE PRIVILEGE ENABLED      LookupPrivilegeValue     SE SHUTDOWN NAME  out tkp Privileges pLuid       AdjustTokenPrivileges hToken  false  ref tkp  0U  IntPtr Zero             IntPtr Zero           Now we have the privileges  shutdown Windows     ExitWindowsEx EWX SHUTDOWN  0         Structures needed for the API calls private struct LUID       public int LowPart      public int HighPart    private struct LUID AND ATTRIBUTES       public LUID pLuid      public int Attributes    private struct TOKEN PRIVILEGES       public int PrivilegeCount      public LUID AND ATTRIBUTES Privileges      DllImport  advapi32 dll    static extern int OpenProcessToken IntPtr ProcessHandle                        int DesiredAccess  out IntPtr TokenHandle     DllImport  advapi32 dll   SetLastError   true    return  MarshalAs UnmanagedType Bool   static extern bool AdjustTokenPrivileges IntPtr TokenHandle       MarshalAs UnmanagedType Bool  bool DisableAllPrivileges      ref TOKEN PRIVILEGES NewState      UInt32 BufferLength      IntPtr PreviousState      IntPtr ReturnLength     DllImport  advapi32 dll    static extern int LookupPrivilegeValue string lpSystemName                          string lpName  out LUID lpLuid     DllImport  user32 dll   SetLastError   true   static extern int ExitWindowsEx uint uFlags  uint dwReason     In production code you should be checking the return values of the API calls  but I left that out to make the example clearer

User · Answer

Taken from  a Geekpedia post  This method uses WMI to shutdown windows   You ll need to add a reference to System Management to your project to use this   using System Management   void Shutdown         ManagementBaseObject mboShutdown   null      ManagementClass mcWin32   new ManagementClass  Win32 OperatingSystem        mcWin32 Get            You can t shutdown without security privileges     mcWin32 Scope Options EnablePrivileges   true      ManagementBaseObject mboShutdownParams                mcWin32 GetMethodParameters  Win32Shutdown             Flag 1 means we want to shut down the system  Use  2  to reboot      mboShutdownParams  Flags      1       mboShutdownParams  Reserved      0       foreach  ManagementObject manObj in mcWin32 GetInstances                  mboShutdown   manObj InvokeMethod  Win32Shutdown                                           mboShutdownParams  null

User · Answer

If you want to shut down computer remotely then you can use  Using System Diagnostics    on any button click        Process Start  Shutdown   -i

User · Answer

System Diagnostics Process Start  shutdown     s  t 0     Should work   For restart  it s  r  This will restart the PC box directly and cleanly  with NO dialogs

User · Answer

Elaborated Answer      using System  using System Collections Generic  using System ComponentModel  using System Data  using System Drawing  using System Text  using System Windows Forms     Remember to add a reference to the System Management assembly using System Management  using System Diagnostics   namespace ShutDown       public partial class Form1   Form               public Form1                         InitializeComponent                       private void btnShutDown Click object sender  EventArgs e                        ManagementBaseObject mboShutdown   null              ManagementClass mcWin32   new ManagementClass  Win32 OperatingSystem                mcWin32 Get                    You can t shutdown without security privileges             mcWin32 Scope Options EnablePrivileges   true              ManagementBaseObject mboShutdownParams   mcWin32 GetMethodParameters  Win32Shutdown                    Flag 1 means we want to shut down the system             mboShutdownParams  Flags      1               mboShutdownParams  Reserved      0                foreach  ManagementObject manObj in mcWin32 GetInstances                                  mboShutdown   manObj InvokeMethod  Win32Shutdown   mboShutdownParams  null

User · Answer

Note that shutdown exe is just a wrapper around InitiateSystemShutdownEx  which provides some niceties missing in ExitWindowsEx

User · Answer

Short and sweet  Call an external program       using System Diagnostics       void Shutdown                 Process Start  shutdown exe    -s -t 00            Note  This calls Windows  Shutdown exe program  so it ll only work if that program is available  You might have problems on Windows 2000  where shutdown exe is only available in the resource kit  or XP Embedded

User · Answer

For Windows 10  I needed to add  f option in order to shutdown the pc without any question and wait time    This did not work for me Process Start  quot shutdown quot    quot  s  t 0 quot       But this worked Process Start  quot shutdown quot    quot  s  f  t 0 quot

User · Answer

There is no  net native method for shutting off the computer  You need to P Invoke the ExitWindows or ExitWindowsEx API call

User · Answer

Use shutdown exe  To avoid problem with  passing args  complex execution  execution from WindowForms use PowerShell execute script   using System Management Automation      using  PowerShell PowerShellInstance   PowerShell Create          PowerShellInstance AddScript  shutdown -a  shutdown -r -t 100            invoke execution on the pipeline  collecting output      Collection lt PSObject gt  PSOutput   PowerShellInstance Invoke         System Management Automation dll should be installed on OS and available in GAC   Sorry for My english

User · Answer

Different methods   A  System Diagnostics Process Start  Shutdown    -s -t 10     B  Windows Management Instrumentation  WMI     http   www csharpfriends com Forums ShowPost aspx PostID 36953 http   www dreamincode net forums showtopic33948 htm   C  System Runtime InteropServices Pinvoke   http   bytes com groups net-c 251367-shutdown-my-computer-using-c   D  System Management   http   www geekpedia com code36 Shut-down-system-using-Csharp html   After I submit  I have seen so many others also have posted

User · Answer

I tried roomaroo s WMI method to shutdown Windows 2003 Server  but it would not work until I added   STAThread    i e   Single Threaded Apartment  threading model  to the Main   declaration    STAThread  public static void Main string   args        Shutdown        I then tried to shutdown from a thread  and to get that to work I had to set the  Apartment State  of the thread to STA as well   using System Management  using System Threading   public static class Program         STAThread      public static void Main string   args            Thread t   new Thread new ThreadStart Program Shutdown            t SetApartmentState ApartmentState STA           t Start                           public static void Shutdown                roomaroo s code           I m a C  noob  so I m not entirely sure of the significance of STA threads in terms of shutting down the system  even after reading the link I posted above    Perhaps someone else can elaborate

User · Answer

Just to add to Pop Catalin s answer  here s a one liner which shuts down the computer without displaying any windows   Process Start new ProcessStartInfo  shutdown     s  t 0       CreateNoWindow   true  UseShellExecute   false

User · Answer

Works starting with windows XP  not available in win 2000 or lower       This is the quickest way to do it   Process Start  shutdown    s  t 0      Otherwise use P Invoke or WMI like others have said   Edit  how to avoid creating a window  var psi   new ProcessStartInfo  shutdown    s  t 0    psi CreateNoWindow   true  psi UseShellExecute   false  Process Start psi

[c#] How to shut down the computer from C#

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