Tip: Boot into the BIOS directly from Windows shortcut

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https://betanews.com/2023/06/27/boot-into-the-bios-directly-from-windows/

…Right-click a blank area on the desktop and go to New > Shortcut.

In the wizard that opens, click in the box underneath Type the location of the item, and enter the following:

Shutdown /r /fw /t 1

If you’re not familiar with these commands, /r means restart, /fw means boot to firmware (aka the BIOS) and /t introduces a delay in seconds before the restart begins. In our example above, that’s one second.

Call this new shortcut Restart to BIOS. Right-click your new shortcut on the desktop and select Properties. Click the Advanced button.

In the Properties box, tick the Run as administrator box and click on OK a couple of times to close the windows…

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wavy, TechTango, NaNoNyMouse, Rick Corbett, GeeBeeDee, Drcard:)), Cybertooth, WSraysig, RetiredGeek, sheldon, SueW, CraigS26

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Alex,

Thanks! Works great.

Two little changes:

1. Create a scheduled task to run the command and a shortcut to run the scheduled task, saves having to click on the Admin prompt.
2. I changed the /t parameter to /t 0. Gets rid of the flash prompt telling you the machine is going to shutdown. Sort of like the old “Are you Sure” prompt, YES I told it to shutdown!

I’ve tested it on both Win 11 & 10 22H2 and love it!

May the Forces of good computing be with you!

RG

PowerShell & VBA Rule!
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4 users thanked author for this post.

TechTango, NaNoNyMouse, Drcard:)), Alex5723

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Windows 10 22H2
Doesn’t work entirely for me. Restarts my older Lenovo laptop (Z580) to just a Boot Menu which has the Windows Boot Manager, Network Booting, etc. I think on this computer, that is the same result as F8 on restart.
Mike

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Alex5723 wrote:

Right-click your new shortcut on the desktop and select Properties. Click the Advanced button. In the Properties box, tick the Run as administrator box and click on OK a couple of times to close the windows.

For my systems, it is not necessary to Run as administrator.  The shutdown command runs just fine without elevated privileges.  I’ve been using it on my NAS from time to time to get a restart via RDP (“restart” is not available in the GUI via RDP) instead of having to remove my Logitech transceiver for my mouse and keyboard from my desktop and plug it into my NAS just for a reboot.

I just tried it via RDP (without the /fw switch) and it works just fine.

Of course, if I want to get into UEFI on my NAS, I’ll need to swap the transceiver, switch my monitor input, in order to deal with it directly.

There are a number of useful switches for the shutdown command:

C:\Windows\System32>shutdown
Usage: shutdown [/i | /l | /s | /sg | /r | /g | /a | /p | /h | /e | /o] [/hybrid] [/soft] [/fw] [/f]
[/m \\computer][/t xxx][/d [p|u:]xx:yy [/c “comment”]]

No args Display help. This is the same as typing /?.
/? Display help. This is the same as not typing any options.
/i Display the graphical user interface (GUI).
This must be the first option.
/l Log off. This cannot be used with /m or /d options.
/s Shutdown the computer.
/sg Shutdown the computer. On the next boot, if Automatic Restart Sign-On
is enabled, automatically sign in and lock last interactive user.
After sign in, restart any registered applications.
/r Full shutdown and restart the computer.
/g Full shutdown and restart the computer. After the system is rebooted,
if Automatic Restart Sign-On is enabled, automatically sign in and
lock last interactive user.
After sign in, restart any registered applications.
/a Abort a system shutdown.
This can only be used during the time-out period.
Combine with /fw to clear any pending boots to firmware.
/p Turn off the local computer with no time-out or warning.
Can be used with /d and /f options.
/h Hibernate the local computer.
Can be used with the /f option.
/hybrid Performs a shutdown of the computer and prepares it for fast startup.
Must be used with /s option.
/fw Combine with a shutdown option to cause the next boot to go to the firmware user interface.
/e Document the reason for an unexpected shutdown of a computer.
/o Go to the advanced boot options menu and restart the computer.
Must be used with /r option.
/m \\computer Specify the target computer.
/t xxx Set the time-out period before shutdown to xxx seconds.
The valid range is 0-315360000 (10 years), with a default of 30.
If the timeout period is greater than 0, the /f parameter is
implied.
/c “comment” Comment on the reason for the restart or shutdown.
Maximum of 512 characters allowed.
/f Force running applications to close without forewarning users.
The /f parameter is implied when a value greater than 0 is
specified for the /t parameter.

/d [p|u:]xx:yy Provide the reason for the restart or shutdown.
p indicates that the restart or shutdown is planned.
u indicates that the reason is user defined.
If neither p nor u is specified the restart or shutdown is
unplanned.
xx is the major reason number (positive integer less than 256).
yy is the minor reason number (positive integer less than 65536).

Reasons on this computer:
(E = Expected U = Unexpected P = planned, C = customer defined)
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 Unresponsive
E 1 1 Hardware: Maintenance (Unplanned)
E P 1 1 Hardware: Maintenance (Planned)
E 1 2 Hardware: Installation (Unplanned)
E P 1 2 Hardware: Installation (Planned)
E 2 2 Operating System: Recovery (Unplanned)
E P 2 2 Operating System: Recovery (Planned)
P 2 3 Operating System: Upgrade (Planned)
E 2 4 Operating System: Reconfiguration (Unplanned)
E P 2 4 Operating System: Reconfiguration (Planned)
P 2 16 Operating System: Service pack (Planned)
2 17 Operating System: Hot fix (Unplanned)
P 2 17 Operating System: Hot fix (Planned)
2 18 Operating System: Security fix (Unplanned)
P 2 18 Operating System: Security fix (Planned)
E 4 1 Application: Maintenance (Unplanned)
E P 4 1 Application: Maintenance (Planned)
E P 4 2 Application: Installation (Planned)
E 4 5 Application: Unresponsive
E 4 6 Application: Unstable
U 5 15 System Failure: Stop error
U 5 19 Security issue (Unplanned)
E 5 19 Security issue (Unplanned)
E P 5 19 Security issue (Planned)
E 5 20 Loss of network connectivity (Unplanned)
U 6 11 Power Failure: Cord Unplugged
U 6 12 Power Failure: Environment
P 7 0 Legacy API shutdown

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

2 users thanked author for this post.

NaNoNyMouse, Alex5723

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bbearren wrote:

It is not necessary to Run as administrator.

Dell Latitude E7450 – The shortcut worked great! But ONLY after ticking the Run as administrator checkbox in the shortcut’s Properties, even though I was signed in as an administrator.

An excellent tip – very useful.

(I added an icon and used CTRL+SHIFT+S as the shortcut’s hotkey.)

 

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Rick Corbett wrote:

Dell Latitude E7450 – The shortcut worked great! But ONLY after ticking the Run as administrator checkbox in the shortcut’s Properties, even though I was signed in as an administrator.

I’ve edited my reply #2569287.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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Users must be assigned the Shut down the system user right to shut down a local or remotely administered computer that is using the shutdown command.

shutdown | Microsoft Learn

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b wrote:

Users must be assigned the Shut down the system user right to shut down a local or remotely administered computer that is using the shutdown command.

Your link: Shutdown | Microsoft Learn | Windows Server.

I’m not running Windows Server, I’m running Windows 11 Pro.

I’m a standard user, local account.

It’s the same on my NAS; standard user, local account.

I’m finished.

Always create a fresh drive image before making system changes/Windows updates; you may need to start over!

We all have our own reasons for doing the things that we do with our systems; we don't need anyone's approval, and we don't all have to do the same things.

We were all once "Average Users".

Computer Specs

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