BOTH WINDOWS XP and Windows Vista respond well to the command 'shutdown os'. Here's how to turn that into a shortcut. First right-click the desktop and select New. and then choose Shortcut. When the resulting wizard asks you for the location of the item, type shutdown os, Click Next. Rename the shortcut or keep the default name 'Shutdown', and click Finish.

When you double-click this shortcut. Windows will count off 30 seconds, and then shut itself down, The delay, of course, is so that you can abort the shutdown, which comes in handy if you ever accidentally click the shortcut. But don't bother clicking the Close button on the window that tells you of the upcoming event; all that does is close the window, If you would like to have on hand an easy method of aborting a shutdown you don't want, you'll need to create another shortcut: Again, right-click the desktop and select New- Shortcut. But this time. when the resulting wizard asks you for the location of the item. type shutdown -a. And name this shortcut 'Abort Shutdown',