Windows 8: Shutdown and Reboot shortcuts.....

If you would like to have handy shortcuts on your Desktop for Shutdown and Reboot (Restart) in Windows 8, instead of having to go back onto the Start Screen to find the originals, here's how:-

Right-click an empty spot on the desktop. From the little menu that comes up,  choose the fourth one from the bottom titled 'New'. Right-click that for another little menu. The second item on that is 'Shortcut'. Click that, to bring up another window titled 'Create Shortcut'. On the line with the flashing cursor titled 'Type the location of the item' very carefully type as follows, being careful of the spacing between parts (only one space between each operative code):

C:\Windows\system32\shutdown.exe -s -f -t 05

Once again, there is only one blank space between the end of "shutdown.exe" and the "dash s" and one blank space between that and "dash f" and one more between that and the "dash t" and one after that before the numbers for the time in seconds.

What does this tell Windows? It says "Shutdown the computer ( the -s), force close any open programs (the -f) and do this after a time delay of five seconds, (the -t 05)."  You will see a little generic icon on your desktop beside this window in which you are creating these instructions. You can change that icon to something else more to your liking later if you wish. Now, at the bottom of that window, click on the button "Next" to continue. 

The next window asks you to type a name for your new shortcut. Call it Shutdown and then click on the button for "Finish", and you're done.

The one for a Reboot shortcut is the same as the above, except instead of that  "-s" after the filename, you must use a -r meaning "Reboot". Then, when you name it, you call it Reboot or Restart. You can now drag those new shortcuts to any spot on the desktop that's handy for you, and you can now quickly begin a shutdown or a reboot without leaving the screen you're on.

Once again, for a Reboot shortcut, type the following into the location line:-

C:\Windows\system32\shutdown.exe -r -f -t 05

Which means: "Perform a restart of this computer, force close any open programs, and begin after a delay of five seconds."

That time delay isn't essential, but it does have one nice feature: before it begins, it puts up a warning band across your screen telling that this is happening in less than a minute. So you know it got your instructions and is doing it.