Joseph Videtto asks:
In my school, there is a computer lab with 20 old Dell optiplex 270′s. They take forever to boot up. Is there a (preferably free) piece of software that will allow turning all of them on from one machine with one command ? And then later turning all of them off ?
2 Answers -
Anonymous
January 22, 2012Use the Remote Shutdown Tool to Shutdown, Restart, or Logoff a Local or Networked Computer
http://maximumpcguides.com/windows-vista/use-the-remote-shutdown-tool-to-shutdown-restart-or-logoff-a-local-or-networked-computer/
http://www.online-tech-tips.com/computer-tips/remote-shutdown-command/
rshut pro shareware
http://www.rshut.com/
Multi-Remote Shutdown Manager: shareware
http://www.eytcheson.com/mrsm.htm
Network Shutdown Tool: shareware
http://abbyte.com/
FIDELIS
January 22, 2012Hello, for a really easy solution, you could try a solution provided by solarwinds. The application is called Wake-on-LAN. Keep in mind that for you to run these applications, it is better if you run them with an administrator account and also have an admin account for all computers in network.
http://www.solarwinds.com/products/freetools/wake_on_lan.aspx
For this to work, the network cards in computers in your network have to be compatible with Wake-on-LAN. It has to be enabled in BIOS and also in the network card itself. Here is an article explaining how to enable it and more options:
http://lifehacker.com/348197/access-your-computer-anytime-and-save-energy-with-wake+on+lan
You can also try freeware Magic Packed Sender. Here is the link and setup instructions:
http://magicpacket.free.fr/thankyou15.htm
For a solution a little bit more complex, visit the next link and download the psshutdown tool. It allows to set a restart time in seconds and also a shutdown.
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb897541
For some examples using psshutdown tool, try the following link:
http://www.windows-commandline.com/2011/04/shutdown-remote-computer-command-line.html