How to instantly abort Windows 10 System Shutdown

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Ever got a message on Windows saying, “The system is shutting down. Please save all your work. The system shutdown was initiated by Administrator”? I used to get this kind of message when I was in college many times though nobody initiated it, and I was not even in-network. You won’t be able to terminate the program with the task manager, either. Initially, I didn’t know how to avoid it, but when I typed Shutdown /? I understood what was going on. In this post, I will show how you can instantly abort Windows 10 Shutdown.

Auto Shutdown message

How to instantly abort Windows 10 System Shutdown

Sometimes Windows itself initiate the shutdown process of a computer due to some unknown reason. It is annoying when you are in the middle of some essential work, such as a conference or even writing an article. Now the query is how to avoid it. If you have enough privilege, you should be able to terminate it. I tried using it in the office by simulating the same and was able to end it.

  • Open Command Prompt
  • Type Shutdown -a and press the Enter key
  • If a Windows is showing the countdown timer, it will exit.

To know more about options for Shutdown, Type Shutdown /? on the command prompt and You will see the following result

Abort Shutdown from Command Prompt

You can use this even if you have manually initiated a shutdown by typing the same in the Run prompt. Generally, you will get a minimum of 60 seconds before the system gets down. Quickly type shutdown -a this on run dialog box [ Win key + R]. This command is used to abort system auto shutdown. The shutdown process has a more advanced feature, which I will be talking about in the next post. I hope this helps.

I remember using this to shutdown Network computers when I was in college. We had four computers over LAN, and when somebody forgot to shut down his computer, well, I was the tech guy for them.

33 COMMENTS

  1. I have a dell latitude computer that’s pretty old, probably about like windows 2000 and i read your post but can you please guide me step by step on how the procedure works? I get the same thing everytime that says “system shutdown” with pretty much exactly what you posted up there but how do i get to the command and everything? thank you for your help!

  2. The problem is is that I can’t get to the start menu or anything all I have is the boot menus when the computer starts up.

  3. I’m sorry for being stupid but I still don’t know where to get the error window/command prompt because all it has is the first picture you showed that had the minutes counting down and everything.

  4. How can I abort a shutdown command when it is initiated by the system administrator. I used the shutdown -a but it wouldn’t abort it.

    I even tried to stop it from task manager but still no hope.

    Thank you in advance.

    D

  5. hi
    the solution u told was of help bt i wanted to knw that whether i have to repeat ths everytime i switch on my pc??????
    my error says that it will automatically shut down in 50 minutes…

  6. i got this problem but i cant get into the run command, bcoz the windows will shutdown after just showing the desktop wallpaper.
    i tried login using safe mode the problem same aswell.
    do you have any other solution?

  7. hi, im also getting the same problem but i think mine is a bit different….. i only receive the error “system shutdown” when my desktop clock start to alarm, but it doesn’t shutdown my computer…. the problem is the error message cant be close or minimize even if i end the process into task manager, in the application tab it appears 2 system shutdown is running……pliz help, this system shutdown windows really worries me….TNX 🙁

  8. I was using Cable Internet (CMTS) service earlier and recently shifted to ADSL. My system did’nt have LAN driver, so installed it from HP website (mine is a HP desktop). Every since then my system is automatical shutting down every 5 minutes showing above message, what you have written in the article (shutdown was initiated by NT AUTHORITY\SYSTEM). Is it because of LAN drivers or ADSL interner? and what is the permanent solution for this.

  9. SOMEBODY HELP ME PLEASE!!! my dell laptop is infected with a virus that causes to shut down 3 min after turning my computer on. I know I have to delete some files and run an antivieus but 3 min is never enough time to do all that in. HOW DO I STOP WINDOWS FROM SHUTTING DOWN (there’s no count-down just a blue screen informing me that windows had to shut down)

  10. @philiouse : I would strongly suggest you to boot into Safe Mode. Press F8 as soon as you hit the power on button. You would see the option of safe mode there.

    Once you login into safe mode delete the files and do the Scan. ALso if you do have any restore point try that.

  11. Hello, I was wondering if there was a way to type a Y for “yes” to initiate a shutdown abort without having to get into the command prompt? I made a small batch file that I have task scheduler run to automate the checkdisk utility. I did it by using the following code:

    @echo off
    fsutil dirty set c:
    shutdown -r -t 300 -c “This automatic shutdown is scheduled to run the Checkdisk utility. Please wait…” -f

    This just runs the checkdisk (after a 5 minute delay)that you would get if you lost power or turned off your PC without using windows shut off GUI. It marks the disk as “dirty” and tells windows to check it for errors. I would prefer to have the “yes” input show up in the countdown message window or in another nearby window. I’m a beginner at using command line stuff but wanted to add an easy way to abort the shutdown if it pops up while i’m in the middle of something. Is there a way to do this or is the only way by opening up a command line window? Thanks in advance.

  12. thanks sir
    i have this shutdown problem while i starting command prompt.
    and because of u i solve it thanks lot

  13. Amazing! I had 40 seconds till shutdown and I googled “abort system shutdown” and I got this. I read the instructions and aborted it within 1 second remaining.

  14. All i need is a cmd script for cancel computer shut down (if accidentlly happen) … i know the formula as “shutdown -a” from command prompt but i don`t know how to create a specific script …. to put on my desktop or on my bunch of applications for permanent keepeng .. Thank you .. Reply me please

  15. Well… I know this is a little late, but I think phawzie has Zotob, a virus that causes the computer to restart endlessly…

  16. I had same problem with my laptop, my processor was getting overheated because of heat sink problem in my laptop. You have to Open your laptop and clean the dust nearby Heat Sink.

  17. So I get this error before my window’s main screen comes up. It won’t allow me to access the command window shown in this picture. Any ideas?

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