I have a scheduled task that runs once a week which performs a simple reboot of the machine. The problem is that once the system is rebooted, it thinks that the last shutdown was unexpected and then it asks me to specify a reason for it.
This is the command that the Task Scheduler runs:
C:\Windows\System32\shutdown.exe /r /f /t 01 /d P:4:1
As you can see, I specified the d parameter to tell the system that the reason for the shutdown is "Application: Maintenance (Planned)". The OS in question is Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard.
Interesting enough is that I used to have the exact same task on a different machine running Windows Server 2003 and I wasn't experiencing this issue.
Turning off the Shutdown Event Tracker is not an option.
Best Answer
I usually do
shutdown /s /f /t 0and get away with it, or perhaps specify a reason with/d.This does not result in a reason window for me, so that means your shutdown is experiencing issues.
Your first stop should be the event log, see what it mentions about your shutdown.
You should be troubleshooting why your computer doesn't shutdown properly, more specifically what application/service/driver is causing the improper shutdown. Because your command is correct.
Troubleshooting shutdown is a tricky thing to do, check if the same occurs in safe mode as a good start!