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How to restart your computer from the internet using a web browser

By Koder - Posted on 18 November 2009

Every once in a while, when you need your machine from a remote location (to serve you a web page, upload a file to your FTP etc), it sometimes does not respond and a reboot is required to bring it back to its normal. So how do you restart your machine remotely ? Well, there are several ways of doing it, some folks simply would need to connect to it using a form of remote connection (like Windows Remote Desktop Protocol or VNC), some simply can use the Windows built in Windows command called 'shutdown'. However, these methods could be restricted due to firewall and security restrictions imposed on you from the network you are on. In this article, we will show you how to use your web browser to restart your machine, most places have unrestricted access for users to use a web browser.

The utility we are going to use is called Shutter. It is an Open Source and Freeware utility. Shutter lets you remotely shut down and restart machines locally on your network and also from the internet using a web browser. This utility can be used to perform a variety of other tasks such as shutdown, log off, mute master volume, lock workstation, put the machine to hibernate or sleep, turn off your monitor, unmute volume etc.

It also has the capability to provide information about your computer (such as current logged on user, running process, CPU and memory utilization and up-time). You can also obtain a screen shot of the current desktop being displayed. Lets get started, we will provide you step by step instructions on how to set this utility up in no time.

Step1:

- Download Shutter from http://www.den4b.com/downloads.php?project=Shutter and choose the .exe version as it runs a wizard which makes configuration a lot easier

Step 2:

- Click Next on Starting the wizard

Step 3:

- Choose default install location and click next

Step 4:

- Choose default start menu group and click next

Step 5:

- Choose to create a shortcut on your desktop or not

Step 6:

- Click Install to start the installtion

Step 7:

- Click Finish to finish the installation

Step 8:

- Launch Shutter from Start Menu or Desktop icon. Ignore the main screen for now, as it is used only for local use, we are interested in remotely controlling the behavior

Step 9:

- Click on Options

Step 10:

- Click on Web Interface Tab

Step 11:

- Configure Options and choose Save. Options should include, IP address, port, username and password. Checkmark the enable box as well

Step 12:

- Allow entry in Windows Firewall when prompted for Shutter.exe

Step 13:

- Point your web browser to the IP address and port of the computer your installed Shutter on. If you have a router at home and your computer is behind a router, you would have to put in the public facing IP address of your router and have the port forwarded to this computer (If you need help on how to do this, drop us a line in the comments and we will gladly help). For example http://192.168.0.199:5454

Step 14:

- You will now be able to see various available options, including one to restart your machine

That's it, You can now restart your machine from over the internet. You can also choose to run Shutter as soon as Windows start, so you don't have to remember to manually launch the utility, you can do this from the "general tab" on the options menu.

If you want to share your ideas, any other software of the similar kind that you use, or simply want to provide feedback, you can always contact us by leaving us a comment here or by using the Contact Us form.