Restarting a user's computer, BUT... No comment to user?

Hello everyone.

I have found, after some re-search, that you can’t send a message to a user, ex. why a computer is restarting or shutting down. After a bit more re-search, I found that Microsoft have stop Windows/services to be Interactive with a user (If i understand this currect–> http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms683502(VS.85).aspx), as in sent a message “Your computer is restarting in xxx sec”.
This you can do with
shutdown /c “restarting in xx” in normal dos promp…

I like to know why I can’t get PowerShell to send a message like that.
I know there must be a reason for this, and i’m just looking to fint out what reason it. And if there is nother way…?

I know that you can give a user a popup, if you change something in the GPO, and you like the user to logout and in again… But can you do something like that with PS?

I hope that what I’m writing give meaning… If not, please ask what you don’t understand and I will try to be more clear about it.

Consider using the Shutdown.exe command from within PowerShell. Should work fine. You’re MEANT to use those external commands from within PowerShell - using Shutdown.exe isn’t “cheating.”

There isn’t necessarily a “reason” why PowerShell’s native commands don’t replicate that same behavior (other than, “why bother” since Shutdown.exe does it already). They just don’t.

As for the interactive service thing, that was discontinued as of Windows Vista.

Microsoft’s old “Messenger” service, which provided pop-up messaging, has been discontinued for years and years. Microsoft doesn’t really provide a convenient way of broadcast messaging all users. Many third-party tools add that capability, but they involve code (an agent of some kind) being deployed to all computers.