The recently released Windows 8 was equipped with colorful metro tiles and fully functional thumbnails which indeed revamped the traditional way of exploring PCs. However, Microsoft removed the start menu we are all familiar with. Other things vanished together are the easy access buttons for logging off, shutting down and restarting the system.

However, one needs to reboot Windows 8 in many situations. To refresh the system, to install Windows updates, to recover from errors, to free up used memory and to complete program installation, these are just some of the most common reasons. However, with the absence of start menu as well as quick access buttons, restarting Windows 8 had been a major problem for many users. Luckily, there are easy ways on how you can restart PCs running in Windows 8.

Standard Methods to Restart Windows 8

Basically, you can restart your Windows 8 computer in four ways.

I. By Using Start Screen

  • Hit on “Windows” icon to open the start menu.
  • Choose “Restart” button.

II. Choose Option Charms Menu

  • Swipe the right edge of your screen and tap “Settings”.
  • For non-touch Windows 8 PCs, you could point your mouse to the lower right corner of the screen and move the cursor up to open “Settings”.
  • Tap or click “Power” icon and choose “Restart”.

restart in charms

III. By Pressing Keyboard Keys

  • Press “Ctrl+Alt+Delete” simultaneously. A new window will appear, click “Power” – “Restart” on the bottom right corner.
  • Alternatively, close all the programs and go to desktop. You could simultaneously press “Alt+F4” keyboard combination to open up “Shut Down Windows” dialog box. From the drop down menu, choose “Restart” then “OK” to restart Windows 8 computer.

select restart option

IV. By Creating Shortcut

  • First you need to switch from metro to desktop view by pressing “Windows Logo + D”.
  • Right click anywhere and select “New” – “Shortcut”. Enter “shutdown –r –t 00” into the target field to restart system then click “Next”.
  • Name the created shortcut depending on your desire.
  • When you want to restart computer, just use the shortcut.

create restart shortcut on Windows 8

Best Method to Help Restart PC in Windows 8

Apart from using keyboard combination and shortcut to restart PC, you can also draw support from the auto restart tool called Windows Shutdown Assistant. With it, you are only required to set it once, then the task will be executed at the customized time or even every day. It is unnecessary to manually restart PC, the operation will be carried out automatically. The following steps show you how to restart computer in Windows 8.

Download

  1. Download and install Windows Shutdown Assistant on your PC.
  2. Open the application and set the “Trigger”. You are allowed to specify the date, time, system idle time, power limitation and more.
  3. On “Select action”, choose “Restart” from the list of options.
  4. Click “Add to action list”, and press “Start” button on the right to finalize created task.
  5. The task will be shown in the list, you can stop it by right clicking and choosing “Delete selected task” or clicking “Stop” icon.

schedule to reboot Windows 8

This free software offers you more functions other than reboot Windows 8, it has different shutdown/hibernate/lock/restart modes such as by scheduled time, upon power off, when overheating, battery low, when idle for long periods of time and etc. Even more, it is compatible not just with Windows 8 but with all versions of Windows.

Another advantage of Windows Shutdown Assistant is that you can use it as visual reminder. The “Display a message” function will auto-display created messages directly on the screen. All you need to do is to edit the note and schedule the time of its appearance. You can furthermore personalize the note by editing its colors, inserting sounds, adding images, changing text fonts, putting different text messages and all others.

restart windows 8

I believe now you know the right way to restart Windows 8. It’s great to utilize the above standard methods but you need to exert extra effort and some technical skills to make it work. If you want an easy and convenient way of restarting Windows 8, use Windows Shutdown Assistant. The beauty of using such program lies on the fact that you don’t need to create shortcuts or press several keys just to reboot your system, everything is free and highly automated.

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