If you are not too thrilled with the Windows Vista/7 shutdown menus or just want the convenience of having those options on your desktop it’s pretty simple to do.

Here’s how to create a shutdown shortcut on your desktop:

1. Right click an empty space on the desktop and select New | Shortcut.
2. In the box labeled "Type the location of the item," type:
   Shutdown.exe -s -t 00
3. Click Next to continue.
4. Type a name for the shortcut (e.g. ShutDown).
5. Click Finish.
6. If you would like to change the icon for this shortcut, right click on it then click the Shortcut tab and click the Change Icon button.

To create a restart shortcut, follow the same steps as above but on step 2 type:

Shutdown.exe -r -t 00

Then name the shortcut appropriately.