Does anyone know how to shut the computer down while in pure DOS without having to start Windows back up again? I hate having to wait for Windows to load just so I can turn the computer off. ...I mean, is there a command or a program that does it?

http://www.computing.net/dos/wwwboard/forum/11764.html

and

http://www.computing.net/dos/wwwboard/forum/11711.html

See the same question about 11 posts down.

Most PC's have a delay on the Power Switch.
Hold it in for 30 seconds and your PC will more than likley Power Down.

In pure DOS there isn't anything that is running, that can be damaged if you shut off your computer, (if you haven't started anything, that is. To be sure, type "exit", if nothing happens, you are most likely not running anything) just press the Power button to turn off your computer.

Well, exit is the command I use to go back into Windows when I've gone from Windows to pure DOS, so if I use that command, it just takes me back to Windows, which is what I'm trying to avoid having to do. Thanks for taking the time to respond, though, and thanks to everyone else who responded. I appreciate it. ...I was thinking that maybe you're supposed to use the power button to turn it off, but I'm not totally sure if that's safe, at least not if you were in Windows to start with because if you started out in Windows and you try to use the win command, it says that you already have some Windows drivers running or something, and the only way you can get to Windows if you started out in Windows before going to DOS is to use the exit command, but if you start out in DOS, using the win command will work and it doesn't complain about there being any Windows drivers on or anything. ....I'm gonna go to those sites I saw on the other group of posts about this topic that someone else posted 11 lines down and check out those programs that one person was talking about that he or she wrote. I don't know why they didn't just make the exit command shut down the computer and the win command always start or go back to Windows. ....I guess that would just be too easy. ...Anyway, again, thanks for responding, everyone. :-)

You should be perfectly safe to just hit the power switch and turn off the machine from true dos. I do it all the time on a win98 and 95 machine.

I have a small program that will shut down from dos, mail me if anyone needs...

Sonny, you mean even if you started out in Windows and then selected the option to restart the computer in MS-DOS mode? I mean, I wouldn't think it would matter, except that I think it would be a good idea to have a program that shuts everything else you might have running off first. I don't know if any of these shutdown programs people are talking about do that, but that's what I was thinking.

just press the power swich, it is very safe so long as you are in dos.