Hi,
I have found a nifty little utility that works great. It is kind of old but works in Win 7 and Win 8.
I included a link to the file, and instructions here...they are hard to find.
http://aumha.org/downloads/shutdown.zip
Shutdown & Restart Shortcuts for Windows XP & Windows 2000
SHUTDOWN /?
For a shortcut to RESTART Windows XP:SHUTDOWN -r -t 01
For a shortcut to SHUT DOWN Windows XP: SHUTDOWN -s -t 01
You can create desktop shortcuts to shutdown or restart Windows, or go into standy or hibernate mode, with a single click.
You can put these shortcuts anyplace you like — on the desktop itself, the Quick Launch bar, your Start Menu — wherever.
To make a new shortcut, right-click on an empty part of the desktop (or inside a folder).
Select New, then Shortcut. A “wizard” will pop up to guide you through the rest of the process.
You will have to provide a command line, and then a name. The name can be anything you want.
The freeware utility Shutdown.exe (not to be confused with the Windows utility by the same name) by MS-MVP Andrej Budja.
After you place this utility in the root folder of C:,
the commands for a shutdown, restart, or hibernate (respectively),
each without a time delay, would be...
shutdown -u -t 0 for shutdown, shutdown -r -t 0 for restart, and shutdown -h -t 0 for hibernate.
(the -t is for a time delay, and the number is how long.)
There are other ways to access Restart in Win 8 but I like this one...
Another option is hitting Alt+ F4 from the desktop. This brings up a Win 7 type shutdown window.