1. Right click an empty area of your desktop and select New then Shortcut.

2. Type [or cut n' paste] the following line in the Command line space:

To Shut Down:
C:\WINDOWS\RUNDLL32.EXE shell32,SHExitWindowsEx 1

To Log Off:
C:\WINDOWS\RUNDLL32.EXE shell32,SHExitWindowsEx 0

To Restart:
C:\WINDOWS\RUNDLL32.EXE shell32,SHExitWindowsEx 2

Note : Two spaces in the command lines: The first between EXE and shell32, and the second between Ex and the numeral.

3. Click on Next and name the shortcut. [shutdown for the shutdown icon etc.]

4. Click on Finish and an Icon will appear on the desktop.

If you have a multimedia keyboard with shortcut keys you can link one of those keys to your shutdown icon. Now you can press a single key on the keyboard to shutdown or restart the computer.