Can't Log Out of Windows Server 2008

Question

I'm currently logged into my Windows Server 2008 R2 (x64) server, using Remote Desktop. As soon as I clicked on Start -> Log Out, this message popped up:

The message says: "Waiting for all snap-ins to complete..."

There's a second dialog box in the background that says:

MMC cannot initialize the snap-in.

Now I can't log out and I can't bring up task manager. I can hit ctrl-alt-del and then click Task Manager, I can right-click the task bar and click Start Task Manager, and I can click the start menu and click Log Out, but none of those do anything. I also can't click the OK button that is shown in the screenshot.

This is a live web server, so I don't want to try restarting the server.

I can just disconnect from Remote Desktop, but these dialog boxes are still shown when I log back in later.

Any ideas? Do I just need to wait until the middle of the night and restart the server?

Answer 1

Try from the command prompt shutdown /l

C:\Users\User>shutdown /?
Usage: shutdown [/i | /l | /s | /r | /g | /a | /p | /h | /e] [/f]
    [/m \\computer][/t xxx][/d [p|u:]xx:yy [/c "comment"]]

    No args    Display help. This is the same as typing /?.
    /?         Display help. This is the same as not typing any options.
    /i         Display the graphical user interface (GUI).
               This must be the first option.
    /l         Log off. This cannot be used with /m or /d options.
    /s         Shutdown the computer.
    /r         Shutdown and restart the computer.
    /g         Shutdown and restart the computer. After the system is
               rebooted, restart any registered applications.
    /a         Abort a system shutdown.
               This can only be used during the time-out period.
    /p         Turn off the local computer with no time-out or warning.
               Can be used with /d and /f options.
    /h         Hibernate the local computer.
               Can be used with the /f option.
    /e         Document the reason for an unexpected shutdown of a computer.
    /m \\computer Specify the target computer.
    /t xxx     Set the time-out period before shutdown to xxx seconds.
               The valid range is 0-315360000 (10 years), with a default of 30.
               If the timeout period is greater than 0, the /f parameter is
               implied.
    /c "comment" Comment on the reason for the restart or shutdown.
               Maximum of 512 characters allowed.
    /f         Force running applications to close without forewarning users.
               The /f parameter is implied when a value greater than 0 is
               specified for the /t parameter.
    /d [p|u:]xx:yy  Provide the reason for the restart or shutdown.
               p indicates that the restart or shutdown is planned.
               u indicates that the reason is user defined.
               If neither p nor u is specified the restart or shutdown is
               unplanned.
               xx is the major reason number (positive integer less than 256).
               yy is the minor reason number (positive integer less than 65536).