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How can i get my computer to automatically turn off at a certain time every night? i have computer in my living room and doesnt need to be on all the time but my room mates dont turn it off. I want to set something so that it will turn off every night at say 1 am.

Thanks

1. Click Start, and then click Control Panel.
2. Click click Scheduled Tasks.
3. Double-click Add Scheduled Task. The Scheduled Task Wizard starts.
4. Click Next.
5. Under Click the program you want Windows to run, click Browse.
6. In the Select Program to Schedule dialog box, locate the %SystemRoot%\System32 folder, locate and click the Shutdown.exe file, and then click Open.
7. Under Perform this task, specify a name for the task and how frequently you want this task to run, and then click Next.
8. Under Select the time and day you want this task to start, specify a start time and date for the task, and then click Next.
9. Type the user name and password to run this task under, and then click Next.
10. Click to select the Open advanced properties for this task when I click Finish check box, and then click Finish.
11. Click the Task tab.
12. In the Run box, specify any additional parameters that you want to use with Shutdown.exe. In the run line add the switches after the exe, -s to shutdown and -r to reboot.
13. Click OK.

when the machine goes to reboot there will be a message pop up to warn anyone using the machine at that time they have 30 seconds to save their stuff.


edited: added in the switches (forgot) and the note about the shutdown warning.

Could always make a batch file

or what bubba said, that is the best way.

Bear in mind that you do need a password on the account for this to work, if you don't have one tell me, and I'll show you where you can set up XP to log in automatically without needing to manually enter your password every time.

Dan

thanks Bubba. I did that.

As for a password that i wont have to type in every time??!?! if i need that, then please let me know how. the computer is a common computer that the whole house uses, but in an effort to save some $$ on the power bill, i would like it to get turned off.

Thanks guys!!

The easiest way is through: TweakUI

Install that then go to login > autologon

Tick the box, set the username, and then click the set password box.

This will then allow the computer to start up without the need to put the password in when it boots up.

Dan

cool. it is done. i will let you know how it works tomorrow.

Thanks!

well, the first time it didnt work. i did some looking and found out why. The file is NOT shutdown.exe it was tsshutdn.exe

It works now though, THANKS!!

really, I have used the shutdown.exe before, weird..

EDIT

Ok, went digging to see why it didn't work. I forgot a switch

shutdown.exe -s to shutdown
shutdown.exe -r to reboot

Does the shutdown.exe require switches like "/s" to do it?

Dan

you beat me before I could fix it, I edited the posts above for future reference just in case someone doesn't read the whole thread.

I AM SO CLOSE!!!

It tries to shut do and it gets stuck at the blue windows screen" Windows is now shutting down" could this be because i am using tsshutdn.exe ??

****EDIT****

I changed it from the "tsshutdn" to "shutdown.exe -s" and it worked!!!

question, what do the "-s" thing doing? why do i need it?

There are different switches that you can use, like restart, force shutdown etc. I'm not sure what the program tries to do without being told to shutdown ("-s").

Dan

This is really neat, I'll have to try this too on the DW's emachine.

yup, its been working great. I would love to leave it on and to fold but my utility bill hasnt been happy...

stev wrote:This is really neat, I'll have to try this too on the DW's emachine.

might set this up on my own machine... maybe then I would get to bed at a reasonable hour. haha, no.

start--> run--> input "shutdown -s -t 3600" and your computer will be shutdown in 3600 seconds.
If you want to cancel, just input "shutdown -a"

Creating a shortcut on the desktop pointed to shutdown.exe with the appropriate switches is also an excellent way to turn off a PC controlled via Remote Desktop. In my case, I use the Wake up on LAN (WoL) feature to wake up a "headless" remote computer and the shutdown shortcut to turn it off.