Software For Auto Shutdown

Is there software that I can use to shutdown programs automatically at a preset time? I also need to get a program to auto shutdown and startup windows. Anybody know of any software that can do these things?

 

What operating system ?

Could you explain why you need your computer to shutdown and start at a certain time ? (It is a little difficult to get a program to start the computer after it has been turned off)

 

If you schedule a program to startup in the scheduler (Scheduled Task, located in the control panel), then you can shut it down via the scheduler. Just check the box "stop the task after xxxx hours xxxx minutes."
To reboot windows (shutdown and restart), there's a free utility in the resource kit on Microsoft's site. I believe it's called "shutdown.exe" and you run it in a batchfile. There are several switches that you can use with it, and one is to "restart" the computer. Otherwise, it will just shut down. You would create a batch file, then schedule it via the Scheduled Task also.
Please note, that the above applies to WinNT, 2000, XP, 2003. I'm not sure about 9x or ME.

Scott
http://www.AAApcMechanic.com

 

Go to Microsoft and look up knowledgebase article 317371. This one is for windows 2000.

Scott
http://www.AAApcMechanic.com

 

Thanks for the help guys. Im actually running a win2000 server and some winxp pro clients. Im doing this because the backup of the dental software we use has to be done when there are no clients logged on. Plus I don't want anybody to hang around to shutdown the clients. i also has schedules antivirus and defrag programs.

 

Guess you don't need to schedule a startup then, but just a restart. The shutdown tool mentioned for XP and in Win2k Resource Kit, can be found here:

http://www.petri.co.il/download_free_reskit_tools.htm (Search for shutdown)

Just a thought, why not just shutdown the service which the Winxp Clients are connected to ?

Ex. to shutdown the Microsoft Network:

 

Actually the boss wants to shut everything down including the server. We're not running a server based network anymore, we're just running one application on the computer with win2000 that is shared with the clients but thats it. I'm not running any other services, so this computer can be winxp too.

 

start C:\Documents and Settings\IOU\Desktop\shutdown.exe /c

This batch file doesn't seem to work. It says the directory is not valid. Do I need to shorten the names under 8 characters?

 

I also found out that you can have the computer automatically start up time by setting a start-up alarm under BIOS.

 

You could quickly solve it by placing the shutdown.exe in a directory like C:\Tools\, then you didnt have to worry about access rights in the user-directory.

If you want to launch the shutdown command at its current location then this line should do the trick when placed inside a cmd-file:

Code:

"C:\Documents and Settings\IOU\Desktop\shutdown.exe" /c

If you don't want to create a cmd-file but launch the command directly from scheduled tasks then this line should do the trick:

Code:

cmd /c "C:\Documents and Settings\IOU\Desktop\shutdown.exe" /c