What you need to start and stop programs on a schedule. How to automatically turn on your computer on a schedule Turning programs on and off according to a schedule

There are many programs and gadgets with different functionality for this, but in this article I will show how to shut down, restart and put your computer to sleep using standard Windows tools.
This method was tested on Windows XP, Windows 7 and Windows 8.

To implement this, we need a “Task Scheduler” (or Tasks). It is located slightly differently in different versions of Windows.

IN Windows XP :

Start - Control Panel - Shortcut "Scheduled Tasks"

or

Start - All Programs - Accessories - System Tools - Scheduled Tasks

IN Windows 7 :

Start - Control Panel - Administration - Task Schedule

or

Start - All Programs - Accessories - System Tools - Task Scheduler

IN Windows 8 Just enter “Task execution schedule” on the initial screen and click on the tile in the parameters search results.

Before setting up the Scheduler, you need to see if its service is enabled. To do this, click win+r(Start -) and enter services.msc.
In this window, look for “Task Scheduler” and look at its status. It should be "Working". If not, then right-click on it and select Launch

Now let's get straight to setting up the Task Scheduler.

For Windows XP:

Launch it, click on “Add task”

will appear Job Scheduling Wizard in which we select the desired task from the list, or search for it through Review...

Then we carry out all sorts of settings using the Wizard. Nothing complicated.
At the end of all actions you will need to enter your username and password.
The name can be found in Computer Properties, and if there is no password, then leave the field blank.

For Windows 7 and Windows 8:

Launch the wizard by clicking on Create a simple task...

indicate the name and description. Then select a trigger. In other words, the frequency of task launches

for this trigger you can specify the date and time of the task

choose an action. In this case, select "Run program"

Well, now the fun begins. In principle, you can specify the same as in Windows XP - by clicking on the button Review.. specifying the path to the program's executable file. But I also want to draw your attention to the “Add arguments” line. I will write about this below.

Then a window will appear with all the entered data, where you need to check everything again and agree by clicking Ready.

Now let's talk about how you can turn it on, off, reboot, etc. using this method. computer over time.

A special utility program is responsible for shutting down the computer, which is located on the system drive in the \WINDOWS\system32\ folder and is called shutdown.exe (you can find it there right now and run it. Just don’t be surprised if the computer displays a shutdown message).
The program rundll32.exe, which is located there, is responsible for sleep and hibernation mode.

So here it is. We can either create a file to launch these programs with the parameters we need, or register them in the Scheduler.

It's just that XP doesn't support arguments and parameters. Therefore, you need to create a file for it.

Option 1 - specify the arguments for the program to shutdown, reboot, sleep and hibernate.

Turning off the computer

program:
argument: –r

Hibernation Mode

program:
argument: powrprof.dll,SetSuspendState 0,1,0

Sleeping mode

program: C:\Windows\System32\rundll32.exe
argument: powrprof.dll,SetSuspendState

I show a screenshot for “Turning off the computer” using Windows 7 as an example:

Here is a short list of arguments that can be used on Windows:

- ?

– output of help on use (or without a key)

I – display the graphical interface (when used, this key is placed in front of all others);

L – logout (incompatible with the –m switch);

– canceling the reboot/shutdown;

M – applying the operation to a remote computer with the name;

T N – operation execution timer in N seconds; C “comment”

– a comment for the operation (when used, a “comment” will be displayed in the window; on the command line, be sure to enclose it in double quotes; the comment should not be longer than 127 characters);

F – forced termination of applications without prior warning;

D [u] [p]:xx:yy – reason code;

u – user code;

p – planned completion;

xx – main reason code (1-255);

yy – additional reason code (1-65535)..

Option 2 - create a file with arguments for shutdown, reboot, sleep and hibernation
Everything is quite simple here.

We create a new document in Notepad, write a command and an argument there (for example, I want a reboot with a timer of 16 seconds and for the system to warn me in advance about closing applications), which will look like this: Then save it (File - Save As), in the "File type" field, select "All files". You can specify any name, but it must be

bat Review...).

By the way, with the help of this Scheduler you can make some kind of alarm clock - simply specifying the path to the music as a file, and then specify the start time for 8 am, for example.

Of course, to turn on the computer, you do not need to turn it off, but send it to Sleep or Hibernate, and then (for example, for an alarm clock) in the “Options” tab in its properties, enable the option “Wake up the computer to run this task” - this is for Windows XP.

For Windows 7, you need to double-click on the task in the list and on the “Conditions” tab select “Wake up the computer to complete the task.”

To launch the “Task Scheduler”, click on the “Start” button located in the lower left part of the desktop. Next, enter the word “scheduler” in the search bar and press the “Enter” button (In the English version of Windows, the command tasksch.msc is entered instead of the word). The program can be opened in another way - by clicking on “Start”, then “Control Panel” (advanced view), then “Administration” - “Task Scheduler”.

Now look for the “Actions” menu on the right side of the program window. You can choose from a list of several ways to create a task. The most common ones are “Create a task” and “Create a simple task”. After that, in the task creation window, enter a description and name of the new task. It is also possible to activate the “Run with highest rights” function, if, of course, you need administrator rights to run.

Switching to the Triggers tab, click the Create button and assign a date, frequency, and time for the task to run. To set the end date for a task, activate the adjacent “Expiration Date” function, specifying the time and date there.

Once you're on the Actions tab to create a task, click the Create button. In order for the program to run according to the selected schedule, in the “Action” drop-down list, select “Run the program”. Next, click on the “Browse” button and specify the path to the executable file. That's all for the files.

Scheduled mail sending

To schedule an email, select Send Email from the Action drop-down list. Fill in the standard fields: email address and name, recipient's name and address, email title, message text. Use the Browse button to specify the location of the file to be sent, if necessary. In the “Smtp Server” field, insert the smtp server of your email and then click on the “Ok” button.

Displaying a scheduled message

To display a scheduled message, in the Action list, select Display Message. The “Message” and “Title” fields are required. Here the user is stopped only by imagination. This could be a reminder to feed the cat, turn off the computer, or visit some website on the Internet. It is possible to set the conditions for completing the assigned task; to do this, click the “Conditions” button. Additional settings can also be adjusted on the “Options” tab.

To finally create a task, you need to complete all actions and click the “Ok” button. The created task can be changed; to do this, select the task in the list and click the “Properties” button in the right menu. By clicking on the “Ok” button, the changes made are saved.

Deleting a task and autostarting the scheduler

To delete a scheduled task, you need to open the “Task Scheduler”, select the required task from the list, and click the “Delete” button in the right menu. To ensure that the scheduler also starts when Windows starts, select “Administration” in the “Control Panel”, then “Services”. Open “Task Scheduler” in the list, double-click on it, on the “General” tab set the startup type to “Auto”, and click “OK” to apply the changes.

The idea of ​​setting up a computer so that it automatically turns on at a given time comes to mind for many people. Some want to use their PC as an alarm clock, others need to start downloading torrents at the most advantageous time according to the tariff plan, others want to schedule the installation of updates, virus scanning or other similar tasks. How these desires can be realized will be discussed further.

There are several ways you can configure your computer to turn on automatically. This can be done using the tools available in the computer hardware, methods provided in the operating system, or special programs from third-party manufacturers. Let's look at these methods in more detail.

Method 1: BIOS and UEFI

Probably everyone who is at least a little familiar with the principles of computer operation has heard about the existence of BIOS (Basic Input-Output System). It is responsible for testing and normal operation of all PC hardware components, and then transfers control of them to the operating system. The BIOS contains many different settings, including the ability to turn on the computer in automatic mode. Let’s make a reservation right away that this function is not present in all BIOS, but only in more or less modern versions of it.

To schedule your PC to start automatically via BIOS, you need to do the following:

Currently, the BIOS interface is considered obsolete. In modern computers it has been replaced by UEFI (Unified Extensible Firmware Interface). Its main purpose is the same as the BIOS, but the possibilities are much wider. It is much easier for the user to work with UEFI thanks to mouse support and Russian language in the interface.

Configuring your computer to turn on automatically using UEFI is as follows:

Configuring automatic startup using BIOS or UEFI is the only way that allows you to perform this operation on a completely turned off computer. In all other cases, we are not talking about turning on, but about waking up the PC from hibernation or sleep mode.

It goes without saying that in order for auto-on to work, the computer's power cord must remain plugged into the outlet or UPS.

Method 2: Task Scheduler

You can also configure your computer to turn on automatically using Windows system tools. A task scheduler is used for this. Let's look at how this is done using Windows 7 as an example.

First, you need to allow the system to automatically turn on/off the computer. To do this, you need to open the section in the control panel "System and safety" and in the section "Power supply" follow the link "Setting sleep mode".


Then in the window that opens, follow the link "Change advanced power settings".


After that, find in the list of additional parameters "Dream" and there set the permission for wakeup timers to the state "Turn on".

Now you can configure a schedule for automatically turning on your computer. To do this you need to do the following:

1. Open your planner. The easiest way to do this is through the menu "Start", where there is a special field for searching for programs and files.
   
   Start typing the word “scheduler” in this field so that a link to open the utility appears in the top line.
   
   To open the scheduler, just click on it with the left mouse button. It can also be launched via the menu “Start” - “Standard” - “Service”, or through the window “Run” (Win+R) by entering the command taskschd.msc there.
2. In the planner window, go to the section "Task Scheduler Library".
   
   
3. On the right side of the window, select "Create task".
   
   
4. Come up with a name and description for the new task, for example, “Turn on your computer automatically.” In the same window, you can configure the parameters with which the computer will wake up: the user under whom you will log in and the level of his rights. As a third step, be sure to specify the operating system to which the action of this task will be applied, in other words, the version of your Windows.
   
   
5. Go to the tab "Triggers" and click on the button "Create".
   
   
6. Set the frequency and time for the computer to automatically turn on, for example, every day at 7.30 am.
   
   
7. Go to the tab "Actions" and create a new action similar to the previous paragraph. Here you can configure what should happen when the task is completed. Let's make sure that some message is displayed on the screen.
   
   If desired, you can configure another action, for example, playing an audio file, launching a torrent or another program.
8. Go to the tab "Conditions" and check the checkbox "Wake up the computer to perform a task". Add other marks if necessary.
   
   
   This point is key when creating our task.
9. Complete the process by pressing the key "OK". If the general settings specified logging in as a specific user, the scheduler will ask you to specify his name and password.
   
   

This completes setting up the computer to automatically turn on using the scheduler. Evidence of the correctness of the actions taken will be the appearance of a new task in the scheduler task list.


The result of its execution will be to wake up the computer every day at 7.30 am and display the message “Good morning!” on the screen.

Method 3: Third Party Programs

You can also create a computer operating schedule using programs created by third-party developers. To some extent, they all duplicate the functions of the system task scheduler. Some have significantly reduced functionality in comparison with it, but compensate for this with ease of setup and a more convenient interface. However, there are not many software products that can wake a computer from sleep mode. Let's look at some of them in more detail.

A small free program with nothing superfluous. After installation, it minimizes to tray. By calling it from there, you can set up a schedule for turning on/off your computer.

Thus, turning on/off the computer will be scheduled regardless of the date.

Auto Power-on & Shut-down

Another program with which you can turn on your computer automatically. The program does not have a Russian-language interface by default, but you can find a localizer for it on the Internet. The program is paid, a 30-day trial version is offered for review.

WakeMeUp!

The interface of this program has functionality typical of all alarm clocks and reminders. The program is paid, the trial version is provided for 15 days. Its disadvantages include the long absence of updates. In Windows 7 it was possible to run it only in Windows 2000 compatibility mode with administrative rights.

This concludes our consideration of ways to automatically turn on a computer on a schedule. The information provided is sufficient to orient the reader to the possibilities for solving this problem. And which method to choose is up to him to decide.