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How to turn off the computer after a certain time and not alone. How to turn off your computer after a certain time

Some users need to configure the computer to turn off by time or even on scheduled days at certain times. The reasons can be different and the most banal one is that you already start watching some movie at night and don’t want the computer to work until the morning if you suddenly fall asleep :) The same function is used by some on TVs and still follows the same rules reason.

And the most interesting thing is that such a function in a computer is far from lying on the surface. It seems like a computer is such an omnipotent device, but such a banal function is hidden somewhere that a beginner will never find it!

So, from this article you will learn how, using a simple command in the Windows console, you can configure the computer to turn off after a certain number of seconds, as well as how to configure the computer to turn off at a certain time on certain days!

Beginners should not be intimidated by the words “Console”, “Command Line” and the like, since we are not talking about programming and other complex tasks! I will show you an example and you will understand everything...

So, now we will look at 2 ways to turn off the computer on time:

    Simple shutdown of the computer after a specified number of seconds;

    Turn off the computer on a specified day and time.

How to set a timer to turn off the computer?

To implement this task, we only need the Windows command line.

In any operating system, you can quickly find the command line through a search. For example, in Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7, open the Start menu and type “cmd” in the search box at the bottom. The Command Prompt application appears in the list.

If you have Windows 8, then also open “Start”, then click on the search icon on the right:

In the field that appears, type “cmd” and the Command Prompt program will immediately appear in the search results:

And finally, if you have Microsoft's latest Windows 10, the default search icon will be located right next to the Start button. Click it, enter “cmd” and see the “Command Line” application:

To complete our task, you may need administrator rights, and therefore, in order not to later look for the reason why shutdown by timer may not work, let’s launch the command line as an administrator. To do this, right-click on the program icon and select “Run as administrator”:

You should see a black command line window that looks like this:

Please note that if you have in this window instead of the path " C:\Windows\system32" the path to the user's folder is specified (for example, " C:\Users\Ivan"), this means you launched the command line not as an administrator, but as a regular user! In this case, it is better to close it and open it again as an administrator.

After the command line has been launched, all that remains is to enter one command correctly and you’re done!

To shut down and restart your computer, use the “shutdown” command in the Windows command line.

Type the following on the command line:

Where 3600 is the number of seconds after which your computer will shut down. If you press the “Enter” button on your keyboard now, your computer will be turned off in 1 hour, since one hour is exactly 3600 seconds. It’s very easy to calculate :) We know that there are 60 seconds in one minute, and since there are also 60 minutes in an hour, we multiply 60 by 60 and get 3600. For example, 1 hour 20 minutes is 4800 seconds.

Now regarding these characters “/s” and “/t”.

These are the 2 parameters that I specified for the shutdown command. The “/s” parameter means that the computer should shut down, and not reboot or simply log out. For example, to reboot you need to specify “/r” instead of “/s”. The “/t” parameter allows you to set the time before the command is executed. For example, if we specified the command without “/t”, i.e. like this “shutdown /s”, then the computer would turn off instantly.

Now, I think you understand everything. Just enter your time until you turn off your computer and press “Enter”!

The command line window will close and the timing will immediately begin. You will receive a warning message, for example:

A warning of this format is issued when there are only a few minutes left before the computer turns off.

But if you have set a long timer, for example, for an hour or more, then when it starts, you will simply receive a notification in the system area:

If you suddenly decide to cancel the timer, then you need to enter the command line again and run the following command there and press “Enter”:

At the same time, in the system area you will receive a notification that the scheduled shutdown has been cancelled:

This is what a simple scheme for turning off a computer using a timer looks like.

Now let's look at a more interesting option - how to delay turning off the computer for a specific day and specified time.

How to configure the computer to turn off on the desired day and time?

To implement this feature, we need the system utility “Task Scheduler” and “Notepad”.

Through the Windows Task Scheduler, you can schedule the execution of any program on a specific day and time, and even set a recurring task for different periods, for example, daily, weekly.

There is only one catch: you won’t be able to open the command line through the scheduler, as was done, and enter a shutdown command there. This is because to run we need some kind of file that can be specified in the scheduler and which will contain a command to turn off the computer.

This issue can be resolved very simply! You need to open notepad, write “shutdown /s /t 000” there, save the text document to a file with the extension “.bat” (for example, “Shutdown.bat”), and then point to this file in the task scheduler.

Now let’s look at it in detail, point by point:

    Open Windows Notepad. It is available by default in any Windows system and can be found in the “Start” menu, in the “Accessories” category, or by searching Windows and typing “Notepad”.

    In notepad we write: shutdown /s /t 000.

    Here, using the “shutdown” command, we specified the action to shut down/restart the computer or log out of the system.

    With the “/s” parameter we specify the action - shutdown the PC!

    With the “/t” parameter we specify the timer before shutdown - 0 seconds and this means that the computer will turn off instantly without delay.

    This is how it should look:

    Resave the notepad file into a file with the extension “.bat”. To do this, in Notepad, click “File” > “Save As”.

    In the save window, indicate the location where the file with the command to turn off the computer will be stored, after which we indicate any file name, but make sure there is “.bat” at the end and not “.txt”:

    For example, like mine - “Shutdown.bat”. The name before “.bat” can be anything!

    If you saved the file correctly, it will look like this on the system:

    If it looks like a regular text document, then you most likely forgot to specify the ".bat" extension when saving, so please do this step again.

    What kind of BAT file is this? A file with the “.bat” extension allows you to execute Windows commands one after another, as well as various scripts. In our case, only one command is written - turn off the computer immediately.

    Open the task scheduler and configure the launch of the created Bat file.

    The task scheduler is also built into all Windows systems by default and can be found by searching or through the control panel: “Control Panel” > “System and Security” > “Administrative Tools”.

    This is what the task scheduler looks like:

    In it on the right, in the “Actions” window, open the “Create a simple task” item:

    The wizard for setting up the scheduled task will open, where you need to go through several steps. In the first window that appears, enter the name of the task, for example, “Turn off the computer” and click “Next”:

    At the next step, you need to note when the planned task will be executed? It depends on when you want to turn off your computer. For example, you can configure a task to run daily and then you will need to specify the execution time. You can set up a weekly shutdown and then you can select specific days and times to complete the task.

    And if you just want to set up a one-time setup to turn off the computer on a certain day and time, then select the “One time” option.

    Now, depending on which shutdown period you set in the previous step, you will need to specify the shutdown month/days/time. If you specified a one-time execution of the task (“One time”), then you only need to select the shutdown day and time.

    You can enter the date manually using numbers or select it using a calendar.

    Having configured the shutdown date and time, click on the “Next” button:

    At the next stage, we select an action for the task. Check “Run the program” and click “Next”:

    In the next window, select our created file with the extension “.bat”, which contains the shutdown command. Click on the “Browse” button and select this file on your hard drive, then click “Next”:

    In the last window, select the item marked in the image below and click “Finish”:

    This option means that after clicking “Finish”, an additional properties window for the created task will open. We need this to enable the program to run with administrator rights.

    A window will open in which, on the first “General” tab, check the “Run with highest rights” item at the bottom and click “OK”:

All! The scheduled task has been created. Now, as soon as the date and time you specified arrives, the computer will immediately turn off.

If you suddenly want to change any parameters of a scheduled task, then open the task scheduler again, select “Task Scheduler Library” on the left side of the window, right-click on the task you created in the list in the center, and select “Properties” from the menu that opens :

A window will open where, on several tabs, you can change all the parameters that you configured!

In this way, you can configure the computer to turn off by time (timer), as well as schedule the shutdown for any day and time, and even set up the task to be performed regularly. I am sure that this opportunity may be useful to someone.

See you in the next articles :)

Regularly turning off your personal computer allows you to restore high performance of your gadget. When the power is turned off, the cache is cleared, RAM is unloaded, and all background programs and applications are closed.

There are situations when you urgently need to turn off your computer, but due to a number of circumstances it is impossible to do this in the standard way. For example, one of the applications caused the PC to freeze. Or a broken mouse prevents you from opening the Start menu and shutting down your work.

Some users even prefer to save time and use all possible hot keys and turn off the power of a computer or laptop using a keyboard shortcut. In such cases, many PC owners have difficulty with how to turn off the computer using the keyboard. There are several ways to shut down your device without a mouse.

How to Shut Down Your Computer Using the Keyboard: Using the Start Menu

The first and easiest way to turn off a laptop or computer using only the keyboard is to use the Start menu options. But how do you turn off your computer using the keyboard through the Start menu?

First you need to click. It is located in the bottom row of keys and the “Windows” flag is drawn on it. After clicking, the standard Start window will open. Next, using the Tab key, you will need to switch focus to the “Shutdown” or “Shutdown” line. After pressing the enter button, the user will be presented with several options: Shut down, Restart, Sleep and Hibernate. You can select the one you need using the navigation keys.

Shutting down the computer via Win+X

There is a faster and easier way to turn off your computer using the keyboard in a few seconds. You need to activate the Win+X key combination. After clicking, a list of actions will open from which you will need to select “Shut down” or “Log out.”

Once the focus has been moved to the desired item, you can use the right arrow to call up additional functions that determine how to shut down the computer.

Shutting down the computer: calling the “Shut down” menu

Another way to quickly turn off your computer using the keyboard involves using a hotkey combination.

The user will need to call a special “Shutdown” menu. To do this, you need to press Alt+F4. In the window that appears, use the navigation keys to select the required function: shutdown, reboot or hibernation mode. To start the shutdown process, you only need to press the enter button.

Shutting down your computer using the Run window

Among the many ways to turn off a computer using the keyboard, there is one that many users do not know about. This shutdown method involves using the Run window.

To open the window, you will need to press the Win+R key combination. In the pop-up dialog box, you must enter the following text shutdown/. The rest depends on the user's intentions. If you need to turn off the computer, the letter s is printed after the special character. If you need to restart your personal computer - r.

The command is activated using the enter button.

Turning off the computer using the keyboard in Windows 8 and 10

In the latest versions of Windows operating systems, some interface changes have been introduced. And thanks to this, there is another way to turn off the computer using the keyboard in Windows 8 and 10.

To quickly turn off the computer, the user needs to press the key combination Ctrl+Alt+Del. The familiar desktop screen will be replaced by a system window, where using the Tab key you can set the focus to the computer shutdown icon in the lower right corner.

To turn off the device, simply press the enter button and select the desired option.

Mouse emulation

Operating a personal computer without a mouse is inconvenient. Standard keyboard functions do not provide a complete replacement for the mouse using keys. However, additional features of the Windows operating system allow you to almost completely replace the computer mouse with a keyboard. To do this, you need to activate the “Mouse Emulation” mode.

To enable emulation mode, you need to press LeftShift+LeftAlt+NumLock. Next, a dialog box will open in which the user will be reminded that this combination enables a new keyboard mode. To start emulation, you will need to agree to the proposed conditions and click on the “Yes” button.

After activating the mode, you can start working without a mouse. The entire digital panel, with the exception of the “0” and “5” buttons, is screen navigation. By pressing these buttons, you can gradually move to the desired areas of the desktop. The number “5” is a click. Her quick double tap is a double click.

Thus, when using “Mouse Emulation”, you can quickly get to the Start menu and turn off the computer in the usual way, without using the touchpad or mouse.

Instructions

No computer, no matter how powerful or the most modern, can be turned off by simply unplugging the cord: otherwise it may “forget” everything it did previously. And system failures in this case and their consequences can be very serious. Therefore, you need to disconnect the computer from power correctly, following all the sequential steps.

The computer starts working by pressing a special button on the system unit. But to turn it off, you need to carefully look at the desktop of the screen, especially at the lower left corner, where the large, most important button is located - “start”. Depending on the operating system you are using, it may differ slightly: on some versions the button has the inscription “Start”, on others it appears when you hover the cursor. It is important to remember one thing here - the desired button is located in the very corner.

In the seventh version of the Windows operating system, when you move the cursor to the right side, a list of options available for disabling will appear in a drop-down window: “Change user”, “Log off”, “Block”, “Reboot”, “Sleep”. If you do not plan to use these functions, click the “Shut Down” button, remembering to save all documents and close all running applications first.

If you are going to restart your computer or put it into sleep mode, you need to select the appropriate option in the drop-down panel.

Everything is extremely simple in earlier versions of Windows. When you click the Start button, a new Shut Down Computer dialog box opens with three additional icons: Sleep, Shut Down, and Restart. Hibernation mode allows you to save the current state of your computer, after which you can resume work from the point at which it was suspended. Later, you can turn off the computer in the classic way. A system reboot is often required when installing programs, drivers, or connecting new devices for updates to take effect. The "Shutdown" button speaks for itself.

In the eighth version of Windows 8, there is no Start button, and all other functional buttons are scattered throughout the desktop. But you can turn off the computer correctly in this case too, and in several ways. For example, using the Settings Charms sidebar. Open it by moving the cursor to the top-right corner of the desktop or swiping your fingers along the right edge of the touch screen. You can also use the Win+I key combination to open it. By clicking them, you will see the “Shutdown” button and the functions available for this menu to turn off the system and reboot it.

To open a traditional Windows window, use the keyboard keys Alt+F4, however, they only work from the desktop.

In addition, you can configure your computer to turn on itself at certain times. To do this, go to the “Start” menu, then sequentially open the “Control Panel” and “All Control Panel Items” sections. Then you need to go to the “Administration” menu and select “Task Scheduler”. On the right side of the panel, find the “Create a simple task” option. In the new window, in the appropriate lines, enter the name and description of the task. Then click “Next” to move to the next step. On the “Trigger” tab, specify the frequency of the process execution. Continue with the “Next” button. Then select the type of action to be performed, for which in the special window “Start a program” in the “Program or script” section, enter the value “ shutdown". In the “Arguments” field, add your data to the “-s -t 60” line, leaving the number 60 unchanged. In this case, the computer will turn off at the time you specified with a pause of 60 seconds.

Most users turn off the computer in the classic way - through the Start menu or the Windows 8 start screen. But this method of turning off the computer is not always convenient. Sometimes it is much more convenient to turn off the computer or use a shortcut on the desktop. In this article we will talk about how to implement this.

Shutting down the computer through the command line is done using the shutdown command. The shutdown command can accept the following parameters:

  • /s – Shut down the computer;
  • /a – Cancels rebooting or shutting down the computer. This parameter can only be used while waiting for shutdown (delayed shutdown);
  • /h – Go to ;
  • /t xxx – Set a delay of XXX seconds before rebooting or shutting down the computer. Allows ;
  • /c “comment” – A comment indicating the reason for shutting down or restarting the computer;
  • /f – Forces termination of all open programs without warning the user. This parameter is used if the /t parameter specifies a delay greater than 0 seconds;
  • You can find out other parameters that can be used to shut down the computer via the command line by using the shutdown command without any parameters;

So, in order to immediately shut down the computer through the command line or the so-called console, you need to enter the following command:

  • Shutdown /s /t 00

If you want to turn off the computer with a delay, then instead of zeros you need to specify the delay in seconds:

  • Shutdown /s /t 60

If you want to restart the computer, use the /r parameter instead of the /s parameter:

  • Shutdown /r /t 00

To reboot with a delay, use the /t parameter indicating the number of seconds:

  • Shutdown /r /t 60

When you restart or turn off your computer using a delay, a warning window appears on the screen.

If the delay is very long, such as 60 minutes (3600 seconds), a pop-up message appears in the lower right corner of the screen instead of a warning window.

While the delay is in effect, you can stop the computer from shutting down. To do this, enter the command on the command line:

  • Shutdown/a

It should be noted that the Shutdown command can be used not only in the command line, but also in shortcuts. This allows you to create a shortcut to shut down your computer. This shortcut can be left on the desktop or pinned to the Windows 8 start screen.

To do this, open the context menu (right mouse button) and use the “Create shortcut” function.

In the window that opens, command to turn off or restart the computer and click on the “Next” button.

As a result, you will receive a shortcut that, when opened, will shut down your computer.

A computer is a complex machine that not everyone can master. Remember your grandparents: how difficult it is for them to understand how a PC works, what is needed to turn it on and how to control the mouse. To understand why information is erased when you turn off your computer, it is important to understand the basic operating principles of the device.

Memory

Computer memory is an extremely important function. Every user needs a PC to store information. Any program needs data to either temporarily or permanently reside in the OS. The Internet also uses memory by storing data in special folders.

It is important that the computer has the ability to store information for a long time. In order for the system to operate correctly, it uses memory.

Types

Often in computer science classes they ask the question of where information is erased when the computer is turned off. To answer this, you need to understand what kind of memory exists, where temporary files are located, and where data is saved permanently.

So, a computer has internal and external memory. The first option contains fast and volatile memory as a separate subtype. Also internal can be permanent. The first subtype is represented by RAM and cache, and the second subtype is ROM and CMOS.

External memory refers to storage devices such as flash drives, disks, etc.

Organization

It is known that when the computer is turned off, information disappears and is erased from a certain type of memory. We are talking about internal memory. It does not remain when the PC is turned off. The memory itself is represented by a set of cells that store materials. Each such block has its own address.

Cell sizes, data types - all this may vary depending on the PC. For example, in older computer models the cells were often large; one could reach 64 bits. This type of block was called "words".

Classification

In general, classifying any memory is not so simple. There are several options on how to do this. Everything will depend on the classification parameters. For example, computer memory can be distributed according to its purpose:

  • Temporary allows you to save intermediate processing results.
  • The corrective saves the addresses of cells that are damaged.
  • The control contains control programs and is often presented in the form of ROM.
  • The buffer stores information when exchanging it between different devices or applications.
  • The cache stores the data that is most frequently used, allowing quick access to it.
  • The shared one is open to a number of users, actions or chips at once.

The address space also allows memory to be divided into three types:

  • Real or physical memory has a physical location of data.
  • Virtual does not have a physical location.
  • The overlay has a couple of areas with the same address, but only one can be accessible.

Operational

So, when the computer is turned off, the information is erased from the RAM. RAM is a volatile component of a PC. It stores a special one that is produced during PC operation. Also, the RAM can be filled with input, output and intermediate data that the chip is working on.

Exchange

Such memory must move freely from the processor to RAM and back. She does this in two ways. The first - directly, the second - through a processor register or cache.

Modern semiconductor RAM. It collects data and stores it when electricity is supplied to the modules. If they are disabled for short or long periods of time, the data can either become corrupted or be completely destroyed.

Alternative

The mother memory has an energy-saving operating mode. The PC goes into “sleep”, and the device’s energy consumption is reduced. Despite the fact that hibernation results in the RAM power being turned off, the information is retained. To do this, the system transfers all content to a permanent storage device. In this case, a hard drive is most often used.

In general, information about programs and systems is collected on RAM. For everything to work stably, you need a large supply of RAM. The multitasking of the PC and how stable all processes will be will depend on this.

Modules

Now you understand where information is erased when the computer is turned off. But what does RAM actually look like? In modern PCs it is represented by plates - modules. They are dynamic and have semiconductor Users use RAM when they talk about these modules, since they are considered a storage device.

The modules are organized according to a random access device design. somewhat cheaper than static. Has high density. Therefore, more memory blocks are placed on one area of ​​​​the silicon crystal. But it is cheaper because the performance is significantly reduced.

Static RAM is correspondingly more expensive because it is faster. This trend has caused the rise of dynamic type modules as they are easier to produce. The static version is designed for microprocessor cache memory.

Dynamic

When you turn off the computer, all information is erased. The reasons for this lie in the type of RAM itself. To understand this, let's take a closer look at both types.

The dynamic type, as we found out, is more economical. It stores digits according to a specific pattern. It consists of a capacitor and a transistor. There are options with two capacitors. This type is economical because the circuit itself is 1 bit cheaper than several transistors. Also, such a number of elements requires less area on the chip.

The dynamic type is called DRAM. Despite its advantages, it also has disadvantages. For example, its operation is slower, since the change in the state of the trigger at the input occurs faster than in the case of a capacitor. This is because the capacitor must first be charged and discharged, which takes longer than normal flip-flop switching.

Another disadvantage is that after a certain time the capacitor discharges. They discharge faster if their capacity is small, but the current leakage, on the contrary, is impressive.

Static

After turning off the computer, information is erased regardless of the type of memory. Even if we have static modules in front of us, the data is still destroyed after the power supply is cut off. This is because any RAM is volatile and works correctly only when electricity is supplied.

Static memory is called SRAM. This is RAM that does not need to be generated. Has random access. The advantage of this option is speed. The circuit contains triggers. Thanks to their work, switching does not take much time. But there are also disadvantages to this type. Since there are many transistors in the trigger, this is an expensive pleasure. Such a group, in addition to its weight, also takes up a lot of space on the chip.

Cash

After turning off the computer, all information is erased from the cache. This is super-RAM, which, by the way, most often consists of the static type. It is represented by a fast storage device with a small capacity. Memory is used when exchanging information. Data moves from microprocessors to RAM and back. The speed is caused by the fact that it is necessary to compensate for the difference in speed due to different amounts of data.

If in the case of RAM the device is modules, then in the case of a cache the controller takes over the work. He works as a software "psychic". In the case of launching a specific application, it tries to predict what information the processor may need in the near future. Therefore, it quickly loads them into memory.

It is worth understanding that in this case there is a possibility of both guessing and making a mistake. If the controller guessed correctly, then the necessary data is quickly retrieved from the cache. If the information is not there, then the processor retrieves it from RAM. This process is correspondingly somewhat slower.

The cache memory is located on static type chips. They are fast, low-capacity and expensive. Nowadays microprocessors consist of built-in cache memory, which can be represented at different levels. The first stage has a size of up to 384 KB. A second level with a capacity of up to 12 MB can be installed.

ROM

When the computer is turned off, information is erased from the internal memory. But it is not so. As far as we already know, internal memory includes volatile and permanent. So, it is precisely considered non-volatile, which means that the information from it does not disappear anywhere after the PC is turned off.

This option is referred to as ROM. It is a memory that can store data but cannot change it. Therefore, the option is needed only to read information from it. This type is often used to write commands designed to start the system. This again proves to us that all information is not erased from the ROM after the computer is turned off.

Recovery

What should you do if you work with programs and documents, and when you disconnect your computer from the network, the information disappears? This question is usually asked by those who have suddenly had their electricity cut off.

It is important to understand right away that the loss of files is not as bad in this case as a power surge that will lead to component failure. Therefore, if this happens to you, it is better to unplug your PC from the outlet. This way you will protect the motherboard from burning or the hard drive from damage.

After resuming work, you need to check what data was lost. If you worked with a document in Word, then most likely the program managed to create a backup copy with the latest saved changes. During an emergency shutdown, some applications may save temporary copies of the projects they were working with before the shutdown.

If, after all, something important was lost, you can try to recover the data using the program. There are many of these on the Internet. They help scan the disk and see lost or damaged data.

conclusions

Remember that when you turn off your computer, information is erased only from RAM or cache. Your personal data is not saved there, so you won’t lose anything important. Typically, RAM contains program information that is needed at a particular moment. More often these are codes for quickly resuming work with programs, downloaded information from individual sources, etc.