Automated Shutdown/Startup

[dyckah]

hello everyone.
I would like to know if there is a way to have an automated shutdown/startup of windows xp pro.
for example, i would like my computer to shut itself down at say 11pm every night, and start back up at 9am every morning, is there any way to do this?
Kevin

 

[Nodsu]

You can buy special software for this.. Don't know any free pretty things.

If you want the functionality for free, then this is more tricky.
Scheduling a shutdown in Windows is a piece of cake really, but the powerup is much more difficult to do.
Some BIOSes have the option to set a wakeup time in the power management section. You could also make use of the wake-on-lan feature if you happen to have another computer that could send the signal over the network.

 

[Mictlantecuhtli]

You could schedule a new task in XP to run shutdown command (see details about its usage from command prompt).

Starting the computer at specified time requires support for that in BIOS, check if it can be set to power the computer daily.

 

[dyckah]

kk, ill check out my bios for that information.
and can you think of the names of any of those pieces of software? i wouldnt mind forking out a little bit of cash if it means ill be able to accomplish this.
thanks guys


edit: ok, i checked my bios, and it does have the wake by alarm, so i have that set.
i have had the shutdown command scheduled as a task in the past, but have never gotten it to work. and suggestions on this?

 

[Mictlantecuhtli]

Open XP's command prompt (it's in Start Menu -> Accessories) and type shutdown /?.

Task Scheduler and shutdown both come with XP, no additional software is needed.