Schedule computer
 

Hey, I am wondering if it is possible to schedule a computer with WinXP Home to start up automatically at a set time, and then schedule a program to run, as well as stop the program and shut the computer down.

I am slightly familiar with scheduled tasks, but apparently not enough to be able to pull this off. Can someone help me?

Btw, the program desired to run doesn't have scheduling capabilities.

Any help is appreciated.

Your BIOS is the key to this.

Windows XP cannot start a computer on its own. The closest you can get is having it start up from standby or hibernation (which is basically saving what's running and info about the programs and shutting itself down), but not all PCs can do hibernation.

Search around in your BIOS for stuff about scheduling. I have mine scheduled to start up at around 6:30 AM every day.

After that, you'll need to schedule your task. This is relatively simple. However, if you're a sole user and don't have your account passworded, it can get somewhat complicated. What you should do in this case is check "run only if logged on" under the Task tab.

However, that only starts the program. After that, it's up to the program to run itself, and if it can't do that, you're SOL.

I'm thinking of running utorrent at times that I know everyone will be absent, and it seems to be a self-facilitating program.

What do you mean by:
I would think it would get less complicated, not more so. (this, btw, is the case with my computer)

Okay, so I was lying somewhat when I said it got a little more complicated.

Just check "only run if the user is logged on" and you'll be fine.

What makes scheduling tasks on a non-passworded account difficult is that there's no obvious option for running the task under a non-password account. It's been a little while since I've scheduled a task, though, and I just got back from a shift that was a good hour and a half longer than it was supposed to be, so I can't give out more details. :tpg: