Scheduling a computer to automatically turn itself off or on at a certain time can have many more uses than it may first appear. For example, it can be useful if the computer is usually always on and you only turn it off when you go to bed. With scheduling you can make this happen even if you are not at home one day. Another example could be scheduling a computer to start automatically overnight and perform certain tasks, such as being the destination for backups of other computers in the case of a small business or study center.
Whatever the reason you want to program a computer to turn on and off , in the following lines we explain the steps you must follow to achieve it on practically any computer with Windows 10.
Schedule PC shutdown
Let’s start with the simplest part of the process: the scheduled shutdown . To be able to do this, you can use a function built into the operating system itself. Thanks to this you avoid having to install any third-party software and also the configuration is very very simple.
To schedule the automatic shutdown of a Windows 10 PC, the first thing you should do is search for Task Scheduler in Cortana’s search bar and run the application that it will find.
Once opened, click on the Action menu and select the option Create basic task. In the new window that appears, fill in the name field and click next. Now you must select when you want the task to start , that is, when you want the computer to turn off automatically: daily, weekly, monthly, once, etc, etc … Choose the option you need and click Next.
At this point you will have to configure the repetition settings for the task . The options in this section will depend on the option you have chosen in the previous one. In this example I have selected Daily, so now I must set the start date, what time the task should be performed and also choose how many days I want it to be repeated. When you fill in this information, click Next.
In the Action section you must select Start a program, click on Next, in the Program or script field type shutdown.exe and in the parameters field type / s. Press next and finally click on Finish. And that’s all. In this simple way your computer will automatically shut down according to the schedule you have established.
The truth is that the task scheduler interface is quite intuitive and easy to handle, especially if we follow the steps just mentioned to the letter, however, it requires that we have to carry out many steps until we can program the task we have just mentioned. we want.
As an alternative, it is also possible to schedule the computer to shut down automatically from the command line . In this case, the truth is that it is not required to have to perform as many steps as occurs with the Windows task scheduler, although the options for scheduling shutdown are less.
While with the programmer we can specify an exact time and even that this is repeated periodically automatically, from the command prompt the only thing we can do is schedule the shutdown of the equipment at a certain time. That is, we can run a command to tell the system to shut down the computer in 2 hours, for example.
To do this, of course, we will have to deal with the command line, although in reality it is a very simple command. Therefore, the only thing we have to do to schedule the shutdown of the PC from the command line is to open a command prompt window and execute the command in question.
Press Win + R to open a system Run window, type CMD and press Enter. Once in front of the command line, we write: shutdown / s / t XXX , where XXX we have to replace it with the time from that moment that we want to pass until the automatic shutdown of the PC.
In other words, if we want to schedule the shutdown of the equipment within 2 minutes, we should execute the command shutdown / s / t 120, since the time must be specified in seconds . If, on the other hand, we want to shut it down within an hour, we must execute shutdown / s / t 3600.
As soon as we execute the command, a window will appear in which we will be informed that we have just programmed the shutdown for x minutes. Now, if at some point we want to cancel this command, then all we have to do is go back to the command line and execute shutdown / a .
Schedule a computer to turn on automatically
There are two options to program automatic ignition. One is to use the BIOS of the motherboard, a valid option, although very limited since it only allows you to choose that the computer is turned on at a certain time on a single day or every day.
If you need to have more flexibility when programming the automatic start of the computer, something quite common, it is best to use third-party tools in this case.
A very good option is WakeupOnStandBy . This software has a user-friendly interface that is very easy to use and allows you to configure a specific power-on time and also run a program when you start the system if you need it. The best of all is that with this option you can set how many times the task should be repeated , so you will not be limited to every day or a specific day.
Once downloaded from its official website, you must unzip the folder and run the wosb.exe file . In the application window, set the day and time for the first automatic start of the computer in the Specify time to wake up computer section.
When you’re done, scroll down to the Repeat these tasks section and set the repeat settings you need. You can choose if you want it to be repeated every day for the next four weeks, only certain days, etc, etc …
Finally, click on the Start button and the software will be configured to run automatically on the established dates.
Third party tools
KetePares
In this case we are facing a very simple application with which we will make our computer turn off when we indicate it. All you have to do is select the hour and minute for the computer to shut down. The interface is very simple and that is where it has its appeal.
Simple Shutdown Timer
This program that at first may seem like a simple clock, but that hides more possibilities. Thanks to this tool we will be able to turn off, restart, hibernate, suspend or close the Windows session in an easy and intuitive way. The most positive part is the amount of possibilities that this application offers us.
Auto-Power-on and Shut-down
Thanks to Auto-Power-on and Shut-down we will be able to turn the PC on and off automatically and whenever we want. We will be the ones who will establish the rules by which the computer will be turned off or, failing that, on. But it does not stop there, since it is programming also used to open files, run or close programs, display messages or play sounds. It is one of the best tools of this type that we can find right now, since its interface is also quite simple to handle and understand. Highly recommended for any type of user.
