Hi everyone,
I would appreciate any response with this query!
I have downloaded & tried a few freeware programs to automatically shut down the computer (running on Winows XP Home Edition with SP2), although I wonder if it is possible to set it to automatically shut down at the specified time and stay shut down(deny access to) until a specified time the following day??
Does anybody know if there is a program capable of doing this? or alternatively, is it possible to enter information manually for this to happen and if so, how would I do this.

Thank you in advance for any feedback on this one.

Regards Ivor.

Hi again icm96,
Welcome back to the forum - I hope to see you here more often in the future, and not only when you need computer help. If you only return to us when you've got computer problems we will be unable to continue to provide a computer support community.

Do you just want to make your computer turn off automatically, or do you want to prevent access to it at certain times?

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Hello Ash, The answer to your question is "Both", maybe I didn't make myself very clear. I want to be able to instruct the computer to automatically shut down at a time I specify (say 9.30pm) and to deny access to anyone who tries to reboot it until the next day (say 4pm). So, between 9.30pm & 4pm the following day access is denied (unless correct password typed) but the computer unlocks itself from 4pm and is available freely until 9.30pm where it will again automatically shutdown and deny access until 4pm the following day and so on (on a daily basis).
I hope this is a clearer explanation of what I would like to do, I don't know if it can be done or not.
Regards Ivor

First off I do not know the answer to your question right off, however I will do some research to find out what I can for what you are asking. However, if you are just trying to deny anyone else access to your stuff then go to control panel and under users set up your own account and then others that may use the computer cannot access your stuff. Just a thought, hopefully it will assist yuo in the mean while. And please assist others in the forum when you can, do not just come here when only you need assistance.

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Hello I am one of you CompuForums moderators. Please feel free to drop me a pm if you have any questions or problems with another member. My specialty is civil engineering. However I can assist you, I will always do my very best.

Yes there is a way... Can you imagine that, and it comes with Windows, Follow these steps,

Edit 1

But this will NOT keep someone from starting the PC till a time you allow. To do that, Go buy a timer for the electrical outlet, and plug the surge suppressor into that timer outlet. Of course, it's as simple as bypassing that timer if they want to start the system out of cycle. But it will do a NASTY shutdown of the system if you set it to do that. I suggest the following method to shut down

Edit number 2

Repeat these steps for every 15-30 minutes to keep kicking them off if they do restart the PC. Heck, if you have the time, do it every 5-10 minutes. It will frustrate them till they figure out what you did.

Original Message:

1) Open the Control Panel
2) Open the Scheduled Tasks applet
3) Select Add a Scheduled Task
4) Click on the Next Button
5) Click on the Browse Button
6) Double Click the Windows folder
7) Double Click the System32 Folder
8) In the FileName box, type Shutdown.exe
9) Click the Open Button
10) Select the Radio Button for DAILY
11) Click the Next Button
12) Select the Start Time, and Start Date and Perform this task Every Day
13) Select the User Account (name and password) ( MUST BE A LOCAL ADMIN) and click Next
14) Add the Check Mark for Advanced Properties, and click the Finish Button
15) In the Box for RUN, make it match the following line: (copy/paste everything inside the quotes, but not the quotes)
"C:\WINDOWS\system32\shutdown.exe -s -c "Shutting down for the night" -t 30 -f"

-s = Shutdown (versus a restart -r)
-c = Comment say whatever you want
-t = seconds till shutdown starts
-f = forces open applications to close (losing any data not saved before the -t limit) without warning
16) Click the OK button
17) To test, run the scheduled task out of cycle, or wait till the normal cycle.
18) Close the Scheduled Tasks Applet and Control panel.

Windows will initiate the shutdown command (what runs in the background when you tell the computer to shutdown) at the scheduled time. It's that simple!

Enjoy.

Thank you very much Thaylok. very much appreciated.
best regards. Ivor.

Ivor, now that we have helped you, maybe you could help us. I spend a lot of money to keep this site running, and our members spend a lot of their free time posting responses. Therefore it's appreciated if you can make a few posts [technical or not] in other threads. This only takes a few minutes of your time for a lot of ours, and it is how this community keeps running. Alternatively you can become a premium member and help support the site financially.

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Thanks,
Ash
CF Founder
Great Webhosting. Shared starting at $2 per month. VPSes starting at $6 per month.
www.Centicero.com
Want to get in touch? Send me a PM | Do you want to continue receiving free help? Or do you want this site to close? Become a premium member.