Automatic shutdown on idle

IML8

IML8

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Can anyone direct me to a Windows 8.1 tutorial for using Task Scheduler to configure an Automatic Shutdown after a user defined amount of idle time. I can't seem to find one...or is it not possible...or is there another way to skin this cat.
 

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You can do this through Advanced Power Options in the Control Panel, pull up your power plan and then go into advanced settings. But it would be a Hibernate function, not a full shut down.

We'll have to find you a script that will do this, that you can add to Task Scheduler, I'll see if I can find one.

OK< I found this:

Set Up Your PC to Shut Down Automatically at Night When Idle

See if that might to the trick.
 

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Thanks, X. I'll give it a whirl.
 

My Computer

System One

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You could try something like this:

Open Task Scheduler and go to 'Create Task' on the right hand side. Then enter the details similar to the following screen shots. Using these settings will mean that after being idle for 40 minutes it will start the shutdown procedure and display a message on the screen for 5 minutes telling you that it's going to shutdown in 5 minutes. So in total it will shutdown after 45 minutes.

However, be aware that any open programs will obviously close and any unsaved documents will also be forced to close, therefore you WILL LOSE any unsaved work (and I would guess that's the reason Microsoft don't have it as an option). The much safer option would be to set the power options to put the computer to sleep, however making it shutdown instead would for example be used if you have an encrypted system drive and so want it to shutdown instead of sleep for security reasons.

Obviously, you'll also need to go to power options and change the power plan settings so it doesn't go to sleep beforehand.


001.jpg


002.jpg


The 'actions' screen is cut off in the next screenshots, so it's as follows:

Program/script:
%windir%\system32\shutdown.exe

Add Arguments:
-s -f -t 300 -c "This computer will automatically shut down in 5 minutes"


003.jpg


004.jpg


005.jpg


006.jpg
 
Last edited:

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That looks good, thanx for that solution!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro with Media Center/Windows 7
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus § DualCore AMD Athlon 64 X2, 2300 MHz (11.5 x 200) 4400+ § Corsair Value Select
    CPU
    AMD 4400+/4200+
    Motherboard
    Asus M2N-MX SE Plus/Asus A8M2N-LA (NodusM)
    Memory
    2 GB/3GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    GeForce 8400 GS/GeForce 210
    Sound Card
    nVIDIA GT218 - High Definition Audio Controller
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Hitachi 40" LCD HDTV
    Screen Resolution
    "1842 x 1036"
    Hard Drives
    WDC WD50 00AAKS-007AA SCSI Disk Device
    ST1000DL 002-9TT153 SCSI Disk Device
    WDC WD3200AAJB-00J3A0 ATA Device
    WDC WD32 WD-WCAPZ2942630 USB Device
    WD My Book 1140 USB Device
    PSU
    Works 550w
    Case
    MSI "M-Box"
    Cooling
    Water Cooled
    Keyboard
    Dell Keyboard
    Mouse
    Microsoft Intellimouse
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    Cable Medium Speed
    Browser
    Chrome/IE 10
    Antivirus
    Eset NOD32 6.x/Win Defend
    Other Info
    Recently lost my Windows 8 on my main PC, had to go back to Windows 7.
Thanks, ARC. That's pretty close to what I ended up with. I should know for sure how well it works after a couple of days. I'll report back then.

Thanks again.
 

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    16GB G.Skill Trident X @ 2400MHz
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    256GB Samsung 840 Pro SSD / External 1TB Toshiba USB 3.0
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    Nod 32
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    ROG RealBench: 735
Well, It's works like a charm and shuts down the computer whenever I'm away for a specified time which is what I wanted.

I'm reasonably disciplined about saving my work if I know I'm going to be away from the computer for any length of time, so the only significant changes to the task scheduler are:

General tab: Ticked Run whether or not the user is logged on and checked Run with the highest privileges

Actions tab: Program/Script: shutdown, Argument: /p

Conditions tab: Start the task only if the computer is idle for 30 minutes, Wait for idle for 1 hour and Stop if the computer ceases to be idle.

Somebody should add a more comprehensive tutorial for this with caveats.


Thanks again!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Custom
    CPU
    i7 4770k @ 4.6GHz
    Motherboard
    Maximus VI Hero
    Memory
    16GB G.Skill Trident X @ 2400MHz
    Graphics Card(s)
    Still shopping
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Acer
    Screen Resolution
    1920 X 1080
    Hard Drives
    256GB Samsung 840 Pro SSD / External 1TB Toshiba USB 3.0
    PSU
    SeaSonic SS 520fl 80+ Platinum
    Case
    Antec P280
    Cooling
    Noctua NH-D14
    Browser
    IE 11/Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    Nod 32
    Other Info
    ROG RealBench: 735
ARC1020 said:
You could try something like this:

Open Task Scheduler and go to 'Create Task' on the right hand side. Then enter the details similar to the following screen shots. Using these settings will mean that after being idle for 40 minutes it will start the shutdown procedure and display a message on the screen for 5 minutes telling you that it's going to shutdown in 5 minutes. So in total it will shutdown after 45 minutes.

However, be aware that any open programs will obviously close and any unsaved documents will also be forced to close, therefore you WILL LOSE any unsaved work (and I would guess that's the reason Microsoft don't have it as an option). The much safer option would be to set the power options to put the computer to sleep, however making it shutdown instead would for example be used if you have an encrypted system drive and so want it to shutdown instead of sleep for security reasons.

Obviously, you'll also need to go to power options and change the power plan settings so it doesn't go to sleep beforehand.


View attachment 28811


View attachment 28823


The 'actions' screen is cut off in the next screenshots, so it's as follows:

Program/script:
%windir%\system32\shutdown.exe

Add Arguments:
-s -f -t 300 -c "This computer will automatically shut down in 5 minutes"


View attachment 28821


View attachment 28822


View attachment 28815


View attachment 28816
Click to expand...

what is the purpose of "Wait for idle"?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10, 8, 7, XP
IML8 said:
Well, It's works like a charm and shuts down the computer whenever I'm away for a specified time which is what I wanted.

I'm reasonably disciplined about saving my work if I know I'm going to be away from the computer for any length of time, so the only significant changes to the task scheduler are:

General tab: Ticked Run whether or not the user is logged on and checked Run with the highest privileges

Actions tab: Program/Script: shutdown, Argument: /p

Conditions tab: Start the task only if the computer is idle for 30 minutes, Wait for idle for 1 hour and Stop if the computer ceases to be idle.

Somebody should add a more comprehensive tutorial for this with caveats.


Thanks again!
Click to expand...

What does "Wait for idle" do
or how it works?

I don't [FONT=Verdana, Arial, Tahoma, Calibri, Geneva, sans-serif]understand...[/FONT]
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10, 8, 7, XP
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