Want to make sure your Windows 7 computer shuts down at the same time every day (or night) without having to go through the shutdown process manually? All you have to do is create a scheduled task. Here’s how:
- Click the Start button and in the search box, type Scheduled tasks
- Click the item when it appears in the search results list under «Control Panel.»
- In the Task Scheduler console, in the Actions pane on the right, click «Create Basic Task …».
- In the Wizard page that opens, give the task a name such as «Shutdown» and write a description (if you want) such as «Shuts down the computer at 1:00 a.m. every day.»
- Click Next.
- On the Task Trigger page, select «Daily» and click Next.
- On the Start Date and Time page, fill in the date and time you want to begin (such as 9/10/11 and 1:00 a.m.) and click Next.
- On the Action page, click «Start a Program» and click Next.
- On the Start a Program page, in the Program/script field, type:
- C:WindowsSystem32shutdown.exe
- Windows is installed on a drive other than C, substitute that drive letter.
- Click Next.
- Review the Summary page and click Finish.
- Now Windows will automatically shut down at 1:00 a.m. each day. You’ll get a pop-up notification telling you, before it does so, that «Windows will shut down in less than a minute.»