How to Make Your Windows 7 System Startup And Shutdown On A Schedule

schedule-mainSome of us like our PC to always be ready when we enter the room. Waiting for the system to boot up can be annoying. Thankfully, there is a solution that allows you to schedule startups and shutdowns to save you time, and possibly reduce your electricity bill.

Startup on schedule

This step will vary depending on what sort of BIOS your motherboard is running. You may not have the option to power on at a specific time, although most motherboards do indeed have this option. For anyone not familiar with the term – BIOS stands for “basic input/output system” and is basically where you setup the low-level confirguration of your motherboard. It is distinct to any Operating System you may be using. Please note that the second portion of this guide regarding automatically shutting down your system is written for WIndows 7, but may also be applicable to other versions of Windows.

Step 1. Restart your computer.

Step 2. If you have a recent PC you are probably greeted with a cheesy promo screen for whatever brand motherboard is in your system. It will likely say something like “Press DEL to enter BIOS”. If you have an older system, you will see the RAM check and hard drive detection taking place. Either way, you should tap the DEL key within the first 1-3 seconds of restarting. After a few seconds, you should find yourself in the BIOS. If windows begins to start again, you’ve done something wrong and need to restart once more. If you are using a notebook computer, then you may need to Google your model to figure out what key to press to enter the BIOS.

Step 3. Depending on which brand motherboard you have, the BIOS will look different. You need to find the menu entitled Power, or Power Management. Within this should be an option labeled “Resume on RTC Alarm” or “Power on By RTC Alarm”. You should Enable this option, then set the time and frequency (e.g. “Everyday”) that you would like the system to turn on.

biosalarm

biosalarm2

Step 4. Ensure that you select the “Save and Quit” option when leaving the BIOS setup. Do not just press the reset button on your computer, otherwise your settings will not be saved. From this point on, your system should start up at the time and frequency you set in the BIOS. If it does not, it’s best to consult your motherboard manual for more information.

Shutdown on Schedule

Step 1. Click the Windows button and type in “task”, the Task Scheduler application should show up in the list. Run it.

Step 2. In the right-hand panel, click on “Create Basic Task”

task-scheduler-create-task

Step 3. Enter an appropriate name and description (e.g. Scheduled system shutdown), click Next.

Step 4. Select the frequency you wish the shutdown to occur (e.g. Daily), click Next.

task-scheduler-frequency

Step 5. Select the time you wish the shutdown to occur. (e.g. 1:00 AM), click Next.

task-scheduler-time

Step 6. Select Start a program, click Next.

Step 7. Type in “shutdown.exe” in the Progra/script box and “/s” in the Add arguments box. Click Next.

Step 8. Click Finish.

You’re done!

Take a deep breath… assuming you followed all of the above steps correctly, your system should now startup and shutdown on schedule!

Image credit: Robert Couse-Baker

How to Stream Media to Your Xbox 360 or PS3

PlayStation 3Video game consoles, particularly the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, are increasingly becoming more than just gaming devices. They have become complete entertainment systems. You can now watch Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, and other streaming video content. You can purchase and listen to music, and with the new Xbox 360 dashboard update coming this fall, you can even watch exclusive live content from cable providers.

One media streaming dilemma that still faces some Xbox 360 and PS3 users is the ability to stream content from another device, such as a desktop or laptop computer. If you have home movies, pictures or photos, a collection of MP3s, or other content that you have downloaded to your computer, it is a pain to have to copy that content to your game console. For Windows users, they can connect their Xbox 360 to their Windows computers without much difficulty. For the rest of us, there are third-party tools. One in particular that I have been using lately is PS3 Media Server.
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How to Use the Built-in Windows Remote Assistance to Provide Virtual Support to Your Friends

remote-supportToday, we are going to take a closer look at the inbuilt remote assistance offering that Windows has had since XP. This can be an invaluable tool if you want to be able to provide help to your friends or family over your home network, or over the Internet.

One thing to bear in mind is that you might have trouble with connections if your router is blocking port 3389. So keep in mind that you might need to forward that port to resolve connection difficulties. Other remote support software tends to be very clever in getting around firewall restrictions, so there’s always Teamviewer if you get stuck!
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10 Great Windows 7 Keyboard Shortcuts

windows-keyboard-shortcuts-mainMany of you have probably been using Windows 7 for quite a while now. It’s really quite a solid operating system, with stability and functionality far exceeding anything Microsoft has offered before. You may, however, be unaware of one of the great productivity advantages that Windows offers you. That is keyboard integration, which is far more advanced than other platforms like Mac OSX. Windows is entirely functional without a mouse cursor, and indeed many features can be accessed much faster through the use of keyboard shortcuts. Hopefully the shortcuts below will be of use to some of you. I know I learnt a few new ones when researching this article!
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Gives Your Windows Total Protection With Bitdefender Total Security 2012

bitdefender-mainIn the past, all you need is an anti-virus software to protect your Windows PC. Now, that is no longer sufficient. You will also need firewall, anti-spyware, anti-malware, parental control etc to get fully protected. Many antivirus companies (such as Norton and McAfee) have transit from providing anti-virus solution to total security suite. Bitdefender is one such company too.

Bitdefender Total Security 2012 is a complete security suite that comes with anti-virus, anti-spam, parental control, privacy control, firewall and many more security and Windows performance boosting features. The software, once installed, runs in auto-pilot mode so you don’t have to deal with tons of configuration options just to get it running.
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Add Virtual Desktops To Your Windows With nSpaces

nspaces-smallIn Linux, it was called “workspaces”. In Mac, it was called “Spaces”. Even with different names, they were referring to the same thing – virtual desktop. And Windows doesn’t come with any by default. Few years back, we have covered several software that can create virtual desktop for your Windows, and nSpaces is yet another useful virtual desktop manager that you can use.
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A Quick Peek At Windows 8

windows8-logoIn case you are not aware, Microsoft has released the first developer preview of their Windows 8 for the public to test out. If you do not have the chance to test it out, follow us to see what new features are there and what to expect in the upcoming Windows 8.
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How to Create a Windows 8 USB Boot Disk [Quick Tips]

winusb-mainSo you have downloaded the Windows 8 Developer Preview and wanted to give it a test in your machine. If you are planning to do a clean install, the fastest way is to burn the ISO file into a DVD and boot from it. However, as DVD ROM drive is getting obsolete, more and more PCs now come without the DVD ROM, the next best alternative is to create a bootable USB drive. Here’s how you can do it for Windows 8.
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IOBit Uninstaller: A Portable Handy Tool to Completely Remove Unwanted Programs

iobit-logoThere are many ways to uninstall an application in Windows, and the easiest of them all is via the default Add/Remove Program option. However, that is also the most ineffective way since it will leave bits and traces of the software in the folder and the registry. One great alternative is Revo Uninstaller, but it can be slow during launch. Another alternative would be IOBit Uninstaller.

IOBit Uninstaller is a lightweight software that can uninstall your applications completely and not leave any unwanted traces around. It is easy to use and doesn’t require any installation. Best of all, it is free to download and use.
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Greenshot: A Lightweight Yet Feature-Rich Screenshot Tool for Windows

Greenshot-1Images taken off a computer screen are called screenshots. While reading tech-reviews on websites, including this one, you will find numerous screenshots that serve as references to what the reviewer is writing about. These images greatly help explain a certain interface feature or guide the reader in knowing where to click in an application.

The most basic way to take screenshots is through the “PrintScreen” key located on your keyboard. This key takes a snapshot of your computer screen and copies it to the clipboard. You can then paste this copied image into any software like Paint and save it. Alternatively you can install one of many available screenshot applications that lets you take, save, and use screenshots in a far more convenient way than the PrintScreen method. One of the most user-friendly of these applications is “Greenshot”.
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